What is Closing Space Grant-making?

An emerging framework from the Funders’ Initiative for Civil Society

Funders' Initiative for Civil Society

How do we support civil society in a restrictive environment? Can civil society be supported to resist regressive laws and push back against closing space? Purposeful grant-making strategy can bring more success in dealing with the closing space trend.

FICS has grouped strategies to support civil society into two broad categories: resistance and resilience. Resistance strategies are those that support specific efforts to resist closing space and create a more enabling environment for civil society overall. Resilience strategies are those strategies that help ensure civil society continues to operate even if space is closing or closed. Some resilience strategies are critical to enable pushback over time.

Publication date: March 2018