Opinions & Features

Featured

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.
Featured

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.
Featured

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.
Featured

Our heritage is a successful civil society

Opinions & Features
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.
Featured

Alarm bells ring as EU governments take aim at funding to ‘Political’ NGOs

Opinions & Features
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.
Featured

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

Opinions & Features
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

Opinions & Features
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.
Featured

SADC fiddles while the DRC burns

Opinions & Features
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.
Featured

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.
Featured

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.
Featured

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.
Featured

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.
Featured

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?

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

The Echo of

Opinions & Features
By Ekaterina Porras Sivolobova, from Project 189, Kuwait and CIVICUS member delegate to the EC Partnership Forum 2018.

Digitaalinen turvallisuus kuuluu kaikille

Opinions & Features
English Auli Starck, Kepa, Suomi, CIVICUS-jäsenjärjestö GDPR-viestit, uutiset Facebookin tietoturvaongelmista ja sähköpostin tietojenkalasteluviesteiltä.
Featured

Should not meeting the Sustainable Development Goals get you fired?

Opinions & Features
By Danny Sriskandarajah The problem with the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), was that no one ever lost their job for failing to meet an MDG target.
Featured

10 Young Activists using Art to Create Change

Opinions & Features
Politics and art have always been deeply connected.

Why the Human Rights Council matters to grassroots activists

Opinions & Features
Ten good reasons for the #US to leave the UN Human Rights Council.

Opening up to Local Fundraising

Opinions & Features
By Mr.
Featured

Mexico’s elections: The battle at the ballot box, the easiest one ahead

Opinions & Features
By Inés Pousadela  In a study released earlier this month, researchers from El Colegio de México (Colmex) were emphatic about what they found to be the biggest challenge facing Mexico, as voters prepared to go to the polls on July 1.
Featured

Tanzania’s Illiberal Tilt

Opinions & Features
By Teldah Mawarire  Immediately after his 2015 election, Tanzanian President John Magufuli appeared poised to lead one of Africa’s most stable democracies to a bright future.
Featured

Corruption in Zambia: 42 fire trucks for $42m

Opinions & Features
By Teldah Mawarire and Laura Miti The African Union (AU) will host a heads of state summit in Mauritania on June 25, under the theme Winning the Fight against Corruption: A Sustainable Path to Africa's Transformation.

A Platform for Africanism, Identity and Action

Opinions & Features
By Rawand Boussama, Afrika Youth Movement The day I arrived to Ghana, I had the opportunity to network with people from Greece, Sudan and Nigeria.

European Youth Event 2018: from reflection to action

Opinions & Features
By Elena Ceban, Center for Intercultural Dialogue Imagine a space where over 8000 young people would come together to discuss, debate, share their opinions on political, social and cultural issues and have a dialogue with policy makers on how the life of young people can be improved.

Reflections on resource mobilisation realities for youth movements and organisations

Opinions & Features
By Alex Farrow Youth movements and organisations are always at the forefront of campaigning for human rights and social change.

5 CIVICUS members to attend the European Commission’s partnership forum

Opinions & Features
Some months ago, a call was sent to CIVICUS members inviting them to apply to attend the European Commission’s partnership forum to be held on 25th and 26th June 2018.

Appetite, Buzzwords, and Capacity Gaps

Opinions & Features
What the Resilient Roots accountability pilot project application process has taught us so far By Jack Cornforth The Resilient Roots initiative recently launched two open calls to find pilot projects around the world which will test the hypothesis that organisations that are more accountable and responsive to their roots - namely, their primary constituencies - are more resilient against external threats.
Featured

Incertidumbre en Colombia: La paz en tiempos de elecciones

Opinions & Features
Por Inés Pousadela  Lo que en cualquier democracia “normal” sería considerado un dato rutinario devino recientemente en Colombia un hecho de significación histórica: las elecciones legislativas de marzo de este año, en las cuales las ex guerrillas FARC (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia) debutaron como partido político, se desarrollaron sin incidentes graves.

Solidarity? From mutual support to working as a collective

Opinions & Features
By Marina Cherbonnier, CIVICUS membership engagement specialist CIVICUS Board and Staff annual meetings were held recently.

The Coming Wave of Climate Displacement

Opinions & Features
By Kumi Naidoo Not since 1951 has the international community produced a treaty to protect the legal status of the world's refugees.

Civic Space Restrictions in Africa

Opinions & Features
By David Kode Across Africa, major advances in democracy have been affected by restrictions on civic space and on the activities of civil society organisations (CSOs), the media and individual activists.

China’s growing power is a new challenge for civil society

Opinions & Features
By Andrew Firmin  In one of the world’s most powerful countries, merely wanting to speak your own language can be risky.

Sign up for our newsletters

Our Newsletters

civicus logo white

CIVICUS is a global alliance that champions the power of civil society to create positive change.

brand x FacebookLogo YoutubeLogo InstagramLogo LinkedinLogo TikTokLogo BlueSkyLogo

Johannesburg Hub

25  Owl Street, 6th Floor

Johannesburg
South Africa
2092

Tel: +27 (0)11 833 5959


Fax: +27 (0)11 833 7997

UN Hub: New York

CIVICUS, c/o We Work

450 Lexington Ave

New York
NY
10017

United States

UN Hub: Geneva

11 Avenue de la Paix

Geneva

Switzerland
CH-1202

Tel: +41 (0)79 910 3428