In response to the pandemic, governments around the world have been enacting new policies to protect public health — including many that are necessary to slow the spread of the virus. But in a time when authoritarianism is also on the rise, some governments are exploiting the public health crisis to impose dangerous policies that could impact civil society long after the pandemic ends.
This group of independent Egyptian human rights organizations have created an ad-hoc coalition to coordinate advocacy around key civic space demands to leverage and influence the existing mobilization of the global climate movement.
The UN Development Programme’s Oslo Governance Centre (UNDP OGC) and Southern Voice, a network of think tanks in the Global South, have conducted a study on how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected governance systems worldwide. It was launched at the global conference, Power Politics and Peace, on 31 May 2022. Read the full report here.
This short commentary by the Fund for Global Human Rights outlines what we mean by 'civic space', how it works, and why it is so important.
Read this Human Rights Watch article on ensuring access to medical care, stopping child-parent separation, and permitting free speech in Shanghai, China.
PDF available to download here.
BACKGROUND
The American Friends Service Committee is a Quaker organization that promotes lasting peace with justice, as a practical expression of faith in action. Drawing on continuing spiritual insights and working with people of many backgrounds, we nurture the seeds of change and respect for human life that transform social relation and systems.
