Discover and learn from the Solidarity Playbook on cybersecurity
Strengthening cybersecurity
With increased digitalisation (international) civil society organisations – (I)CSOs – have faced an increase in digital threats and cyberattacks carried out by malicious actors interested in financial gains...
Learn MoreVuka! – Building an international coalition to coordinate and enable civil society’s response to closing space
With its Country Coordination Calls, Vuka!, a coalition of international, regional and national CSOs, manages country-level responses to closing space.
Read the summary and find the full case study at the bottom of the page.
About the coalition
| What launched the coalition? | The recognised problem: how should international civil society respond to the global issue of closing civic space? |
| Who are the members? | Approximately 160 organisations; a diverse range of international, regional and national CSOs. |
| How does it work? | A coalition secretariat and a steering committee; country-focus across 6 action teams. Each member has equal footing to determine the coalition’s priorities. |
Coalition action
| Outcomes | Advocacy and campaigns enjoy greater reach thanks to the diverse membership; national engagement with international and regional bodies is facilitated; organic, bi-lateral connections have been enabled; creative and innovative initiatives incubated and stewarded by the action teams. |
| Challenges | How do you maintain the momentum of country-level conversations? How do you coordinate a response in ‘opening contexts’? |
| Lessons learned | Trust is essential (and enabled by secure platforms); coordination enables identification of key gaps and opportunities; this needs to be backed by ready resources and mechanisms. |
Background to our Pilot Solidarity Playbook Case Studies
This case study is one of six that reviews best practices, challenges, and lessons learned for both ICSO internal mechanisms and coalition responses to scrutiny and attacks. They show positive outcomes and new practices that were initially triggered by an undue threat or attack.
Written by Sarah Pugh and Deborah Doane, these case studies first appeared in an in-house study called “Solidarity in Times of Scrutiny” presented at the International Civic Forum in Addis Ababa in October 2019.
Thanks go to our case study partners for making their learnings available to a larger readership.
The presented case studies reflect the status of when they were first written up in October 2019. Naturally, the political situation as well as the organisations’ and coalitions’ learnings have since evolved and are constantly evolving.
Eva Gondor
Senior Project Manager
International Civil Society Centre
Eva leads on the Centre's civic space work - the Solidarity Action Network (SANE) aimed at strengthening resilience of and solidarity among civil society actors, and the International Civic Forum (ICF), our annual civic space platform to network and identify opportunities for collaboration. Prior to joining the Centre she worked at the Robert Bosch Stiftung (Foundation) in Stuttgart where she managed the foundation’s projects focusing on civil society and governance in Turkey, the Western Balkans, and North Africa.
Islamic Relief Worldwide: Building a Reputational Risk Management Strategy in the face of Islamophobia-motivated attacks
Facing Islamophobia-motivated attacks, Islamic Relief Worldwide, an independent humanitarian and development organisation, developed a strategy to manage reputational risks.
Read the summary and find the full case study at the bottom of the page.
Actions taken by the organisation
| What was the trigger? | Designation as terrorist organisation in Israel and the UAE (2014). |
| What was the internal response? | Reputational Risk Management Strategy, backed by new infrastructure and resources. |
| What measures were taken at the national level? | Country offices received training and support to develop their own strategies. |
Response carried out in practice
| What was the trigger? | Amendment proposed by US congressman to cut US funding to IRW (2017). |
| What was the response? | Collective action taken by IRW, InterAction and the Together Project, including advocacy, political engagement and solidarity action. |
| What were the outcomes? | The amendment was dropped, and their funding was left in tact. Learning has been applied to other contexts. |
Learnings collected by the organisation
| Outcomes | Islamic Relief Worldwide is more prepared and resilient, and they have grown as an organisation since – and in spite of – the designations. |
| Challenges | Costs – legal and lobbyist fees are expensive; staff time is hard to commit to this additional effort on top of day-to-day work. |
| Lessons | Engage with influencers over opponents; make friends while the sun shines and identify your key stakeholders; invest in saying who you are are rather than saying who you are not; fail to prepare, prepare to fail. |
Background to our Pilot Solidarity Playbook Case Studies
This case study is one of six that reviews best practices, challenges, and lessons learned for both ICSO internal mechanisms and coalition responses to scrutiny and attacks. They show positive outcomes and new practices that were initially triggered by an undue threat or attack.
Written by Sarah Pugh and Deborah Doane, these case studies first appeared in an In-house study called “Solidarity in Times of Scrutiny” presented at the International Civic Forum in Addis Ababa in October 2019.
Thanks go to our case study partners for making their learnings available to a larger readership.
The presented case studies reflect the status of when they were first written up in October 2019. Naturally, the political situation as well as the organisations’ and coalitions’ learnings have since evolved and are constantly evolving.
Eva Gondor
Senior Project Manager
International Civil Society Centre
Eva leads on the Centre's civic space work - the Solidarity Action Network (SANE) aimed at strengthening resilience of and solidarity among civil society actors, and the International Civic Forum (ICF), our annual civic space platform to network and identify opportunities for collaboration. Prior to joining the Centre she worked at the Robert Bosch Stiftung (Foundation) in Stuttgart where she managed the foundation’s projects focusing on civil society and governance in Turkey, the Western Balkans, and North Africa.
Greenpeace International: Developing resilience to Strategic Lawsuits against Public Participation suits through joint action
Greenpeace International developed a proactive and collaborative response to the threat and damage of SLAPPs (Strategic Lawsuits against Public Participation) in the US and beyond.
Read the summary and find the full case study at the bottom of the page.
Actions taken by the organisation
| What was the trigger? | Significant Strategic Lawsuits against Public Participation (SLAPP) suit filed against Greenpeace International in the USA (2016). |
| What was the internal response? | Greenpeace International developed a SLAPP Resilience Strategy, recognising legal solutions were not enough. |
| What measures were taken at the national level? | The strategy, developed with Greenpeace USA, involved outreach and engagement work in US. |
Response carried out in practice
| What was the trigger? | A 2nd SLAPP suit was filed against Greenpeace International seeking almost $1 billion in damages (2017). |
| What was the response? | Thanks in part to Greenpeace International’s engagement work, there was a huge backlash from civil society, and the Protect the Protest coalition was formed. |
| What were the outcomes? | Both cases were dismissed (either in part or entirely); US civil society is now attuned to this tactic and responding collectively. |
Learnings collected by the organisation
| Outcomes | Greenpeace International is now better prepared for SLAPPs, and has developed expertise and learning that can be applied elsewhere. |
| Challenges | Engaging other CSOs, and managing differences within a coalition. |
| Lessons | When responding collectively to a specific restrictive tactic coordination is key for spotting opportunities and gaps; finding ways to enable easier participation e.g. by building efficient structures and processes, can help encourage joint action. |
Background to our Pilot Solidarity Playbook Case Studies
This case study is one of six that reviews best practices, challenges, and lessons learned for both ICSO internal mechanisms and coalition responses to scrutiny and attacks. They show positive outcomes and new practices that were initially triggered by an undue threat or attack.
Written by Sarah Pugh and Deborah Doane, these case studies first appeared in an in-house study called “Solidarity in Times of Scrutiny” presented at the International Civic Forum in Addis Ababa in October 2019.
Thanks go to our case study partners for making their learnings available to a larger readership.
The presented case studies reflect the status of when they were first written up in October 2019. Naturally, the political situation as well as the organisations’ and coalitions’ learnings have since evolved and are constantly evolving.
Eva Gondor
Senior Project Manager
International Civil Society Centre
Eva leads on the Centre's civic space work - the Solidarity Action Network (SANE) aimed at strengthening resilience of and solidarity among civil society actors, and the International Civic Forum (ICF), our annual civic space platform to network and identify opportunities for collaboration. Prior to joining the Centre she worked at the Robert Bosch Stiftung (Foundation) in Stuttgart where she managed the foundation’s projects focusing on civil society and governance in Turkey, the Western Balkans, and North Africa.
