Opinions & Features

When digital democracy disappears, so does the power of the people

Opinions & Features
By Muhammed Bello Buhari, Programme Intern - Learning & Communications at CIVICUS  Democracy today is shaped as much online as it is offline.
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Advancing Civic Action in Challenging Times: A message from CIVICUS Secretary General

Opinions & Features
A message from CIVICUS Secretary General, Mandeep Tiwana   Dear CIVICUS members, partners and allies As we navigate through the second half of 2025, we find ourselves both energized and challenged.

How Trump’s Second Term Is Isolating the US on Human Rights

Opinions & Features
By Mandeep Tiwana, secretary-general of CIVICUS and Mariya Parodi, media adviser to CIVICUS.

The Constitution Isn’t Optional: Why USA Belongs on the CIVICUS Monitor Watchlist

Opinions & Features
By Mandeep Tiwana, Secretary General of CIVICUS Successive United States governments have prided themselves on being governed by the Constitution of 1788.

Why Locally Led Development Works and How Funders Can Get It Right

Opinions & Features
By Naomi Ayot Oyaro, Executive Director of CAPAIDS Uganda and Tais Siqueira, Local Leadership Lab Coordinator at CIVICUS In Uganda, local communities are routinely sidelined in development processes, despite knowing most about their own needs.

Imprisoned activist MPs in Eswatini highlight a growing crisis of civic freedoms across Africa

Opinions & Features
By Kgalalelo Gaebee, CIVICUS' Communications Officer and Paul Mulindwa,  CIVICUS' Advocacy and Campaigns Regional Lead for Africa  Mduduzi Mabuza and Mthandeni Dube’s ongoing imprisonment is more than a national tragedy.

Intersectional Feminist Leadership Needed to Realise Global Goals

Opinions & Features
By Jesselina Rana, UN advisor at CIVICUS In its 80-year history the UN has never once been led by a woman.

Strengthening the UN Human Rights Council: Pathways to Enhanced Credibility and Effectiveness

Opinions & Features
By Samuel King, Inés Pousadela   Abstract The UN Human Rights Council is at a critical juncture.

Repressive Laws Are Increasingly Being Used to Silence Activists Across Asia

Opinions & Features
  By Josef Benedict, Asia Pacific researcher and Rajavelu Karunanithi, Asia advocacy and campaigns lead for CIVICUS From Hong Kong to India, governments are passing and weaponizing new laws to pursue and jail whoever speaks up for human rights.

Ahead of COP30, environmentalists risk freedom to defend nature

Opinions & Features
Ana María Palacios Briceño and Eduardo Marenco Ana María Palacios Briceño leads civic space research for the Americas at the CIVICUS Monitor.

Redefining funding mindsets through solidarity

Opinions & Features
By Taís Siqueira, Local Leadership Lab Coordinator Recent funding cuts made many admit something they’d deep down always known: the development community is in desperate need of a reset.

The Silencing of Hong Kong

Opinions & Features
By Andrew Firmin,  CIVICUS Editor-in-Chief, co-director and writer for CIVICUS Lens and co-author of the State of Civil Society Report.

Mexico’s Judicial Elections: A Democratic Mirage

Opinions & Features
By Ines Pousadela, CIVICUS Senior Research Specialist, co-director and writer for CIVICUS Lens and co-author of the State of Civil Society Report.

Poland’s Democratic Deadlock

Opinions & Features
Ines Pousadela, CIVICUS Senior Research Specialist, co-director and writer for CIVICUS Lens and co-author of the State of Civil Society Report.

South Korea‘s Democracy Renewed

Opinions & Features
By Andrew Firmin, CIVICUS Editor-in-Chief, co-director and writer for CIVICUS Lens and co-author of the State of Civil Society Report.

Civil Society Is Holding the Line. Will Washington Notice?

Opinions & Features
This piece is written by Mandeep Tiwana, Secretary General of CIVICUS.

El Salvador: Bukele’s Authoritarianism Goes Global

Opinions & Features
By Inés M.

Portugal: No Longer an Exception to Europe’s Far-right Rise

Opinions & Features
By Inés M.

Romania’s Electoral Crisis: A Warning Shot for Democracy in the Digital Age

Opinions & Features
By Inés M.
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From Crisis to Collective Action: A Message from CIVICUS Co-Secretary Generals

Opinions & Features
A message from Interim Co-Secretary Generals, Claire Nylander and Mandeep Tiwana    Dear CIVICUS members, partners and allies A lot has transpired in the first few months of 2025.

A New Pope at a Pivotal Moment: Civil Society’s Hopes for Leo XIV

Opinions & Features
By Andrew Firmin, CIVICUS Editor-in-Chief, co-director and writer for CIVICUS Lens and co-author of the State of Civil Society Report.

From Grief to Action: Demands for Democratic Renewal in the Balkans

Opinions & Features
By  Inés M.

Rights with No Age Limit: Hopes for a Convention on the Rights of Older People

Opinions & Features
By Samuel King, a researcher with the Horizon Europe-funded research project ENSURED: Shaping Cooperation for a World in Transition and Inés M.

A Feminist Future for the UN: Why the Next Secretary-General Must Champion Civil Society

Opinions & Features
By Jesselina Rana, the UN Advisor at CIVICUS’s New York office and Mandeep S.

Standing Firm: Civil Society at the Forefront of the Climate Resistance

Opinions & Features
By Andrew Firmin, CIVICUS Editor-in-Chief, co-director and writer for CIVICUS Lens and co-author of the State of Civil Society Report.
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Civil Society’s Reform Vision Gains Urgency as the USA Abandons UN Institutions

Opinions & Features
Today’s multiple and connected crises – including conflicts, climate breakdown and democratic regression – are overwhelming the capabilities of the international institutions designed to address problems states can’t or won’t solve.
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Turkey’s Democratic Uprising: A Generation Takes a Stand

Opinions & Features
In the heart of Istanbul, a remarkable transformation is underway.
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Digital Democracy at a Crossroads. Key Takeaways from RigthsCon2025

Opinions & Features
In an increasingly digital world, democratic practices are evolving to encompass new forms of participation.

Civil Society’s Reform Vision Gains Urgency as the USA Abandons UN Institutions

Opinions & Features
By Andrew Firmin,  Today’s multiple and connected crises – including conflicts, climate breakdown and democratic regression – are overwhelming the capabilities of the international institutions designed to address problems states can’t or won’t solve.
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How to Turn the Tide: Resisting the Global Assault on Gender Rights

Opinions & Features
By Ines Pousadela, CIVICUS Senior Research Specialist, co-director and writer for CIVICUS Lens and co-author of the State of Civil Society Report.
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A Test of Humanity: Migrants’ Rights in a World Turning Inward

Opinions & Features
By Ines Pousadela, CIVICUS Senior Research Specialist, co-director and writer for CIVICUS Lens and co-author of the State of Civil Society Report.

Civil Society: The Last Line of Defence in a World of Cascading Crises

Opinions & Features
By Inés M.
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Funding Disruptions Are a Systemic Failure – Philanthropy Must Do What’s Right and Support Local Leadership

Opinions & Features
The slashing of US aid funding by Donald Trump and Elon Musk, and cuts or planned cuts in international support by several European states, threaten to cut off the oxygen supply to a civil society already in a critical condition.
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International Women's Day, 2025 - It's Time for a Feminist Woman Secretary General At the UN

Opinions & Features
By Jesselina Rana, CIVICUS UN Advisor, in New York In 2025, the United Nations will celebrate 80 years of shaping global policies, fostering peace, and driving international development.
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Resilient Together: Responding to Challenges with Solidarity and Action

Opinions & Features
A message from Interim Co-Secretary Generals, Claire Nylander and Mandeep Tiwana  Dear CIVICUS members, partners, and allies  We write to you amid the immense disruptions caused by the arbitrary suspension of development aid by the new administration in the United States.

Electoral Technology Evolution: A Journey from 2024’s Lessons to 2025’s Opportunities 

Opinions & Features
By Seun Akinyemi and Vincy Mighulo Masaka, Project Officers - Host Liaison, Digital Democracy Initiative (DDI).
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A Global Retreat from Solidarity

Opinions & Features
By Jessica Corredor Villamil, Chief Officer, Advocacy and Solidarity Action at CIVICUS.

Belarus: A Sham Election That Fools No One

Opinions & Features
By Andrew Firmin,  Editor-in-Chief and co-director and writer for CIVICUS Lens and co-authors of the State of Civil Society Report.
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Kenya’s Shadow War on Activism

Opinions & Features
By Andrew Firmin, CIVICUS Editor-in-Chief, co-director and writer for CIVICUS Lens and co-author of the State of Civil Society Report.
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Colombia’s Historic Child Marriage Ban

Opinions & Features
By Ines Pousadela  Colombia has just marked a historic milestone in the global campaign against child marriage, with the Senate passing one of Latin America and the Caribbean’s most comprehensive bans on child marriage and early unions.

Civil Society Trends for 2025: Nine Global Challenges, One Reason for Hope

Opinions & Features
By Andrew Firmin and Inés M.
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South Korea’s Democracy Defended

Opinions & Features
By Andrew Firmin, Editor-in-Chief, co-director and writer for CIVICUS Lens and co-author of the State of Civil Society Report.
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From Outrage to Action: Global Protests Against Gender-based Violence Resonate in Kenya

Opinions & Features
By Inés M.
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Local Action, Global Accountability

Opinions & Features
This speech was delivered at the "Local Action, Global Accountability" UNGA-Side Event on September 20, 2024, at the Ford Foundation Center for Social Justice in New York City, USA.
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Corruption in Uganda: A Barrier to Local Leadership and Aspirations

Opinions & Features
By Hannah Stacey Baluka.
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This Year Saw Most of the World Repressed – but in Civil Society there is Hope

Opinions & Features
By Mandeep Tiwana, Interim Co-Secretary General, CIVICUS.
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2024 in Review: Celebrating Civil Society’s Resilience and Impact

Opinions & Features
A message from Interim Co-Secretary Generals, Claire Nylander and Mandeep Tiwana  Dear CIVICUS members, partners and allies   As a tumultuous 2024 draws to a close, we would like to celebrate the remarkable courage of civil society in the face of adversity.

COP29 Falls Short on Finance

Opinions & Features
By Andrew Firmin, CIVICUS Editor-in-Chief, co-director and writer for CIVICUS Lens and co-author of the State of Civil Society Report.
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International community: Speak up now about Israel’s atrocities against Palestinians

Opinions & Features
By Jesselina Rana, Human rights lawyer and UN adviser at the New York Hub of CIVICUS Every week, the evidence mounts that Israel is committing grave war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Gaza Strip that likely amount to genocide.
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Strengthening our alliance: Key Outcomes from Board Week, MEM2024, and Team Initiatives

Opinions & Features
A message from Interim Co-Secretary Generals, Claire Nylander and Mandeep Tiwana Dear CIVICUS members, partners and allies  Hope this message finds you well despite the turbulent times we are living in.

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