Programme highlights
1
State of Civil Society Report and People Power Under Attack
The State of Civil Society Report and People Power Under Attack provide the understanding that sustains the resistance. Now in its 16th edition, the State of Civil Society Report makes sense of what civil society is doing and why it matters, from local acts of community defence to transnational solidarity movements. People Power Under Attack tracks the conditions in which that action takes place, presenting updated civic space ratings for 198 countries and territories alongside regional and global analysis of trends. Together, they offer the most comprehensive picture available of what resistance looks like and what it is up against.
2
Stand As My Witness
Behind grim statistics of civic space restrictions there are people criminalised and jailed for exercising their rights. Stand As My Witness keeps the spotlight on those people and works to get them out. Now in its sixth year, the campaign combines public mobilisation with direct escalation to United Nations (UN) mechanisms and global and regional forums. This year, we are expanding its reach through in-person actions across regions and amplification of additional cases through media partnerships and op-eds. Our campaign is becoming more intentional in promoting positive narratives about human rights defenders’ vital work and more intersectional in highlighting the distinct experiences of Indigenous, women and young human rights defenders.
3
Emergency support
Through the Crisis Response Fund, we channel financial and accompaniment support to formal and informal groups on the frontlines of repression, providing a lifeline at a time when international solidarity funding is collapsing and traditional donors are retreating. This year, we will support over 50 grantee-partners through the Bridging the Gaps programme, prioritising local organisations and movements that defend human rights, including LGBTQI+ rights and women’s rights, and communities that face exclusion and risk. We will reach an additional 24 through the Flexible Support Mechanism, with at least three quarters of those grants responding directly to early warning mechanism triggers.
4
Civil society narratives
The most powerful counter-narratives to authoritarianism result from people telling their stories in their words. This year, we will publish at least 300 interviews with civil society activists, prioritising underrepresented regions and excluded groups. We will produce 12 podcast episodes on the right to protest. We will launch a new pilot series of 10 in-depth multimedia portraits of activists from the global south, people well known within their movements but largely invisible to international audiences, whose stories deserve to be told and learned from. We will convene journalists and communicators to collaborate to shape public discourse and build the skills that allow movements to do so, and we will deliver four public narrative campaigns.
5
Digital Democracy Initiative
The frontlines of civic space have moved online, and the organisations working closest to the frontlines are often the least equipped to operate safely. The Digital Democracy Initiative builds the digital resilience of civil society from the ground up. This year, it will provide financial and non-financial support to 600 local groups across six regions and deploy a third cohort of the Digital Action Lab alongside a new Civic Tech Lab providing grants to 20 organisations that are developing civic technology innovations. The Tech Accompaniment Programme will deliver tailored technical support to at least 200 CIVICUS members, treating digital capacity as a condition of survival and resilience for organisations operating in restrictive environments.