CIVIC
SPACE
Areas of action for civil society in pursuing its civic purposes
Civic space encompasses the areas in which civil society operates and the environments that play a decisive role in enabling—or hindering—its ability to act freely and safely. A strong civic space within safe environments enables societies to:
- Build shared public affairs through cultures rooted in free, open, and democratic mindsets.
- Foster social cohesion and trust through interaction and the redistribution of power for the common good.
- Transform themselves to develop more integrated, inclusive, peaceful, and supportive forms of social organization.
- Take ownership of the tools that enable them to shape their own future of democracy, justice, peace, and well-being.
FREEDOM OF
ACTION
The freedom of civil society to organize, act, and contribute to the common good
Civil society encompasses the full range of organized forms of action that arise from and pursue civic purposes, serving the interests and well-being of society. Its activities take place in the following areas:
- Community life, exercised autonomously through association and self-organization.
- Vocations and commitments to socially relevant issues, change, and needs.
- Collective efforts that are purposeful and feasible in support of freedom of action.
- Participation in public debate and decision-making.
SAFE
ENVIRONMENTS
Guarantees for the free and legitimate functioning of civil society
Everywhere in the world, environments must provide the conditions that allow civil society to operate freely and legitimately, without fear. To achieve this, it is essential to guarantee:
- Public recognition and support as a matter of right.
- Protection under national and international law and justice.
- Respect for freedom of action, access to information, and democratic participation.
- Enabling conditions and support for its work, long-term sustainability, and access to resources.
INTERNATIONAL
LAW
Universal rights and freedoms that protect civil society
Under public international law, regardless of context or challenge, every person, society, and humanity as a whole are recognized as full subjects and actors under the law. Consequently, they are entitled to self-determination, dignity, freedom, and peace. These rights are grounded in universal values, rules, norms, and legal instruments. Within this framework, civil society expresses these principles through the individual, collective, and social exercise of:
- The freedoms of association, peaceful assembly, thought, opinion, expression, and communication.
- The rights to life, personal integrity, personal liberty, and human security.
- The rights to participation, free initiative, and action in peacebuilding and humanitarian response, as well as in advancing human rights, justice, democracy, environmental protection, and economic and social development, among others.
STRATEGIC AREAS
PILLARS
We work systematically and periodically on the monitoring, documentation, standardization, and analysis of information regarding the state of civil society and the conditions offered by its environments to guarantee the protection of civic space. We generate knowledge, methods, tools, and historical memory, based on international law standards, which allow for evidence collection, shared analysis, advocacy, and the systematization of learning and lessons regarding the challenges, efforts, and experiences of civil society worldwide.
Analysis and Advocacy
We act in joint strategic advocacy efforts with an impact on public sphere policies and decisions aimed at overcoming obstacles or unsafe environments for civic space, civil society, associative life, and citizen freedoms. This is done effectively and sustainably over time, based on context analysis, the construction of scenarios, the articulation of action agendas, advocacy, and deliberation in national, international, or global spaces, as well as mobilizing the interest and support of public opinion and allied actors.
Defense and Litigation
We participate alongside other civil society organizations in defense and litigation actions before state bodies (parliamentary, judicial, and executive) or within protection systems and institutions (national and international), seeking truth and justice, corrective measures, and guarantees of non-repetition, through accountability, advocacy, defense, and diplomacy, in favor of victims, organizations, and the restoration of safe environments in adverse or closed contexts.
Associative Fabric
We support civil society in the construction and strengthening of organizations, associative fabrics, governance capabilities, and access to resources, according to their vocations, commitments, and work plans. This is done through horizontal, collaborative approaches of equality and autonomy, using an online educational platform, fostering cooperation that supports joint transformative efforts, demanding protection frameworks in safe environments, and building common interests, trust-based relationships, and resilience capabilities in challenging situations or contexts.
Self-Protection and Care
Listening and providing assistance and support to organizations and their members in situations of risk, through tools and practices of self-protection, self-care, and mutual security from different disciplines, building bridges with collaborators and accredited aid services close to the organizations and individuals affected.
ABOUT US
Connecting, strengthening, and protecting civil societies.
We are a community of non-profit organizations that are autonomous, independent, pluralistic, and non-partisan. We are dedicated to advancing knowledge, promoting, strengthening, and protecting civil societies at the local, national, and international levels, in every country and across the full diversity of their forms of action and associational structures.
We believe the world can be transformed into a place that is dignified, safe, and better for all humanity. This is possible when societies organize themselves with full rights and freedom of action, guided by civic, peaceful, free, and democratic principles, to advance human rights, humanitarian action, development, justice, peace, and democracy.
We operate through a multi-level architecture:
- An international organization that builds governance capacities within societies to protect humanity and the rights of every person.
- A network of peer organizations that share a common identity, mission, standards, policies, tools, projects, and services, while maintaining legal and operational autonomy.
- A platform for alliances, consortia, and networks with national and international organizations and institutions to implement initiatives and projects in specific thematic or geographic areas.
Our mission:
- To conduct documentary, historical, and follow-up research on the situation of civil societies, their experiences, and performance challenges, to recover evidence, share analysis, and reconstruct the memory of violations of international standards.
- To promote open and safe civic spaces through the action of free civil societies, recognized and supported in their own right, in environments that guarantee the norms and standards of international law.
- To empower dynamic, robust, and influential civil societies at the forefront of goals, initiatives, and efforts that protect human dignity and have transformative impacts on what affects societies.
- To protect and defend individual, collective, and social rights of a fundamental nature for the legitimate presence, voice, and action of civil societies within legal, political, economic, and social systems.
Our main activities:
- Promote international law norms regarding civic spaces
- Train and accompany civil societies in their actions.
- Understand and report on the status and contribution of civil societies.
- Engage in accountability, advocacy, and litigation in favor of civil societies.
- Mobilize recognition, backing, and support for civil societies.
- Prepare civil societies for risks of rights violations.
- Manage support, protection, and security for civil societies.
- Provide visibility and resonance to the voices and experiences of civil societies.
- Participate in international associations and coalitions.
- Foster dialogue and cooperation between civil society sectors.
