Opinions & Features

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The restriction of basic freedoms has become the global norm

Opinions & Features
By Cathal Gilbert, CIVICUS Head of Civic Space Research Imagine inviting your ten closest friends to dinner but only four of them show up.

Disability inclusion benefits us all

Opinions & Features
by Lieke Scheewe, policy advisor & coordinator at DCDD Today is World Disability Day – a great day to celebrate the value of human diversity! That’s why the Dutch Coalition on Disability and Development (DCDD) is making a case today for the value of a disability inclusive society, by launching a ‘social business case’.

What if ‘bottom-up’ wasn’t the answer?

Opinions & Features
By Marina Cherbonnier, CIVICUS membership engagement specialist As I was walking around the stands, agoras and meet-ups of the very interactive and lively first edition of the Paris Peace Forum, I couldn’t help but keep stumbling across the by-now well-known expression ‘bottom-up approach’, used as a way to build a fair and better world.
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Renewing democracy: proposals and ideas from civil society

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By Mandeep Tiwana, CIVICUS Chief Programmes Officer  If we could reimagine the kind of democracy we live in and the way we experience democracy, what would it look and be like? This was the question our global civil society alliance CIVICUS put to thought leaders and activists from nearly 80 countries across the globe, in a year-long Reimagining Democracy initiative.
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Turning data-driven accountability into meaningful action for civil society

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By Merle Rutz, CIVICUS Accountability and Impact Coordinator Are we representing and amplifying the right voices? Are our programmes and campaigns geographically inclusive? How can we support our vision with actual data in order to make good strategic decisions? These are some of the pressing questions we in civil society today are having to ask – and answer.
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Climate of repression a dark cloud over upcoming elections in Fiji

Opinions & Features
By Josef Benedict, Civic Space Research Officer,CIVICUS   Powdery white beaches.

Thinking about how to measure your organisation’s accountability?

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Latin America | The Escazú Agreement: a light of hope for those standing up for the environment

Opinions & Features
By Natalia Gomez Peña, Advocacy & Network Engagement Officer, CIVICUS In Latin America, environmental activists risk their lives as a consequence of the vital work they do.

Global Citizenship Education as a Sustainable Development course: My first class

Opinions & Features
By Claudia Cassoma, writer, student in special education and teaching and CIVICUS member Considering Sustainable Development as the program of study, the major, perhaps the end goal; let's look at Global Citizenship Education as the required course and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as the elective ones.

My Participation in the Bridge 47 Event and its Impact on our Education Program in Palestine

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By Jamil Derbashi, from Palestinian Centre for Communication and Development Strategies (PCCDS), Palestine, and CIVICUS member How the Bridge 47 project relates to our work in Palestine My participation in the Bridge 47 Event in Brussels was one of my most important international meeting involvement in 2018.
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African Union Makes Moves to Neutralise Africa’s Main Human Rights Body

Opinions & Features
By David Kode, CIVICUS Advocacy and Campaigns lead For many African activists based on the continent, getting to a major human rights summit just underway in The Gambia is likely to have been a challenging exercise.

Pakistan: “Global Citizenship”, a western perspective?

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By Khurram Riaz, CIVICUS member from Pakistan With 207.
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5 Ways New Movement Leaders Are Effecting Change

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By Michael Silberman, Global Director of Mobilisation Lab, a network that equips social change-makers and their organisations to deliver more effective, people-powered campaigns in order to win in the digital age.

What constituents say about CIVICUS

Opinions & Features
By Marina Cherbonnier, CIVICUS Membership Engagement Specialist Spanish | French Early 2018, we asked CIVICUS constituents to tell us about how they perceive CIVICUS’ work - what’s successful and what can be improved.
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Moving beyond resistance

Opinions & Features
By Danny Sriskandarajah  Just a few years ago, it felt like the dawn of a new era of citizen participation.
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Agenda 2030 marred by MDG mindsets on steroids

Opinions & Features
By Mandeep Tiwana, CIVICUS' Chief Programmes Officer Business as usual is bad news for the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, arguably the greatest human endeavour ever attempted to create just, equal and sustainable societies.

What “Global Citizenship” means to you - if anything

Opinions & Features
Marina Cherbonnier, CIVICUS membership engagement specialist and Bridge 47 steering group member.
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“Listen to us and let us have a direct say,” say citizens worldwide

Opinions & Features
By Andrew Firmin, CIVICUS' Editor-in-Chief A group of women fighting back against sexual harassment in Trinidad and Tobago.
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Are women the last line of defence against Brazil’s authoritarian shift?

Opinions & Features
By Ana Cernov, human rights activist and Inés Pousadela, Senior Research Specialist at CIVICUS In a matter of days, 2.
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Cameroon elections promise more trouble, not solutions for Anglophones

Opinions & Features
By Teldah Mawarire, Campaigns and Advocacy Officer and Ine van Severen, Civic Space Research Officer For nations in crisis, free and fair elections usually can bring much-needed reprieve.
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Treaty pushes for environmental justice in Latin America and the Caribbean

Opinions & Features
By Danny Sriskandarajah, CIVICUS Secretary General Despite closing space for civil society, the new Escazú Agreement—which offers protection measures for environmental groups and defenders—is a shining example of citizens organizing in creative ways to fight for social justice.
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Can SA uphold its reputation for human rights on the UN Security Council?

Opinions & Features
By Masana Ndinga-Kanga, Crisis Response Fund Coordinator and Advocacy Officer for the Middle East/North Africa region and Lyndal Rowlands, CIVICUS UN Advocacy Officer.

Resilience in times of shrinking civic space: How Resilient Roots organisations are attempting to strengthen their roots through primary constituent accountability

Opinions & Features
Soulayma Mardam Bey (CIVICUS) and Isabelle Büchner (Accountable Now) The systematic crackdown on peaceful protests and demonstrations across the world has shaped our understanding of repression against civil society organisations (CSOs).

Ganar espacio desde la raíz

Opinions & Features
Escrito por Analía Bettoni – Instituto de Comunicación y Desarrollo En su reciente artículo The revolution will not be televised: Can NGOs learn to adapt? , Dom Perera, investigador del CIVICUS Monitor plantea que si bien en los últimos 25 años ha habido un crecimiento explosivo en el número de organizaciones no gubernamentales (ONG), su papel en generar un cambio social se cuestiona.
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Our heritage is a successful civil society

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By William Gumede, Executive Chairperson of Democracy Works Foundation The publication of this piece was facilitated by CIVICUS as part of our 25th anniversary celebrations As we celebrate our diverse cultures during Heritage Month, worth celebrating too is a civil society culture that has not only promoted cultural diversity but is also itself diverse, with a hard-won heritage of tirelessly fighting for the rights of the people in this country.

Every Voice Counts: UN Puts Spotlight on Children as Human Rights Defenders

Opinions & Features
By Lena Ingelstam and Ulrika Cilliers, Save the Children, Tor Hodenfield, CIVICUS, and Beatrice Schulter, Child Rights Connect Many children want to defend their rights and the rights of others and when children speak out things change.
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Alarm bells ring as EU governments take aim at funding to ‘Political’ NGOs

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By Cathal Gilbert, Civic Space Research Lead at CIVICUS and Giada Negri, Research and Advocacy Officer with the European Civic Forum Increasingly, public figures across Europe are twisting the meaning of “political activity” by claiming that NGOs overstep the mark when they campaign publicly for social or policy change: that they somehow encroach on territory reserved exclusively for political parties.

Orinoco mining arch: the crisis that few speak of in Venezuela

Opinions & Features
By Ms.
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Rural Colombia, Iván Duque and the peace agreements

Opinions & Features
By Natalia Gómez is an Official of the Vuka Coalition! for civic action, part of the Global Alliance for Civil Society-CIVICUS.

Pacific Island leaders are tightening the screws on press freedom, dissent

Opinions & Features
By Josef Benedict, CIVICUS  civic space research officer.

The world has changed; why haven’t we?

Opinions & Features
French | Spanish The world has changed dramatically since the turn of the century.

Resilient Roots: Debunking the Myths around Primary Constituent Accountability

Opinions & Features
By Isabelle Büchner (Accountable Now) and Laurence Prinz (Keystone Accountability) When you are passionate about something and join others to work on it collectively, you quickly start to develop your own group language.

General Operating Support for Local Organizations Represented Just 1% of International Giving by U.S. Foundations Over Five-year Period

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By Lauren Bradford and Inga Ingulfsen  From 2011 to 2015 U.

Photos: Lives rent asunder by climate change in Bangladesh

Opinions & Features
In 2018, two global agreements - one focused on the protection of refugees and the other on migration - are in the final stages of negotiation between governments, under the auspices of the United Nations.

Faire partie de CIVICUS nous a permis de défendre les droits des prisonniers au Burundi

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English | Spanish   A l’occasion des 25 ans de CIVICUS, SABUSHIMIKE Mamert, Président de l'Association des Amis de la Nature (AAN) et chargé de la communication et du plaidoyer au sein de la Coalition du Burundi pour la Défense des Droits de l’Homme, exprime comment faire partie de CIVICUS - l’Alliance Mondiale pour la participation des citoyens – a permis à son association d’avoir un impact pour l’amélioration des conditions des prisonniers au Burundi et le respect de leurs droits.

Construyendo juntos un mejor entorno habilitante para todas las organizaciones sociales en el mundo

Opinions & Features
English | French  Con motivo de los 25 años de CIVICUS, RACI: la Red Argentina de Cooperación Internacional queremos, explica de qué manera el ser parte de CIVICUS - Alianza Mundial para la participación ciudadana – permite cconstruir juntos un mejor entorno habilitante para todas las organizaciones sociales en el mundo.
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SADC fiddles while the DRC burns

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By Teldah Mawarire, Advocacy and Campaigns Officer and Ine van Severen, Civic Space Research Officer  When a home catches fire, neighbours dash out to fight the blaze.
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Marginalised Malaysians hope promised reforms will include their rights

Opinions & Features
By Josef Benedict, Civic Space Reearch Officer  There is optimism following the 100 days of Malaysia’s new government – but the country’s marginalised groups wonder if it will go far enough to fight for equal rights.
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Lack of progress on human rights commitments during gov't's first 100 days

Opinions & Features
By David Kode, CIVICUS and  Matthew Bugher, Article 19 Dear Prime Minister, we congratulate you on your election victory on May 9, 2018, and your first 100 days in office.

Does greater accountability mean greater resilience? Findings from our research so far

Opinions & Features
By Kingsley Orievulu and Jack Cornforth When ActionAid Uganda faced attacks from the government for their work, including freezing the organisation’s bank account, unrelenting support from local partners and credible local leadership ensured massive popular support during the ensuing legal battle (and eventual victory) against the government.
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Asia home to largest number of indigenous peoples: Activists building a movement in face of attacks

Opinions & Features
By Josef Benedict, Civic Space Research Officer The 9th of August, marks International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples.
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G20: Why civil society should be at the table

Opinions & Features
Spanish by Inés M.

We need new ways to protect people in the digital era

Opinions & Features
By Danny Sriskandarajah In an age of ever-advancing, ever-encroaching technology, how do we ensure that our basic rights are protected? New technologies and the speed of progress these days may have many positive impacts on our lives but the fact that they are poorly regulated and hardly understood by the public, poses serious threats.

Partnerships for sustainability

Opinions & Features
By Siok Sian Pek-Dorji, from Bhutan Centre for Media and Democracy and CIVICUS member delegate to the EC Partnership Forum 2018.

Have your say: Feedback channels to hold us to account

Opinions & Features
By Tamryn Lee Fourie CIVICUS exists to defend people power.
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Unanswered Questions: How Civil Society’s Contributions to Sustainable Development are Undermined at the HLPF

Opinions & Features
By Lyndal Rowlands, CIVICUS UN Advocacy Officer  As Colombia joined 45 other countries in New York last month to review progress towards achieving the 2030 Agenda, four grassroots activists were killed as they fought for sustainable development in Colombian communities.

Local NGOs joining the “Giants”’ Table

Opinions & Features
By Lusanda Magwape, from Dream Factory Foundation, South Africa, and CIVICUS delegation’s member at the EC Partnership Forum 2018.

After elections, hard work starts for Zimbabwe’s civil society

Opinions & Features
By Teldah Mawarire, CIVICUS Campaigns and Advocacy Officer For many Zimbabwean voters, casting their ballots on July 30 is sure to be a somewhat surreal experience.

Desde Perú a Bélgica, juntos somos más Fuertes

Opinions & Features
English  Por Jorge Vallejo, de la Red Latinoamericana de Jóvenes por la Democracia, Peru, y miembro de la delegación de CIVICUS al foro de asociación de la CE 2018.

Can Zim exiles finally return home?

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By Teldah Mawarire, Advocacy and Campaigns Coordinator  I know many Zimbabweans in the diaspora.

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