Resilience in times of crisis

how to strengthen civil society against shrinking spaces

The covid-19 pandemic has provided authoritarian governments in numerous regions of the world an excuse to restrict civil society activities. In various Latin American countries, for example, the scope for NGOs is currently shrinking dramatically. Belarus or Kyrgyzstan and Hungary are also restricting civil liberties and taking repressive action against critical voices from civil society. Authoritarian regimes often deliberately seek to divide civil society. According to CIVICUS, over 70 percent of all people worldwide currently live in so-called „repressed or closed states“, only 3.1 percent in open societies. A decline in political culture and the erosion of democratic principles and values have become a global phenomenon, manifested for example in the lack of acceptance for democratic rules or the lack of recognition of election results.

– Is it possible to counter the „authoritarian learning“ of repressive governments?
– In which ways can civil society actors cooperate in repressive contexts?
– How can civil society organizations continue to cooperate successfully with their partners in the South?
– How can democratization processes be strengthened to enable sustainable development?

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