Why Shrinking Civil Society Space Matters in International Development and Humanitarian Action
Jointly published by FICS and the EFC in November 2017, this paper examines how the trend of shrinking space for civil society effects development funders and actors and how they are responding.
This paper is the result of a six month partnership between the European Foundation Centre and the Funders’ Initiative for Civil Society (FICS) to develop better insight into how the trend of shrinking civil society space effects development funders, to increase awareness of the threats to civil society and to discuss approaches that can enable a more effective response to reverse.
Questions explored in this joint paper include: how are development actors and funders experiencing the space for civil society? What are funders doing to engage around re-opening space for civil society? How are they adapting? What are the impacts of the development community’s approach to civil society as a whole?
Publication date: November 2017