Ten Point Plan: Government Best Practice for Protecting Civic Space and Civil Liberties during the COVID Pandemic
AFSC asks all governments to commit to these following best practices during the pandemic;
Resources
This report published by CIVICUS looks at the state of civil society over the last 10 years and identifies 10 trends affecting civil society, how they have affected how the pandemic has been experienced and thus reacted to.
This report by Housing and Land Rights Network and Habitat International Coalition looks into the violations of the right to adequate housing during the pandemic.
Africa Check aims to foster and support a community of non-partisan fact-checkers across the continent.
This report by Amnesty International documents the impacts of the pandemic and how measures taken have aggravated existing inequalities and patterns of abuse.
Beautiful Trouble's irreverent guide to activism in a time of global pandemic.
Read about LBH Yogyakarta's project implemented during COVID-19 to protect civic space.
Read this case study by a coalition of organizations in Manila, the Philippines who are implementing a project to protect civic space during the pandemic.
Read Zimbabwe Peace Project's case study on their project implemented during COVID-19 aiming to protect civic space.
Read about Espacio Publico's project to protect civic space during COVID-19.
Read this case study by an organization in Myanmar, implementing a project during COVID-19 and the military coup to protect civic space and resist extreme and dangerous state measures.
This CIVICUS report published in April 2021 provides a snapshot of the range of restrictions on freedoms that have been introduced in attempts to curb the pandemic, and the troubling impacts these have had on human rights and the space for civil society.
Brot für die Welt (Bread for the World) together with CIVICUS published an in-depth analysis of the state of civil society based on the data of the CIVICUS Monitor. The dramatic shrinking of civic space has become particularly apparent since the beginning of the Corona pandemic.
Oxfam's Civic Space Monitoring Tool provides a monitoring framework to understand what is happening in civic space, to track trends and highlight priority areas that need addressing.
This tracker by Omega Research Foundation seeks to gather together instances of alleged excessive force that have occurred in the context of coronavirus measures or protests arising from coronavirus-related concerns.
AFSC's report looks at nine kinds of restrictions that could limit civic space for the long term and how civil society can respond.
This report by the International Organization for Migration looks into the curtailment of cross-border mobility and the diverse range of strategies employed during the pandemic.
The ILO is publishing policy responses to COVID-19 in 188 countries and territories.
This live tracker documents new measures introduced during the pandemic that pose a risk to digital rights, dramatically threatening citizens’ civil liberties and right to privacy.
This platform reports how countries are responding to the pandemic in their migration control policies, focusing on detention and deportation.
This digital knowledge hub reports the impact on the progress of SDGs in Africa, Asia and Latin America.
This report by Southern Voice explores the impact of, and responses to COVID-19 and how it is affecting the Global South.
The American Bar Association (ABA) Center for Human Rights (CHR) analyze the impact of emergency measures on human rights defenders, and the successes and challenges of pushing back against disproportionate restrictions.
This toolkit provides a guide for CSOs to anticipate emergency laws and policies; scrutinize the content of the laws and policies; the process by which they are passed; and identify and respond to emergency measures.
This guide helps protect against surveillance measures and digital activities that violate rights, and also offers specific tools designed for protection online.
This report by Freedom House looks into the impact of Covid-19 in 2020 on the global struggle for freedom.
This report by Freedom House explores the role and impact of the pandemic in the 15th consecutive year of decline in global freedom.
This briefing report by the OMCT discusses and highlights repressive policing practices and the worrisome militarization trend, particularly within the current Covid-19 context.
This article by IPI discusses how states around the world are passing new laws that regulate what they deem dangerous and inaccurate content online, under the banner of so-called "fake news".
Access Now provides recommendations for states in fighting misinformation and free expression during the pandemic in order to defend and extend the digital rights of users at risk around the world.
First Draft has created a collection of tools, explainers and resources that can help anybody working with coronavirus information online.
CIVICUS' May 2021 Covid-19 brief concerning freedom of expression throughout the pandemic.
The CIVICUS Monitor is producing periodic research on the state of civil liberties during the COVID-19 pandemic. This is the fourth instalment which provides a snapshot of trends and case studies related to the right to freedom of peaceful assembly.
This report by Freedom House analyses the rights of internet users in the battle between states and technology companies. As a growing number of governments are asserting their authority over tech firms, leading businesses to comply with online censorship and surveillance, free expression online is threatened.
The Global Monitor of COVID-19’s Impact on Democracy and Human Rights is a qualitative monitor and a “one-stop-shop” online global monitoring tool/of the democracy and human rights implications of measures adopted by governments around the world in the context of the COVID-19 crisis.
The Institute of Democracy and Electoral Assistance continually update on elections postponed due to the pandemic across the globe.
A report by Human Rights Watch written in March 2020 as the outbreak began.
This tracker monitors government responses to the pandemic that affect civic freedoms and human rights, focusing on emergency laws.
The stories in this report provide a snapshot of ICNL's work over the past year.
"We live in an era of converging challenges. The ongoing COVID crisis has emboldened authoritarian leadership and given rise to misuse of emergency powers, on top of already widespread restrictions on civic space. Our 2020-2021 Annual Report focuses on how ICNL supports civil society to meet these challenges and create a path forward, rooted in resilience.
This report builds on advocacy efforts of young people, policy and decisionmakers, civil society organizations, academics, artists, and others, who have tried to bring concerns about their shrinking civic space to the attention of the international community.
Report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights - March 2021
A report by Freedom House into how governments are using the pandemic as a pretext to crack down on free expression and access to information.
This tracker monitors attacks on journalists and the press worldwide linked to the pandemic.
This IRFC report focuses on migrants and refugees facing extraordinary risks during the COVID-19 pandemic.
"The Machine Learning for Peace Project is seeking to understand how civic space is changing in countries across the world. Working with partners in the INSPIRES consortium, we identify important shifts in civic space in real time using state of the art machine learning techniques. Using the latest innovations in natural language processing, we classify an enormous corpus of digital news into 19 types of civic space "events" and 22 types of Resurgent Authoritarian Influence (RAI) “events” which capture the efforts of authoritarian regimes to wield influence on developing countries.
See examples of how networks in South Africa bring residents from varied backgrounds in collective action.
This database is a collection of over 300 nonviolent tactics, or discrete methods deployed to achieve a limited goal.
The Inter-Parliamentary Union has listed measures being taken around the world with the objective to share parliamentary practice and facilitate inter-parliamentary communication.
CIVICUS monitor's 2021 findings; including country rating changes, COVID-19 & civic space, top global violations, and regional analyses.
AFSC's new limited-series podcast, “Under the Mask,” explores how communities are finding ways to connect, organize, and challenge repression in these times.
AFSC's new limited-series podcast, “Under the Mask,” explores how communities are finding ways to connect, organize, and challenge repression in these times.
AFSC's new limited-series podcast, “Under the Mask,” explores how communities are finding ways to connect, organize, and challenge repression in these times.
This report by ECNL looks at the extent to which CSOs were able to participate meaningfully in decision making and what we can learn from existing good practices.
This report focuses on COVID-19 and the transformation of migration and mobility globally.
A live and interactive website that tracks the latest news and trending topics surrounding the Covid-19 pandemic.
RSF's tracker provides live updates of Covid-19 impacts of press freedom and documents state censorship and misinformation.
This resource focuses on how civil society organizations can engage with the Regional Migration Reviews to improve the promotion and protection of the rights of migrants.
At the start of the pandemic, CIVICUS collated information and resources in an effort to support civil society in defending democratic rights and fundamental freedom.
A report by CIVICUS that outlines some of the many civil society responses to the pandemic.
This report by IDEA shows how in 2021, more countries than ever are suffering from a decline in democratic quality, including in established democracies. More than a quarter of the world's population now live in democratically backsliding countries.
The Oxford COVID-19 Government Response Tracker (OxCGRT) systematically collects information on several different common policy responses that governments have taken to respond to the pandemic on 20 indicators such as school closures and travel restrictions. It now has data from more than 180 countries.
This article featured in The Economist looks into the ways the decline of democracy has been exacerbated throughout the pandemic.
Tech companies, governments, and international agencies have all announced measures to help contain the spread of the COVID-19, otherwise known as the Coronavirus. Some of these measures impose severe restrictions on people’s freedoms, including to their privacy and other human rights.
This interactive map tracks government travel restrictions across the world with latest news following updated legislation.