Strengthen civil society narratives

Over the year, CIVICUS Lens published 256 interviews and 90 articles, including over 35 focused on the right to protest. Our publications offered a civil society perspective on the major issues of the day, highlighting civil society struggles for democracy, the environment, freedoms, inclusion and social and economic rights, along with civil society responses to conflict and crisis and demands for global governance reform. Our analysis covered all global regions but had a global south focus and prioritised the voices of excluded groups, including women, Black and Indigenous people and other people of colour. We published in multiple languages. 

Emerging trends from this analysis were summarised in the State of Civil Society Report, which highlighted growing restrictions on the right to protest and the resilience of civil society movements, including those mobilising for climate justice, solidarity with Palestine and respect for election results to be respected, as seen in Guatemala. 

Targeted and strategic outreach efforts resulted in increased global media interest in our publications. The State of Civil Society Report was covered or referenced by several media outlets, including Climate Home News and The Jurist. The report’s authors gave interviews to the BBC and VOA, as well as local media, in English and Spanish languages. They published three op-eds and were quoted in more than a dozen published stories. Throughout the year, the research team gave presentations on the report and used its findings to stimulate debate at events organised by members, partners and funders. 

In addition, media partnerships resulted in over 50 articles being published by the global news agency Inter Press Service (IPS), along with 12 CIVICUS-authored articles published by the online magazine Release Peace. Our stories often made IPS’s ‘most read’ list and were republished several times by media around the world, often in translated versions. 

CIVICUS Monitor findings, watchlists and downgrade announcements were also referenced by multiple global media outlets, including Al Jazeera and The Guardian. National coverage of CIVICUS Monitor findings was recorded in Georgia, Germany, Ghana and India. In Kyrgyzstan, the Monitor report was used by the BBC and RFE/RL to challenge an Ombudsperson’s statement that civic space had improved. Members and partners around the world, including a student organisation in Germany, used Monitor findings to inform their internal deliberations. Our media outreach efforts increased the visibility of Monitor findings around key dates such as International Women’s Day, the 30th anniversary of democracy in South Africa and major UN events. 

In February 2024 Devex, a leading independent news organisation covering global development, included CIVICUS in its list of 24 influential global development organisations expected to make a significant impact in 2024.