COVID-19 Resources for Civil Society
This page is part of a series of COVID-19 resource pages that we are creating frequently to help civil society actors.
Civilizáció (Civilisation): Coalition-building to fight back against government attacks on civil society in Hungary
The Civilisation, a cross-sector coalition of Hungarian CSOs, came together to defend against government attacks on civil society.
Read the summary and find the full case study at the bottom of the page.
About the coalition
| What launched the coalition? | Democratic backsliding, smear campaigns, and legislative reform concerning funding and registration of CSOs. |
| Who are the members? | Approximately 30 national CSOs form the inner circle of the network; they range across different sectors. |
| How does it work? | A part-time coordinator supports the work; regular in-person meetings occur; there are protocols on decision-making; email lists and info-sharing. |
Coalition action
| Outcomes | Members are now more resilient and better prepared for future threats; solidarity has been strengthend via the first cross-sector network in Hungary; they have conducted engagement with rural CSOs to try and undo the ‘chill factor’ of the government’s attacks. |
| Challenges | The coalition was established in reaction to restrictions, and worked well in resistance; but how do you maintain collaboration in ‘standby’ mode? |
| Lessons learned | How to cooperate, acknowledge different attitudes, approaches, appetites and agendas, and work with the diversity in a cross-sector coalition, as opposed to against it. |
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 Gondorová
Project Manager
International Civil Society Centre
Eva coordinates the project Solidarity Action Network (SANE) which aims at strengthening resilience of and solidarity among civil society actors.
Spaces for Change: From informal networks and collaboration to the Action Group for Free Civic Space in Nigeria
The Action Group on Free Civic Space in Nigeria works to co-create a unified sector position and voice to defend civic space against security-induced restrictions.
Read the summary and find the full case study at the bottom of the page.
About the coalition
| What launched the coalition? | Successive proposed Bills focused on restricting internet freedoms, NGO operations, terrorism financing and anti-money laundering measures. |
| Who are the members? | A cross-sector and cross-regional movement of 61 national organisations and ICSO country offices. |
| How does it work? | This started as an informal, loose network, but has now crystallised into a formal group with a coordinating team, regular meetings and online communications. |
Coalition action
| Outcomes | The coalition built solidarity to ensure that government regulations (framed around national security, anti-money laundering (AML) and countering terrorism financing (CFT)) do not shrink civic space. Within a short time, the coalition grew in strength in numbers, shared expertise and research and built capacity amongst individual activists/bloggers, and created good working relationships with national and international AML/CFT regulators. |
| Challenges | Creating a sense of common ownership for a sector-wide response; balancing inclusion with other considerations e.g. expertise. |
| Lessons learned | It is vital to create a sense of ownership and buy-in, by driving coordination with a ‘back-end’ team. |
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 Gondorová
Project Manager
International Civil Society Centre
Eva coordinates the project Solidarity Action Network (SANE) which aims at strengthening resilience of and solidarity among civil society actors.
Vuka! – 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 Gondorová
Project Manager
International Civil Society Centre
Eva coordinates the project Solidarity Action Network (SANE) which aims at strengthening resilience of and solidarity among civil society actors.
