On 27 June the UN Human Rights Council adopted a resolution on protecting civil society space. This move is extremely welcome, particularly with the latest CIVICUS State of Civil Society Report that again emphasises the growing threat to civic freedom worldwide. But my eye was immediately drawn to the list of voting countries that abstained or rejected the Resolution: Russia, Kyrgyzstan, Kenya, Ethiopia, South Africa and Nigeria to name a few. They include countries where civil society is under pressure through restrictive regulations or other forms of repression, so the voting patterns may not seem surprising.
These are also countries where the credibility and sustainability of many civil society organisations (CSOs) that traditionally have been funded by external sources is in doubt. Shifting aid patterns are part of this, but as funding sources change other problems are exposed, including internal weaknesses and disconnection from communities and citizens. Other authors have made important points on the issue of civil society funding: Edwin Rekosh discusses alternative business models, Jenny Hodgson talks about the imperative of local funding, while Hussein Baoumi addresses the limitations of local philanthropy.
Many organisations have been ill prepared to cope with this serious moment of disruption. Ultimately we are witnessing a confluence of factors affecting the sustainability of different aspects of civil society (its organisations, actors and actions) in different places in different ways. A group of scholars and practitioners explored this in a recent issue of Development in Practice. We find that many organisations—at local, national and international levels—have been ill prepared to cope with this serious moment of disruption.
