Civic Space Monitoring Tool

This Civic Space Monitoring Tool, created by Oxfam provides a monitoring framework to understand what is happening in civic space, to track trends and highlight priority areas that need addressing. It is available in English, Spanish, and French.

Overview

Mobilizing the power of people to overcome poverty and injustice is at the heart of Oxfam’s mission and vision. To realize this vision, people need space to speak out and organize against injustice and the root causes of poverty, without fear of repercussions.

Yet civic space, as the oxygen for people’s voices, and vital prerequisite for a rights-based approach to development, is currently shrinking on a global scale. People in many countries around the world face serious restrictions and repression when exercising their basic rights. 

Oxfam works together with allies and partners around the world to protect and expand the space for all people, and especially for marginalized groups, to speak out, assemble and organize on issues that matter to them, without fear of repercussions.

This tool is designed to help practitioners analyse different dimensions of civic space at local and national levels. It provides a monitoring framework to understand what is happening in civic space, to track trends and highlight priority areas that need addressing.

On the issues of Civic Space, this analysis can be used to inform:

• Decision making
• Strategy definition
• Programming
• Risk management