Can reversed rights be reclaimed? Confronting the downward shift in civic space. CIVICUS report presentation - Lysa John, Secretary General, CIVICUS
on the Norad Conference - Rights & Resistance 2024
Main points:
🌍 A troubling trend: 30.6% of the global population now lives in countries with closed civic spaces. Over 2.4 billion people face a reality where dissent is met with severe consequences. @LysaJohnSA @CivicusWorld #CivicFreedom #NoradConference
🌍 In Africa and MENA, civic repression continues amid political instability, conflicts, and legacy of coups. Challenges like climate change and inequality are exploited to limit freedoms. @LysaJohnSA @CivicusWorld #NoradConference #Africa #MENA #CivicRights
🚨 A concerning shift in Europe: Established democracies are showing a decline in civic space, paralleling countries with histories of instability and repression. @LysaJohnSA @CivicusWorld #NoradConference #Europe #Democracy #CivicSpace
🗣️ Detentions and arrests are increasingly used tactics against protesters worldwide. People rising against socioeconomic issues and political injustices find their right to peaceful protest under threat. @LysaJohnSA @CivicusWorld #NoradConference #ProtestRights #GlobalProtest
🦠 COVID-19 was more than a health crisis; it became a pretext for some governments to crack down on dissent and limit civic freedoms. Emergency measures and restrictive laws have threatened fundamental rights. @LysaJohnSA @CivicusWorld #NoradConference #Covid19 #CivicSpace
⚖️ Alarmingly, the prosecution of human rights defenders is on the rise globally. From 36 countries in 2019 to 66 in 2023, the trend reflects a growing suppression of those fighting for justice. @LysaJohnSA @CivicusWorld #NoradConference #HumanRights
📜 New restrictive laws worldwide are increasingly targeting civil society activities. Legislation on security, cyber activities, and foreign funding is being used to censor and silence opposition. @LysaJohnSA @CivicusWorld #NoradConference #CivilSociety #LegislativeLimits
We live in a world characterized by war and civil unrest, and authoritarian forces are on the rise. The 1990s' optimism for peace, freedom, and democracy is long gone. Now, authoritarian forces are gathering and forming new, anti-democratic alliances. Millions of people around the world are experiencing that their fundamental rights are under pressure, and the battle for truth is intensifying. Women, activists, indigenous peoples, journalists, and democracy advocates are paying the price. But the fight is not over. People are mobilizing, uniting, and taking to the streets to protest. What can we learn from those who resist? And what role can aid, and development cooperation play in supporting people's rights? At the Norad Conference 2024, we will highlight the consequences of the decline of democracy, women's rights, the struggle for natural resources, polarization, and what happens when social media has become the new weapon in the war for truth. We give the stage to some of those who are at the forefront in the struggles for rights, and challenge academia, civil society, authorities, and the business sector on how we can turn this tide.
#democracy #humanrights #climatechange #civilsociety #civicspace #freespeech #womensrights #indigenous