Civic space set to take centre stage at the OGP Global Summit
Some important discussions on civic space – in other words, the basic conditions needed by civil society to hold decision makers to account, represent the voiceless and mobilise citizens – are due to take place during the Open Government Partnership’s (OGP) Global Summit in Mexico at the end of this month.
Given the timing of the Summit – immediately after the adoption of the Sustainable Development GoalsOGP countries are experimenting with open government innovations to accelerate progress on the Sustainable Development Goals, particularly SDG 16+ which includes peaceful, just and inclusive societies... (SDGs) – its organisers are keen to make a strong link between more open governance and states’ ability to create sustainable development.
And rightly so. As UN Secretary General, Ban Ki Moon said shortly after the adoption of the SDGs, to achieve these ambitious goals we will need ‘action from everyone’, ‘high level political commitment’ and ‘a new global partnership’. And what better place to begin that work than the OGP Global Summit which will bring together over 1,500 civil society, government, and business leaders from around the world?
But the OGP Global Summit is timely for another very important reason.
In 2015, civic space is facing an unprecedented assault. CIVICUS uncovered substantial violations of the freedoms of association, peaceful assembly and expression in 96 countries in 2014. Examples of these violations include the politically-motivated prosecutions of activists uncovering rights violations, physical attacks on peaceful protestors demanding better governance and restrictive new laws to impede civil society organisations in their work to create more just societies.
The trend towards closing civic space cannot be separated from attempts to improve governance. In fact, these attacks on civil society threaten to undermine the potential for positive change that lies within each of the more than 2,000 commitments to open government already made by OGP states.
We applaud the 66 states that have so far joined the OGP and committed themselves to more open and equitable partnerships with their citizens. However, much more needs to be done to realise these commitments in practice. In particular, none of us can ignore the many grave attacks on civil society taking place on a daily basis, in all parts of the world.
It is encouraging then to see that this year’s OGP Global Summit has included a strong emphasis on discussing civic space. With important discussions being led by key civil society groups such as Oxfam, World JusticeTo address barriers that prevent citizens from having their justice needs met, OGP participating governments are working to expand transparency, accountability, and inclusion into all systems of justi... Project, International Center for Not-for-Profit Law, Article 19, Open Democracy Advice Centre, CIVICUS and others, participants at the OGP Summit will have the opportunity to debate the current situation and learn about new strategies to fight back.
New ways of tracking and measuring of violations of civic space are critical to this fight back and also to realise SDG and OGP commitments. At its session, CIVICUS will introduce the Civic Space Monitor, a web-based platform currently under development that aims to provide accurate, verified and up-to-date information on civic space in every country in the world. We hope civil society, the media and governments will use this information to better understand and respond proactively to reverse negative trends undermining the work of thousands of committed civil society organisations and activists around the globe.
The Global Summit will be a great opportunity to strengthen these new approaches together with our civil society colleagues. We also look forward to the opportunity for dialogue with state representatives, who have a key role to play in protecting civic space. We are also eager to learn from best practices in states where progressive policies to strengthen the enabling environment for civil society are already being implemented.
If you are attending the OGP Global Summit and want to know more about new CIVICUS tools and to share you own experiences of closing civic space, you are welcome to join the discussion at our session titled ‘Civic Space Monitor – a new tool for tracking civic space’ on October 29 from 2-3pm. This will be a great opportunity to explore the tool in more detail and interact hear from our expert panelists from the Balkan Civil Society Development Network (BCSDN), the Open Democracy Advice Centre (ODAC) and Instituto de Comunicación y Desarrollo (ICD).
To read more about the Civic Space Monitor and CIVICUS’ other new tool the Civic Pulse, here is a recent OGP Blog post from September 2015.
