Active Citizens

Japan’s Right-wing Populist Rise

By Andrew Firmin
Rice queues – something once unthinkable – began appearing around May. As the country’s staple food hit record prices, frustrated shoppers found themselves breaking a cultural taboo by switching to rice from South Korea. It was a symbol of how far Japan’s economic certainties had crumbled, creating fertile ground for a political shift.

The Constitution Isn’t Optional: Why USA Belongs on the CIVICUS Monitor Watchlist

By Mandeep S.Tiwana
Successive United States governments have prided themselves on being governed by the Constitution of 1788. The First Amendment introduced in 1791 lays the foundations for secularism, respect for fundamental freedoms, and the right to seek redress of grievances.

Why Locally Led Development Works and How Funders Can Get It Right

By Naomi Ayot Oyaro and Tais Siqueira
In Uganda, local communities are routinely sidelined in development processes, despite knowing most about their own needs. When a Moroto District officer remarked, ‘This is the first time local leaders were truly heard’, it offered a powerful reminder of what so often goes wrong: development fails when communities are excluded.

‘After Decades of Making Huge Profits, Companies Shouldn’t Be Allowed to Leave Behind a Toxic Legacy’

By CIVICUS

 
CIVICUS speaks with Matthew Renshaw, a partner at a UK law firm that represents Nigerian communities taking legal action against Shell over environmental damage caused by its operations in the Niger Delta.

Two-State Solution Conference Presents an “Exceptional Moment” for International Community – The Elders

By Naureen Hossain
Dignitaries across the international community have convened in New York to promote the two-State Solution - the coexistence of Israel and Palestine as sovereign states - as the only path forward to shared sustainable peace in the Middle East. Former and current leaders from 145 countries and independent groups will speak at the United Nations to demonstrate their ‘near-universal support’ and discuss the steps that need to be taken to achieve it.

Violence Escalates in Sudan as Humanitarian Aid Struggles to Meet Growing Needs

By Oritro Karim
Earlier this month, Sudanese civilians began facing a considerable escalation of hostilities, with the most recent attacks from the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) claiming dozens of lives. Amid a rapidly growing scale of needs and an overwhelming lack of funding, the United Nations (UN) and its partners have struggled to deliver adequate amounts of humanitarian aid.

Protect Women’s Rights, Especially in a Time of Equality Backlash, Say Activists

By Naureen Hossain
Discriminatory laws and the absence of legal protections impact more than 2.5 billion women and girls worldwide in various ways. Legal reform is paramount to securing gender equality, and the world cannot afford to roll back on decades of progress in women’s rights.

‘The Lesson from Gaza Is Clear: When Ai-powered Machines Control Who Lives, Human Rights Die’

By CIVICUS

 
CIVICUS discusses the military use of artificial intelligence (AI) in Gaza with Dima Samaro, a Palestinian lawyer and researcher, and director of Skyline International for Human Rights, a civil society organisation (CSO) that defends digital freedoms and human rights in the Middle East and North Africa. Dima serves on multiple boards focused on civic space and surveillance issues, including Innovation for Change’s MENA Hub, the Surveillance in the Majority World Network and the VUKA! Solidarity Coalition, and volunteers with Resilience Pathways to help Palestinian CSOs counter Israeli efforts to restrict civic space and manipulate public narratives.

Price and Power of Freedom: Celebrating Nelson Mandela International Day

By Jennifer Xin-Tsu Lin Levine
The United Nations celebrated Nelson Mandela International Day in honor of the activist and politician’s lifelong commitment to peace and democracy.

Intersectional Feminist Leadership Needed to Realise Global Goals

By Jesselina Rana
In its 80-year history the UN has never once been led by a woman. As the international community convenes for the 2025 High-Level Political Forum (HLPF) to review progress on gender equality and other Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), this remains a fundamental hypocrisy at the heart of global governance. How can an institution that has systematically excluded women from its highest office credibly champion gender justice worldwide?

From Gaza to Georgia, Human Rights Defenders Pay a High Price for Change. Here’s How You Can Help

By Takaedza Tafirei and Asma Darwish
Across the globe—from Gaza’s rubble to the streets of Tbilisi—people are standing up for justice, dignity, and basic rights. But far too often, they are paying with their freedom, their safety, even their lives.

‘International Demand for Coltan Is Linked to Violence in the DRC’

By CIVICUS

 
CIVICUS speaks with Claude Iguma, a mining governance expert with a PhD in Social Sciences, who is based in Bukavu, South Kivu province, eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

HLPF 2025: Civil Society Is Not A Service Provider – We Are The Frontline Of Transformation

By Christelle Kalhoule and Sarah Strack
As delegates gather in New York over the coming weeks for the 2025 High-Level Political Forum (HLPF), we see this moment as a test. A test of whether world leaders are serious about rescuing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) - or content to let the promises of Agenda 2030 drift quietly into irrelevance.

Sweet Hope to End Bitter Pills for Multidrug-Resistant Tuberculosis

By Busani Bafana
Every day, Yondela Kolweni has to hold down her son, who screams and fights when it is time for his daily life-saving TB tablets—a painful reminder of her battle with the world’s top infectious killer disease. “It is a fight I win feeling awful about what I have to do,” says Kolweni (30), a Cape Town resident and a TB survivor. “The tablets are bitter, and he spits them out most of the time, and that reminds me of the time I had to take the same pills.”

WHO, UNICEF Find the World Is Off Track To Meet Childhood Immunization Goals

By Naomi Myint Breuer
The latest data highlights that the world is off track to meet the targets set by the Immunization Agenda 2030 (IA2030) to achieve 90 percent global immunization coverage for essential childhood vaccines and halve the number of unvaccinated children by 2030.

Man, Sea, Algae: HOMO SARGASSUM’s Stirring Critique of Human Culpability in the Caribbean

By Jennifer Xin-Tsu Lin Levine
The United Nations’ HOMO SARGASSUM exhibition served as a public immersion into the marine world and called upon viewers to take action in the face of the climate crisis, specifically regarding invasive species and water pollution.

NATO’s Trillion-dollar Gamble: The Dangers of Defence Without Accountability

By Samuel King and Inés M. Pousadela
Donald Trump’s bullying tactics ahead of NATO’s annual summit, held in The Hague in June, worked spectacularly. By threatening to redefine NATO’s article 5 – the collective defence provision that has anchored western security since 1949 – Trump won commitments from NATO allies to almost triple their defence spending to five per cent of GDP by 2035. European defence budgets will balloon from around US$500 billion to over US$1 trillion annually, essentially matching US spending levels.

‘Only a Handful of Environmental Organisations Still Dare Challenge Corporate Projects in Court’

By CIVICUS

 
CIVICUS speaks to Cristinel Buzatu, regional legal advisor for Central and Eastern Europe at Greenpeace, about how Romania’s state gas company is weaponising the courts to silence environmental opposition.

How Mongolia Can Expedite It’s Just Transition Plans to Include Its Nomads

By Aatreyee Dhar
Youth activist Gereltuya Bayanmukh still reflects on the events in her formative years that inspired her to become a climate activist. When she was a child, she would visit her grandparents in a village 20 km to the south of the border between Russia and Mongolia.

Bangladesh’s Democratic Promise Hangs in the Balance

By Inés M. Pousadela
When Bangladesh’s streets erupted in protest in mid-2024, few could have predicted how swiftly Sheikh Hasina’s regime would crumble. The ousting of the prime minister last August, after years of mounting authoritarianism and growing discontent, was heralded as a historic opportunity for democratic renewal. Almost a year on, the question remains whether Bangladesh is genuinely evolving towards democracy, or if one form of repression is replacing another.

The Silencing of Hong Kong

By Andrew Firmin
Joshua Wong sits in a maximum-security prison cell, knowing the Hong Kong authorities are determined to silence him forever. On 6 June, police arrived at Stanley Prison bringing fresh charges that could see the high-profile democracy campaigner imprisoned for life. This is the reality of Hong Kong: even when behind bars, activists can be considered too dangerous ever to be freed.
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