Each year the CIVICUS State of Civil Society Report examines the major events that involve and affect civil society around the world.
Civil society organisations providing humanitarian assistance to migrants and refugees are being targeted as the world faces a crisis of global compassion. This alarming trend is one of the findings of the State of Civil Society Report 2019, which looks back at the key stories of 2018 for civil society – the most significant developments that civil society was involved in, responded to and was impacted by.
The report covers four key areas in which civil society was active in 2018:
- Everyday issues and people’s protests;
- Challenging exclusion and claiming rights;
- The state of democracy;
- Civil society engaging at the international level.
“Democratic values are under strain around the globe from unaccountable strong men attacking civil society and the media in unprecedented – and often brutal – ways,” said Andrew Firmin, CIVICUS’ Editor-in-Chief and the report’s lead author.
2018 was a year in which regressive forces appeared to gain ground. According to the CIVICUS Monitor, an online platform that tracks threats to civil society in all countries around the world, civic space – the space for civil society – is now under serious attack in 111 of the world’s nations – well over half of all countries. Only four per cent of the world’s population live in countries where our fundamental freedoms of association, peaceful assembly and expression are respected and enabled.
The report makes several recommendations for civil society and citizen action. The report calls for new strategies to argue against right-wing populism while urging progressive civil society to engage citizens towards better, more positive alternatives. These include developing and promoting new ideas on economic democracy for fairer economies that put people and rights at their centre. Notably, the report calls for reinforcing the spirit of internationalism, shared humanity and the central importance of compassion in everything we say and do.
We invite you to read more details at the following link: https://www.civicus.org/index.php/media-resources/media-releases/3806-world-facing-a-global-compassion-deficit-finds-new-civicus-report .
