Coordinate targeted advocacy
Our advocacy works to defend human rights defenders, support community, grassroots and local civil society groups, expand civic space and shift policy and practice at national, regional and international levels. We combine sustained advocacy and campaign work with rapid response to emerging crises, pairing our voice with the amplification of the voices of others.
Human rights defenders
Stand As My Witness will mark its sixth anniversary with in-person regional actions across all regions, co-produced op-eds with partners and coordinated social media engagement. We will amplify five further cases of defenders behind bars through partnerships with Global Citizen and Inter Press Service and organise solidarity moments around key dates and emerging developments. An improved internal referral system will ensure that defenders seeking assistance are directed to the right support quickly. The VUKA Coalition will develop a narratives map grounded in regional experience as a political tool for promoting positive narratives about the work of human rights defenders.
Digital advocacy
Through the Digital Democracy Initiative, we will implement coordinated strategies and actions to advance digital rights policy, platform accountability and internet governance across six regions, working in close collaboration with Regional Support Mechanism partners. The Digital Campaigning and Activism Accelerator will be aligned with our narratives objective, strategically positioning it to reach new audiences and champion a more supportive narrative for civil society and citizen action through the testing of three digital campaign models and the implementation of four targeted campaigns.
Regional advocacy
Our regional teams carry out targeted advocacy, campaigns and solidarity actions shaped by their specific contexts, with particular attention this year to grassroots, local and community groups and networks. Across all regions, we will map out and participate in key forums and convenings to amplify local voices, support partners’ capacities, conduct solidarity missions, engage in the UPR process and UN consultations and organise Diplomats and Defenders Dialogues.
In Africa, advocacy will address civic space restrictions, particularly repressive legislation, and the protection of environmental human rights defenders. We will engage key regional mechanisms, including the African Union, the Economic Community of West African States, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development and the Southern African Development Community, alongside dedicated climate and environmental platforms. We will design a tailored strategy for the Sahel region. Additionally, through the CHARM consortium, which supports activists, journalists and organisations in Sub-Saharan Africa, we will deliver advocacy bootcamps for Central, East, Southern and West Africa, and support five civil society networks to strengthen coordinated responses to threats.
In the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), we will launch a regional advocacy campaign in partnership with HuMENA, host an in-person regional solidarity convening, develop targeted policy briefs and advance the CIVICUS-Palestinian Civil Society Consensus-Building Initiative.
In the Americas, regional advocacy will focus on engagement with the Organization of American States, the Escazú Agreement and the Internet Governance Forum, with targeted country interventions in Ecuador and El Salvador.
In the Asia and Pacific region, we will engage with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights. We will implement follow-up advocacy and campaign initiatives for Myanmar, Papua New Guinea, Thailand and Timor-Leste, hold two to three national consultations and drive targeted national engagement in Bangladesh and India.
International mechanisms
Through our Geneva Hub, we engage with UN Human Rights Council mandates and thematic resolutions, deliver statements and submissions on major UN processes, including the Human Rights Council review and treaty body system strengthening, and conduct bilateral advocacy with member states.
This year, we will support at least 50 members and partners to engage with the Human Rights Council and its UPR process through advocacy visits, online training activities and peer exchanges. We will contribute to General Comment 38 on Article 22 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights addressing freedom of association and the UN Declaration on the right to international solidarity, to be adopted by the Human Rights Council.
Our New York Hub leads CIVICUS engagement at the Commission on the Status of Women, the High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development and the UN General Assembly, convening civil society and diplomatic networking moments at each. We will sustain year-round engagement with coalitions including the 1 for 8 Billion Campaign, the Coalition for the UN We Need, the TAP Network and UNMute Civil Society, and provide input to the General Assembly, Security Council and various UN agencies and member states.
What we are doing differently:
- We are engaging more strategically with international mechanisms, prioritising moments where CIVICUS can leave a durable mark on the normative framework, rather than maintaining a presence everywhere.
- We are building digital advocacy capacity more systematically, developing and testing new campaign models and strengthening the ability of civil society networks to run coordinated responses to threats on their own terms.
- We are broadening our diplomatic engagement beyond traditional allies, recognising that the geopolitical landscape is shifting and that defending civic space at the international level increasingly requires working with a wider and less predictable range of states.