STATE OF CIVIL SOCIETY REPORT - Civicus
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STATE OF CIVIL SOCIETY REPORT
ABOUT
THIS REPORT
EDITORIAL AND RESEARCH TEAM
Andrew Firmin, Inés M. Pousadela, Mandeep Tiwana
COMMUNICATIONS TEAM
Kgalalelo Gaebee, Thapelo Masiwa, Lerato Pagiwa, Silvia
Puerto Aboy, Matthew Reading Smith, Deborah Walter
CIVICUS STAFF
Cathryn Archibald, Amal Atrakouti, Josef Benedict, Clara Welcome to the 2022 State of Civil Society Report
Bosco, Jack Cornforth, Patricia Deniz, Basma Elmahdi, from CIVICUS, the global civil society alliance. This
Josefina Folle, Tor Hodenfield, David Kode, Débora Leão, Lisa year’s report, the 11th in our annually published
Majumdar, Tlholohelo Mojakisane, Paul Mulindwa, Aarti
series, takes a new, condensed and more accessible
format. In January 2022, CIVICUS launched
Narsee, Elisa Novoa, Carolina Vega Rivas, Hannah Wheatley,
CIVICUS LENS , our rolling commentary and
Susan Wilding analysis initiative that covers the key current stories
involving and affecting civil society. This report draws
TRANSLATORS
from and summarises that analysis, directly informed
Arabic: Alia Youssef Ibrahim by the voices of civil society around the world. It offers
French: Samia Diri a snapshot of civil society’s world as it stands at
Portuguese: Renato Barreto the mid-point of 2022: a world characterised by
Spanish: María Cristina Romanó crisis and volatility, where regressive forces are
mobilising a fierce backlash, but where dogged civil
DESIGNER society mobilisation is still winning vital battles.
Juliana Pecollo
COVER PHOTO: People protest against the Russian invasion of
Ukraine in the Shibuya area of Tokyo, Japan on 5 March 2022.
Photo by Yuichi Yamazaki/Getty Images
DATE OF PUBLICATION: JUNE 2022
4 Overview
8
Economy: demands for
justice and equality
Democracy:
14 change and regression
24
Challenging exclusion:
progress and pushback
35
Environment:
action and denial
43
Global governance:
failings further exposed
49 Acknowledgements
OVERVIEW
When protests take place in authoritarian and where unaccountable presidential power is curbed.
RISING PRICES FUEL PROTEST repressive contexts where other means of In Kazakhstan in January 2022, a sudden sharp
DEMANDS FOR MAJOR CHANGE expressing dissent are blocked, they are often rise in fuel prices led to demands for political and
widespread and massive, and quickly grow to economic reform.
The price of pretty much everything is going up, encompass a wide variety of demands beyond
in country after country. The cost of essentials their initial trigger: demands the political system The Kazakhstan protests were met with violent
like food and fuel is rising most of all, and Russia’s is unable to concede. People push not just for repression, including at the hands of Russian
war on Ukraine is worsening the situation, further different economic policies and new political forces determined to stamp down on demands for
pushing up prices of basics. Many governments leaders but also to change the system. democracy. Violence is a common state response
are failing to protect their people from the when protesters call for the redistribution of power.
impacts. Many people, already strained by the This is what happened in Sri Lanka in March and But state violence is still sometimes insufficient to
pandemic, are struggling to make ends meet April 2022, when economic meltdown prompted by stop protests winning change. Further widespread
while they see fossil fuel companies benefiting a combination of mismanagement and rising prices protests sparked by unliveable economic conditions,
from a boom. They are angered by profiteering brought everyday life to a halt and prompted mass along with workplace organising to demand labour
and price gouging. When the costs of essentials protests, uniting previously disconnected parts rights, can be expected in the coming months – and
rise, protests usually follow. of society to demand a new form of government in some cases those demanding change will win.
2022 STATE OF CIVIL SOCIE T Y REPORT OVERVIEW 4
So often only the ceremony of democracy is on shut down Canada’s capital in February 2022.
DEMOCRACY UNDER ATTACK – AND offer, with no prospect of power being contested. Many forces are spreading and profiting from
THE STRUGGLE TO SAVE IT disinformation, including domestic hate groups,
China continues to offer the global exemplification international anti-rights networks and rogue states,
Military coups have made a comeback, as coup of a state under tight presidential control with zero but with common aims: to normalise extremism,
leaders leverage the overriding preoccupation of democratic freedoms. It’s an influential model attack rights and sow division. Reasoned political
international allies with migration control, stability, that China promotes and autocrats around the debate is only getting harder as sections of the
security and economic opportunity above human world seek to replicate. China is now imposing this public are convinced by blatant falsehoods and
rights. Armies have taken control of Burkina Faso, approach on Hong Kong, whose new leader is the conspiracy theories.
Guinea and Mali, potentially normalising non- security chief who brutally suppressed the 2019
civilian rule again in West Africa, and of Sudan. democracy protests. But there are also successes in mobilising common
Such coups are generally preceded by a decline in fronts to kick out political leaders who foster
the quality of democracy and widespread public The toxic tide of right-wing populism isn’t over polarisation and stoke hatred. This was seen in the
dissatisfaction at the failure of leaders to address yet either. It got its highest-ever vote in France’s Czech Republic in 2021 and Slovenia in 2022. More
pressing problems, meaning that some people April 2022 presidential election and in elections of these victories are possible if pro-democracy
celebrate coups, at least initially. in Portugal, normalising racist and xenophobic voices unite, organise and offer people looking for
political discourse. In the USA, Trumpism has become new ideas plausible alternatives.
Military takeover isn’t the only way to subvert the right wing’s dominant ideological strain.
democracy. In Tunisia the elected president Hungary’s Viktor Orbán triumphed in April 2022 In many countries elections are characterised by
is carrying out a coup in instalments, having despite his close links to Vladimir Putin. political volatility and fragmentation, with large
dismissed parliament, taken control of the groups of voters convinced that incumbents no
judiciary and launched a process to rewrite the In the Philippines in May 2022, years of systematic longer have the answers and willing to embrace
constitution. The situation is similar in El Salvador, disinformation and shameless rewriting of history political outsiders, particularly when they promise
where a president who commands a legislative paved the way for an alliance of two authoritarian action on corruption. This is driving some change
supermajority is removing checks and balances dynasties to win: the son of the late dictator that offers hope for progress in advancing rights,
and tightening restrictions on civil society. Ferdinand Marcos was elected president, with the including following recent elections in Australia,
daughter of the outgoing authoritarian President Chile and Honduras. But the pendulum can just
Where this leads can be seen in Nicaragua, where Rodrigo Duterte as vice president. as quickly swing the other way, and the rejection
President Daniel Ortega has succeeded in his long of incumbency can bring regressive as well as
mission of completely hollowing out democracy In many other election campaigns beyond the progressive outcomes.
from the inside, to the point where he was able Philippines, disinformation is reshaping political
to hold an entirely fraudulent election, enabled by discourse. It’s intensively being mobilised within
mass repression. In Turkmenistan, the result was Russia, preventing much of the public from seeing
so little in doubt that the outgoing president could the reality of its unjustified war on Ukraine.
hand over the office to his son like a family heirloom. Disinformation also helped stir the protests that
2022 STATE OF CIVIL SOCIE T Y REPORT OVERVIEW 5
abortion, withdrawn following strong domestic and refugees as an intrinsic part of advancing
PROGRESS AND PUSHBACK and international criticism. democratic freedoms, fairer economies and climate
IN CHALLENGING EXCLUSION justice. More change can come if new and diverse
Mass displays of the strength of the global women’s movements are nurtured and enabled.
Excluded groups are on the frontlines of attacks on movement, including International Women’s Day
rights, including those offered by politicians who mobilisations, are important for communicating
exploit easy targets and pit different population resistance to repression and aspirations for change.
NOW OR NEVER FOR
groups against each other. Migrants and refugees But women too often remain at the whim of politics. In
CLIMATE JUSTICE
are one such frequent target: the racism behind the Afghanistan, women stripped of rights by the Taliban
customary hostility they receive has been exposed regime now feel abandoned by the international Climate justice is at the forefront of these struggles
by western countries’ entirely different treatment community. In India, Muslim women are in the because a warming world is an intrinsically unfair
of the millions escaping the war in Ukraine. crosshairs of attacks by Hindu nationalists, targeting world where inequalities are intensified. The
them for both their religion and their gender. inherent injustice of climate change has been
There is currently a relentless attack on abortion made visible in the disproportionate impact of
rights led by right-wing politicians working LGBTQI+ rights are another vital frontier in the extreme weather events that most affect those
in harmony with anti-rights groups in Poland fight for respect and dignity, with attacks often who have the least, including extreme heat in
and the USA, among others. But despite the instrumentalised by opportunistic politicians seeking India, devastating floods in South Africa and
challenges there are successes, with recent political advantage, seen recently in the vilification of unprecedented wildfires in Turkey, among many
steps forward across a span of Latin American LGBTQI+ people in Ghana and Hungary. But globally others. Crises such as these expose the weakness
countries, including Colombia, Ecuador, El the normalisation of LGBTQI+ rights is spreading, with of government response, with civil society left
Salvador and Mexico, where restrictions have a changing Chile, in the process of writing a rights- scrambling to help those in need.
been removed or eased. Change often results based constitution, recognising marriage equality,
from court victories that follow years of legal and the people of Switzerland overwhelmingly voting And time to act is running out. The Intergovernmental
action, combined with political advocacy and to do so in a referendum. Even in hostile contexts Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) recent reports
mass mobilisation. Often changes don’t go far such as Honduras and Jamaica important advances make clear that greenhouse gases must be cut
enough and governments drag their feet on have come, through civil society winning cases in the drastically in the next few years to have any hope of
implementing laws and court judgments, but regional human rights system. limiting temperature rises to 1.5°C. It is civil society
they all open up further space for action. that is demanding urgency.
Steps forward often come after years of campaigning
At the same time advances bring backlash, by civil society, which is increasingly modelling and The ultimately disappointing outcomes of the
mobilised by powerful and well-resourced anti- proving the value of diversity. A new, young and COP26 climate summit are an invitation to go
rights groups often linked to US-based conservative diverse generation is forging social movements back to putting street pressure on institutional
foundations with strong ties with fundamentalist beyond conventional structures to realise change, processes. Activism including mass marches,
religious groups. This was seen in a recent attempt demanding racial justice, women’s and LGBTQI+ climate strikes and non-violent civil disobedience
in Guatemala to introduce jail sentences for rights, Indigenous rights and the rights of migrants can be expected to build again ahead of COP27 in
2022 STATE OF CIVIL SOCIE T Y REPORT OVERVIEW 6
Egypt, where governments are urged to commit fuels to renewables, adequately fund global south to exert transnational repression against exiled
to more ambitious emissions cuts. But a major resilience and ensure the costs of transition aren’t dissidents – and seeking to influence international
problem is that civic space is closed in Egypt, borne by those who already have the least. institutions by selective funding, the capture of top
making it hard for civil society to mobilise around positions and undue pressure on other states over
the summit. Without civil society pressure, their voting decisions.
sufficient climate action will not come, making RUSSIA’S AGGRESSION SHOWS
it a bizarre choice to hold climate summits in GLOBAL GOVERNANCE NOT FIT Civil society does its best to engage with international
countries that restrict civic space. FOR PURPOSE institutions but is frequently afforded the lowest
priority, often denied access to the key arenas, with
Vital street action will continue to be supplemented Russia’s war on Ukraine is the latest event to the private sector a privileged participant, even
by other tactics. Climate litigation is growing, expose the inadequacy of international institutions when, as with climate summits, companies are part
leading to some significant court breakthroughs, that are supposed to ensure peace and uphold of the problem.
such as the 2021 judgment in the Netherlands human rights.
that forced Shell to commit to emissions cuts. The ineffectiveness of international cooperation and
Shareholder activism towards fossil fuel firms The United Nations (UN) Security Council, the ability of powerful states to override the rules has
and funders is intensifying, and pension funds are hamstrung by the veto-wielding role of Russia as also been exposed by COVID-19. The development
coming under growing pressure to divest from one of its five permanent members, has been able of a pandemic treaty offers hope that lessons will
fossil fuel companies. In some recent elections to do nothing. The holding of a rare special session be learned before the next pandemic hits, but it will
in countries that are heavy greenhouse emitters of the UN General Assembly only highlighted only be effective if it makes room for civil society in
but that have also experienced severe climate the failure of the Security Council. While the both its development and implementation.
impacts, such as Australia and Germany, more Assembly’s non-binding resolution offered an
voters are making climate a priority. Action on all opportunity for many states to express outrage, The UN has become hidebound and bureaucratic,
fronts is growing. some notably failed to condemn Russia’s clear slow to react, far from the proactive body it was
violations of international law and human rights, envisaged as. And while it often says the right thing
Russia’s war on Ukraine has fostered renewed exposing relationships of influence and patronage. – its voice on issues such as climate change and
awareness of relationships of energy dependency States with restricted civic space have proved far the food crisis is loud – it isn’t always heard. The
and the impunity that states rich in fossil fuels less likely to condemn Russia’s aggression than pandemic and Russia’s war make clear the need for
enjoy: Europe’s need for Russia’s gas is mitigating more democratic ones. an effective UN as part of a rules-based international
international pressure on Putin and helping to order. It’s time to take civil society’s UN reform
fund his war. There has never been a better time There’s a wider pattern of states ignoring international proposals seriously.
to heed civil society’s calls to switch from fossil rules – and not just to start conflicts, but also
2022 STATE OF CIVIL SOCIE T Y REPORT OVERVIEW 7
ECONOMY: DEMANDS FOR JUSTICE AND EQUALITY
Protests to demand economic justice have shaken PEOPLE TAKE TO THE STREETS This was seen in Indonesia in April 2022, when
countries in every region, including authoritarian students protested over the cost of cooking oil, an
states where protesting brings significant dangers. Globally the cost of living is going up, and the price of issue directly linked to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
People are protesting against poverty, inequality, essentials such as fuel and staple foods is increasing It was a similar story in Spain, where increases in
rising prices, unemployment, regressive taxation, the most. Food prices have been rising for years, but food, energy and fuel prices brought thousands to
neoliberal economic policies and high-level they have recently experienced violent hikes, first the streets in early 2022; ominously, far-right party
corruption, mobilising collective action when due to the pandemic and now because of Russia’s Vox tried to capitalise on discontent, as such parties
governments fail to listen to them and institutional war on Ukraine. Over 250 million more people are commonly do. In Cuba, protests were triggered
politics doesn’t speak to their needs. People expected to be pushed into poverty in 2022. by food and medicine shortages. Meanwhile in
continue to organise, as workers, to claim basic Malawi, it was a rise in already high mobile phone
labour rights denied by companies often working Around the world many live on tight margins and data charges what sparked protests in 2021.
hand-in-hand with governments, and a fairer share where even small shifts can leave them worrying
of corporate profits. where their next meal is coming from. Because Many protests, particularly in 2021, also expressed
of this, an increase in the cost of essentials is the anger at the economic effects of the pandemic
most predictable indicator of protests. and lockdown measures, sometimes combined
with protests over governments’ handling of the
2022 STATE OF CIVIL SOCIE T Y REPORT ECONOMY 8
pandemic and high contagion and death rates. decisions without checks and balances and Mass mobilisations came in Colombia too, where
In Tunisia, people have repeatedly protested accountability. Significantly, people united in a protest wave was triggered in April 2021 by
against high unemployment and economic strife, protest across divides – including on ethnic and a proposal to raise tax rates and eliminate tax
a problem made worse by the pandemic and religious lines – that politicians so often take exemptions. As in Sri Lanka, young people were at
something the country’s increasingly dictatorial advantage of. the forefront, and their protests were accompanied
president – see below – has failed to address. In by major labour strikes. Protesters’ demands soon
Paraguay, protests erupted out of frustration with The protests are largely driven by angry, widened to encompass structural issues of poverty,
corruption in the public health system and the frustrated, disappointed citizens. They have inequality and violence, exacerbated by the
government’s ineffective pandemic response. been triggered by the ramification of the economic government’s failure to implement the 2016 peace
crisis. The protesters are demanding long-term legal and agreement and further deepened by the pandemic.
institutional changes to the current governance system Protests were met with brutal force, with dozens
ECONOMIC PROTESTS TRIGGER WIDER that must start with the resignation of the Sri Lankan killed and hundreds injured and detained.
DEMANDS president Gotabaya Rajapaksa and the Rajapaksa family,
the ruling family. Largely led by young people and students, A brutal response was also the state’s answer to
Protests responding to seemingly minor triggers these protests represent a political awakening of an rare protests in Kazakhstan. In January 2022, the
often evolve quickly to articulate demands unprecedented scale.” price of car fuel doubled when the government
for the reversal of regressive policies such as RUKI FERNANDO, Human rights activist and writer, Sri Lanka adopted a free-market approach. The policy
economic austerity measures, and action on
high inflation, declining living standards and
Photo by Buddhika Weerasinghe/Getty Images
worsening inequality. Economic demands are
dovetailing with political demands, with people
calling out their government and politicians
as unaccountable, corrupt and ruling for the
benefit of the rich, and demanding fundamental
political change.
In Sri Lanka protests began in March 2022 when
a mismanaged economy hit crisis point. People
voiced their anger at electricity blackouts, food
and fuel shortages and soaring inflation, and
soon called for the president to quit, along
with the many members of his family who
also held government roles. But beyond this
protesters demanded constitutional change to Sri Lanka:
Once again, Colombia rises in protest
economic meltdown sparks mass protests
limit executive power, so no president can make
2022 STATE OF CIVIL SOCIE T Y REPORT ECONOMY 9
was reversed within days but people stayed on protested at the rising cost of living and stagnating long Indian farmers’ protests, triggered by new
the streets, demanding change in the numerous salaries. Even Oman saw rare protests in 2021 laws that ripped up decades of regulations that
problems that make their lives hard: corruption, as young people called for economic reform, guaranteed farmers a market and minimum
oligarchic power, economic inequality, poverty and an end to corruption, jobs and improved living prices for their goods, leaving farmers fearing
the denial of democracy. The president dismissed conditions. In Ghana, young people also took for their livelihoods. Camped on the outskirts of
his government but then unleashed a policy of the lead, mobilising under the #FixTheCountry India’s capital, New Delhi, the farmers attracted
brutal violence and mass detention, enabled by banner against economic troubles magnified by widespread public sympathy. Fearing electoral
Russian security forces imported to stamp out government mismanagement and corruption. punishment, strongman Prime Minister Narendra
demands for democracy across Russia’s border. Modi eventually backed down and scrapped the
Over a hundred people were reportedly killed. In Argentina, negotiations of a deal with the farming laws in November 2021, but had he acted
International Monetary Fund prompted protests sooner, many lives would have been spared.
Inflation was a driver of protest in conflict-torn in 2021 and 2022 as people sought to resist the
Yemen, in March 2021, triggered by the lack of imposition of economic austerity policies of the Other protests achieved impacts that stopped
payment of public sector salaries, and again in kind that usually bring public service cuts and short of breakthroughs. In Colombia, the tax plan
September, in response to the falling value of increased tax burdens on the least well-off. The was withdrawn and replaced by a more moderate
the currency. It was a similar story in Iran in early move that prompted protests in El Salvador proposal. In Cuba, the government allowed
2022, when public employees, including teachers, in September 2021 was however unusual: the travellers to bring back medicine, food and hygiene
populist president’s – see below – surprise
decision to make bitcoin a second national
Photo by Prashanth Vishwanathan/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Photo by Guy Smallman/Getty images
currency, with protests articulating concerns about
rising inflation, economic mismanagement and
presidential overreach.
IMPACTS AND CONCESSIONS
In many cases, protests were met with violent
repression as they grew and articulated demands
for major change. Even when successful they often
paid this high price.
Perhaps the most successful economic protest
movement in 2021 was also that where the
Kazakhstan: demands for radical change state extracted the heaviest cost: almost 700 India: victory for the farmers
met with lethal response
people died while camped out during the year-
2022 STATE OF CIVIL SOCIE T Y REPORT ECONOMY 10products with no limitations or taxes. In Malawi, status. Migrant workers and people who earn a their unions 135,000 out of the roughly 140,000
an economic recovery plan was introduced in daily wage particularly suffered during lockdowns employed in public schools were penalised with
response to protests. In Sri Lanka, protests have so and had few avenues available other than protest. a three-month suspension. In Vanuatu, similar
far led to the resignation of the prime minister and Workers for companies that benefited from the action met with restriction as the authorities
cabinet and the loss of the ruling party’s majority. pandemic – such as Amazon – are asking for denied permission for a month-long strike called
windfall profits to be shared in the form of better by the teachers’ union.
In most cases, the fundamental changes protesters pay and conditions. People are demanding that
have demanded are yet to come. In those contexts existing labour standards are not sacrificed in In Nigeria, university teachers went on a lengthy
it can said that there remains considerable protest neoliberal economic recovery plans. strike for better pay and funding for education;
latency, with movements likely to re-emerge to students supported them through a movement
rearticulate demands in response to the next Taiwan’s food delivery workers are among those aimed at urging the government to negotiate so
economic shock. seeking to unionise in response to the increased that the problem can be solved, future strikes can be
pressure placed on them by the pandemic. In averted and students can resume their education.
Protests will continue because they have not only Honduras, healthcare workers who played a
arisen from historic centres of protests, such as vital role in pandemic response protested to
workers’ confederations and teachers’ unions, but from demand jobs after thousands were left out
multiple protest hubs in cities and highways around the of work following the expiry of temporary
country where people mobilise with different motivations contracts. Protesters insisted they had been
and due to a variety of situations.” promised permanent jobs but the government
Photo by Students’ Union UI/Twitter
MEMBERS of the Committee for Solidarity with Political went back on its pledge. Migrant workers from
Prisoners Foundation and the Defend Freedom Campaign, Myanmar, based in a special economic zone in
Colombia
Laos, protested after not being paid for months
by their employer; the zone was put in pandemic
STRUGGLES FOR LABOUR RIGHTS lockdown and guards reportedly stopped workers
leaving. Greek workers repeatedly took strike
The pandemic has changed some people’s relationship action in 2021 in response to labour law changes
with work, and in many cases people have become allowing employers to force people to work
more outspoken in making demands for labour rights. longer hours. Although thousands blocked traffic
in Athens, the law was passed.
Many workers – the multitudes whose jobs meant
danger of infection, providers of frontline services Teachers’ strikes have become commonplace, as
and workers delivering orders from online inflation has made low salaries unliveable, but
companies that flourished during lockdowns – felt strikers often face restrictions and retaliation.
unnecessarily exposed to risk, unacknowledged or In February 2022, teachers in Zimbabwe went Nigeria: students hope to go back
to school
underappreciated, and are seeking to raise their on strike over pay demands, and according to
2022 STATE OF CIVIL SOCIE T Y REPORT ECONOMY 11What the Fund Education Coalition wants is for International pressure proved crucial for another seventh-biggest cotton grower, affecting around
the Nigerian government to accede to workers’ breakthrough in April 2022. Following a civil society two million adults and half a million children. Their
demands in the educational sector. With all education campaign triggered by the murder of female Dalit elimination is thanks to the Cotton Campaign,
workers currently on strike, it was only rational for students worker Jeyasre Kathiravel by her supervisor on the a civil society coalition formed in 2007, which
to join them.” factory floor in 2021, a landmark agreement was organised a boycott of Uzbek cotton, signing up
OLORUNFEMI ADEYEYE, Fund Education Coalition, Nigeria negotiated to eliminate gender-based violence and many brands and retailers, and urged international
harassment in factories of the Eastman Exports organisations to put pressure on the government.
Lesotho saw a national strike over several weeks company. The Dindigul Agreement was reached
in May 2021 by workers in garment, shoe, leather by the company and the Tamil Nadu Textile and We have remained convinced of the importance
and textile factories to demand a 20 per cent Common Labour Union, the Asia Floor Wage of centring our campaigning around the demands
pay rise, consistent with the rising cost of food. The Alliance and Global Labor Justice - International of affected workers and civil society and the need to be
minimum wage had been frozen since 2019, and even Labor Rights Forum, along with H&M, the high- guided by independent monitoring and reporting. And we
though the Labour Code requires the government to street chain Eastman Exports supplies. At least 5,000 have learned that advocacy for labour and human rights is
review it, it had failed to do so, blaming the pandemic. mostly female Dalit workers will benefit in the first a marathon, not a sprint. There is power in collective action
The following month, the government agreed to year. With both these advances, efforts are already and commitment by broad coalitions united with a purpose.”
increase the minimum wage by 14 per cent, stopping underway to push other companies to fall into line. ALLISON GILL, Global Labour Justice International
short of protesters’ demands. The government Labour Rights Forum
also extracted an unnecessarily high price for its The Dindigul Agreement includes an enforceable
climbdown: security forces attacked striking workers, brand agreement (EBA), a type of legally binding
Photo by Chris Shervey/CC BY 2.0
with reports of two deaths and multiple injuries. agreement in which multinational companies commit to
use their supply chain relationships to support a worker-
led or union-led programme at particular factories or
CAMPAIGNING BREAKTHROUGHS worksites. This agreement is the first of its kind in India,
the only EBA to cover spinning mills and the first to include
Although the odds are often stacked against explicit protections against caste-based discrimination, a
change, gains can be won. In early 2022, two problem that intensified during the pandemic.”
important labour victories came in India. In JEEVA M, Asia Floor Wage Alliance
February, Shahi Exports, India’s largest garment
company, agreed to pay out around US$4 million Years of civil society campaigning for decent work
in unpaid wages, representing nine months of back standards paid off in Uzbekistan in March 2022,
pay, to some 80,000 workers. Workers took part in when the International Labour Organization
a two-year dispute over the company’s refusal to concluded that the country had eliminated forced
pay the annual cost-of-living increase in the legal labour and systematic child labour in its annual
minimum wage. The company, a major high-street cotton harvest. These abusive practices, directed Civil society campaigning achieves forced
labour victory in Uzbekistan
supplier, also faced international campaigning. by the state, were long widespread in the world’s
2022 STATE OF CIVIL SOCIE T Y REPORT ECONOMY 12A RESURGENCE OF UNION ORGANISING at a warehouse in Staten Island, New York voted to at odds with the image enjoyed by companies
join a new independent union, becoming the first that serve a socially liberal consumer base, which
The USA is currently a hotbed of struggles to unionised Amazon warehouse in the USA. often market themselves on the basis of their
unionise workplaces. Few companies did as well out supposed values. But retaliation only appears to
of the pandemic as Amazon, which saw its profits Amazon workers are providing inspiration to be strengthening the resolve of employees to
and share price soar as homebound people ordered others. In April 2022 an Apple Store in Atlanta, unionise, and as people become aware of the
online, making founder Jeff Bezos one of the Georgia became the first of the company’s 272 US realities behind the labels, public support for
world’s richest people. Amazon vastly increased its stores to file an application for a union recognition labour unions is growing.
workforce too, to the point where almost a million vote. In December 2021, a Starbucks branch in
people now work for it in the USA alone. Buffalo, New York, became the first outlet owned
by the company to vote to unionise. Since then,
Photo by Stephanie Keith/Getty Images
Having experienced the downsides of working at the time of writing, another 16 branches have
through the pandemic, Amazon workers started joined them; only one outlet has voted against
to demand a fair share of the company’s success. unionisation. In May 2022, workers launched
In multiple US cities, warehouse workers are a unionisation drive in upmarket grocer chain
seeking to unionise so they can have collective Trader Joe’s. As momentum builds, key lessons
bargaining over pay and conditions. The company on how to organise are being learned and shared
is answering by applying a comprehensive set of between workers in different outlets, mobilising
anti-unionisation tactics, such as the deployment practical solidarity.
of rapid response teams including former military
personnel and compulsory workplace anti-union Starbucks calls its staff ‘partners’ but, like Amazon,
meetings and propaganda. It used these tactics resists unionisation. It too has hired an anti-union
to win a vote against union recognition at its law firm and held anti-union meetings. In both
warehouse in Bessemer, Alabama, although the companies, numerous staff have reported they
result was subsequently overturned and the have been fired, suspended or had their hours cut
outcome of a second vote remains disputed. But after being active in unionisation efforts, often on Amazon workers strike back
a breakthrough came in April 2022 when workers the pretext of petty offences. These actions sit
2022 STATE OF CIVIL SOCIE T Y REPORT ECONOMY 13DEMOCRACY: CHANGE AND REGRESSION
The processes and institutions of democracy MILITARY COUPS ARE BACK
continue to come under attack in many places,
Photo by Vincent Bado/Reuters
including through military coups, the degradation Military coups are not a thing of the past. Armies
of democratic institutions by elected leaders have taken control of Burkina Faso, Guinea and
and continuing far-right influence in multiple Mali, potentially normalising non-civilian rule again
countries. All these put strain on civic freedoms. in West Africa. The military also seized control of
At the same time there is political volatility and Sudan following the ousting of civilian members
fragmentation. In some countries, elections are of the transitional government, while the death of
seeing new political forces succeed in defeating Chad’s President Idriss Déby in April 2021 prompted
autocratic and divisive leaders, and in many the army to dissolve the government and put Déby’s
others the main trend is a rejection of incumbency son at its head. Coup leaders are taking advantage
as voters seemingly cast around for anything of the overriding preoccupation of international
new to invest hopes in, particularly when allies with migration control, stability, security and
politicians position themselves as outsiders and economic opportunity above human rights.
promise to tackle corruption. Political volatility
can create opportunity for civil society, but also Events marked an abrupt turnaround in Burkina
unlock growing threats. Coup contagion spreads to Burkina Faso
Faso and Sudan, which once brimmed with the
2022 STATE OF CIVIL SOCIE T Y REPORT DEMOCRACY 14revolutionary promise of democracy. These are term limits, as preceded Guinea’s coup. These moves This regressive trend offers a big test of international
countries where people have recent experience tend to meet with little international scrutiny and organisations that are meant to uphold democratic
of ousting longstanding undemocratic leaders and condemnation, as compared to coups themselves. standards, including the Economic Community of
resisting initial military efforts to co-opt revolutions. International reaction only comes when it is too late. West African states. The challenge is that people
have been served a thin and procedural version
Coups like these are generally preceded by The role of international institutions has been one of democracy, in which periodic elections of
widespread public dissatisfaction at the failure of of damage control rather tan damage prevention. questionable quality are held as a box-ticking
elected leaders to address pressing problems such as The UN Integrated Transition Assistance Mission in Sudan exercise; the very idea of democracy is devalued
poverty, corruption and insecurity, including jihadist was deployed to Sudan in 2020 but throughout the months as a result.
insurrection in Burkina Faso and Mali. As a result, prior to the coup and the escalating tensions and differ-
coups often enjoy some popular support, with some ences between the parties leading the transitional period Military rulers usually promise to apply a quick
people taking to the streets in celebration. it remained totally absent. Its mediation role only materi- fix, ousting corrupt leaders and pledging to clean
alised at a later stage, after the axe had already fallen. Re- things up before handing power back to civilian
West Africa’s coups have come in a context where gional institutions such as the African Union and the Arab rule. But often these promises come without a
there is an overall deterioration in the quality of League have played a marginal role.” timeline and military rule becomes entrenched.
democracy, often characterised by flawed elections ABDEL-RAHMAN EL MAHDI, Sudanese Development Mali’s junta once promised elections in 2022 but
and constitutional reworking to erase presidential Initiative
Initiative then delayed the deadline as far as 2025. Military
Photo by Guy Smallman/Getty Images
Photo by REUTERS/Amadou Keita via Gallo Images
Mali: military has no plan to cede power Guinea: no timetable for democracy Democracy in Sudan: back to square one?
2022 STATE OF CIVIL SOCIE T Y REPORT DEMOCRACY 15presidents have a habit of enjoying power and electoral commission and launched a process After the legislative elections, which Bukele
it’s common for them to don civilian suits and to rewrite the constitution from which political won by a wide margin, legal certainty ceased to
hang onto office by holding flawed elections. opponents are excluded. Because he swept exist. As soon as the new legislative assembly formed in
away dysfunctional party politics and because early May, it dismissed the judges of the Constitutional
Public support for coups is variable. In Sudan in the coup has come in stages, many were initially Chamber and the head of the Attorney General’s office.
particular, where the experience of revolution is reluctant to call it a coup. But the president now We had come to trust that the Constitutional Chamber
more recent, people have continued to protest in holds unchecked power while several opponents would protect us from arbitrariness, but that certainty
numbers to demand the restoration of democracy, languish in jail: the label fits. vanished in an instant. Shortly afterwards, the new
braving brutal repression. Constitutional Chamber enabled the president’s
Civic space is shrinking. Although civil society immediate re-election for a second term, so far prohibited
is not yet under direct threat, we believe our by the Salvadoran Constitution.”
DEMOCRACY SUBVERTED FROM WITHIN turn is coming. We have noticed that Tunisian decision- EDUARDO ESCOBAR, Acción Ciudadana, El Salvador
makers hate intermediary bodies, so they have shut
Military takeover isn’t the only way to subvert down parliament, attacked the judiciary and boycotted
democracy. In Tunisia, President Kais Saied is the media. We are probably next on their list, so we need
carrying out a stealth coup, having dismissed to be very alert.”
parliament, taken control of the judiciary and AMINE GHALI, Al Kawakibi Democracy Transition Center,
Tunisia
Tunisia
Photo by Fethi Belaid/Pool via REUTERS/GalloImages
El Salvador’s populist President Nayib Bukele
has been busy sweeping away checks and
balances on power since his upstart party won a
supermajority in legislative elections in 2021. He’s
changed the constitution in his favour, packed
the courts, tightened restrictions on civil society
and independent media and, despite running on
an anti-corruption ticket, dismantled a key anti-
corruption watchdog. Disturbingly, he did all this
with popular support, only running into trouble
due to a bizarre decision to introduce bitcoin as
a parallel national currency in June 2021 – see
above – which ably made the case for why checks
and balances are a good idea.
Tunisia: a dangerous slide away El Salvador: democracy in trouble
from democracy
2022 STATE OF CIVIL SOCIE T Y REPORT DEMOCRACY 16Mexico’s President Andrés Manuel López Obrador was the ruling party that promoted the president’s recall. has now been jailed on spurious charges or forced
offered an example of how elected leaders They stirred up confrontation with the National Electoral into exile to escape prison.
try to game the mechanisms of democracy for Institute to question its autonomy. They cut its budget
their own ends: in April 2022 he bizarrely held a for the installation of ballot boxes and broke the law by It is not only Nicaraguans who do not recognise
recall referendum on himself, something nobody conducting prohibited campaigning from the government the results of these elections: more than 40
asked for, in an attempt to boost his legitimacy. lectern. They deepened polarisation and the stigmatisation countries around the world have not recognised them
The aim seemed to be to position himself as the of those who publicly considered the vote a farce.” either. The government conducted a fraudulent election
voice of the people and strengthen his attacks LEOPOLDO MALDONADO, Article 19 to gain legitimacy, but it failed to do so because no one
on civil society and the media. The ruse however recognises it at the national or international level.”
backfired: he gathered a large vote from his To see where such moves can lead, look no further ANONYMOUS NICARAGUAN HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDER
supporters but on an extremely low turnout, as than Nicaragua’s President Daniel Ortega, who has
most people stayed away to avoid legitimising finally succeeded in his long mission of completely In Turkmenistan, such is the nonsensical nature
his manoeuvre. hollowing out democracy from the inside. In of elections that the president was assured he
November 2021, thanks to systematic repression, he could hand the office over to his son with minimal
The ruling party and president captured and used held an entirely fraudulent election to rubber-stamp disruption, while continuing as the power behind
a tool that is supposed to be activated by citizens another presidential term. Anyone who might stand the throne. Long rule was also assured in Djibouti,
dissatisfied with the job done by the chief executive. It up to him, from civil society to former political allies, where President Ismaïl Omar Guelleh had a fifth
Photo by Central Election Commission via Chronicles of Turkmenistan
Photo by Jorge Cabrera/Reuters
Photo by REUTERS/José Luis González via Gallo Images
Mexico: recall referendum ruse leaves Nicaragua: the king is naked and
Turkmenistan: tyranny mutates into dynasty
no one satisfied everybody knows
2022 STATE OF CIVIL SOCIE T Y REPORT DEMOCRACY 17term rubber-stamped after running against a now in jail or exile, and the Chinese government Jinping has launched a further crackdown ahead
token opposition candidate. In Belarus, dictatorial is making Hong Kong indistinguishable from the of the November 2022 Communist Party National
President Alexander Lukashenko hung onto power mainland, unilaterally ripping up the guarantees Congress that will confirm his third term in power.
through a campaign of mass incarceration when made when British rule ended in 1997. Through a Now non-political online activity and many elements
mass protests followed his blatantly fraudulent manoeuvre that qualified as an election in name of popular culture are under attack, as Xi seeks to
re-election in 2020, sustained by Russia’s financial only, in April 2022 a single candidate for chief eliminate any competitors for the unswerving loyalty
support. In February 2022, a constitutional executive was endorsed by a tiny, handpicked he and the party demands. Such trends in China are
referendum that lacked all substance of democracy electorate sworn to fealty. The unsurprising globally worrying, given its extensive international
extended Lukashenko’s powers and conveniently winner, John Lee, was the security chief who influence, which encourages imitation.
erased Belarus’s military neutrality just days after brutally crushed the democracy protests, making
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine had begun. clear what China’s priorities are.
THE PERSISTENCE OF RIGHT-WING
China has long been infamous for its zero-tolerance Further restriction scarcely seemed possible on POPULISM
approach to democratic freedoms. That has the mainland, but authoritarian President Xi
extended to Hong Kong in the wake of the 2019 The toxic tide of right-wing populism isn’t over
democracy protests that dared stand up to Chinese yet either. The far right got its highest-ever vote
Photo by REUTERS/Lam Yik via Gallo Images
power. Leaders of the democracy movement are Photo by Ina Fassbender/AFP via Getty Images
in France’s April 2022 presidential election, where
Photo by Chesnot/Getty Images
Hong Kong: another step closer to China
Belarus: ceremonial referendum
Xi Jinping’s war on popular culture A close call for French democracy
confirms Putin’s power
2022 STATE OF CIVIL SOCIE T Y REPORT DEMOCRACY 18its power to win even when it loses was on display, to the son and namesake of Ferdinando Marcos, a dictatorship are not even settled yet. More human rights
as candidates from the political centre adopted bloody and corrupt dictator overthrown by a peaceful violations are likely to happen.”
hard-line anti-migrant rhetoric. The January 2022 popular uprising in 1986, backed as vice president by MARINEL UBALDO, Living Laudato Si’ Philippines
election in Portugal, a country that long considered Duterte’s daughter. While competition was far from
itself immune to right-wing extremist appeals, also fair and vote-buying played a role, the autocratic The power of far-right appeals to mobilise around
witnessed the normalisation of the presence of alliance’s resounding victory was also enabled by disinformation was seen in Canada’s capital
the far right in electoral politics. an aggressive, long-term disinformation operation Ottawa in February 2022, where a blockade led
which rewrote history: a significant segment of voters by truckers brought normal life to a standstill. The
Hungary’s authoritarian hardman and global anti- now sees the years of brutal dictatorship as a time of protest came in response to proposed COVID-19
rights figurehead Viktor Orbán triumphed in April prosperity and security they would happily see return. vaccination requirement for truckers crossing
2022 despite a united opposition running against him the border but quickly accommodated an array
and a campaign focusing on his close links to Putin. I fear in a few months or years we will be living of far-right conspiracy theories and extreme
under a dictatorship. Marcos may even be able anti-government sentiment. It provided just one
In the Philippines, hopes of restoring rights were to stay in power for as long as he wants. After trying to example out of many of how disinformation is being
dashed in the May 2022 elections. Incumbent reach power for so long, he has finally won, and he won’t deliberately weaponised to mislead people, warp
authoritarian Rodrigo Duterte, whose ‘war on drugs’ let go of power easily. It’s very scary because the human their understanding of reality and foster division,
has claimed tens of thousands of lives, hands over
Photo by Horacio Villalobos/Corbis via Getty Images
rights violations that happened during his father’s with domestic extremists, globally connected anti-
Photo by Janos Kummer/Getty Images
Photo by REUTERS/Lisa Marie David via Gallo Images
Portugal: continuity comes as a surprise Hungary’s election a grim day
for civil society Philippines: democracy in mourning
2022 STATE OF CIVIL SOCIE T Y REPORT DEMOCRACY 19rights groups and rogue states like China and Russia
Photo by David W Cerny via Gallo mages
Photo by Andrej Ivanov/AFP via Getty Images
all competing in the disinformation industry.
The Canada protests also offered further evidence
of the opportunism of far-right politics, which
has seized on vaccination as an issue, and the
international currents of support, with resources
flowing from the US far right. Dangerously,
Canada’s established centre-right party, reacting to
yet another defeat in the September 2021 election,
echoed and legitimised the far-right rhetoric.
Anti-rights appeals were deployed and normalised
in the very different context of South Korea’s March
2022 presidential election, which increasingly
resembled a race to the bottom on women’s rights.
Canada: trucker protests set off alarms A defeat for populism in the Czech Republic
Flying in the face of a reality of exclusion, winner
Yoon Suk-yeol pitched his election campaign at
disaffected young men, conferring legitimacy
Photo by Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images
on once-fringe myths that some small advances
Photo by REUTERS/Borut Zivulovic
towards gender equality are responsible for young
men’s struggles in the labour market.
But efforts to mobilise broad-based opposition
fronts to kick out right-wing populist leaders won
some successes, seen in the Czech Republic in 2021
and in Slovenia in April 2022. In the Czech Republic,
two opposition coalitions put their differences to
one side to defeat populist Prime Minister Andrej
Babiš and then joined together to form a moderate
unity government. In Slovenia, a new party offered
a fresh alternative to defeat a similar leader, Janez
Janša, known for his attacks on civil society. Both
cases indicated that, since such leaders thrive on Fresh hope for civil society: right-wing
South Korean elections: women’s rights
division, approaches that bring people together the biggest loser populist defeated in Slovenia
and offer new and appealing alternatives can win.
2022 STATE OF CIVIL SOCIE T Y REPORT DEMOCRACY 20The main narrative used by members of the a new party that voters saw as offering a fresh choice between his vision and the neoliberal and
democratic coalition was that we needed alternative triumphed. In both Bulgaria and the exclusionary platform of his opponent.
change, that we had had enough of an oligarch as prime Czech Republic, political change was presaged by
minister, and we wanted to see no more billions flowing mass protests articulating public fury at corruption Peru’s voters similarly faced a choice between
illegally into politicians’ businesses.” and the degradation of the rule of law. two highly contrasting visions in the June 2021
MARIE JAHODOVÁ, Million Moments for Democracy, presidential runoff election. Leftist outsider
Czech Republic
Czech Republic Change is on the cards in Chile, where protest Pedro Castillo beat right-wing political insider
led to a constitution-making process led by an Keiko Fujimori by the tiny margin of 44,000 votes.
unprecedentedly diverse elected body. In December Fujimori then deployed the Trump playbook of
POLITICAL CHANGE AND VOLATILITY 2021 former student protester Gabriel Boric was falsely claiming electoral fraud. This was also
elected the country’s youngest-ever president. attempted by Zambia’s defeated President Edgar
Change came too in Bulgaria and Moldova, where Boric stood on a commitment to build a fairer Lungu, in a context where voters overwhelmingly
establishment leaders associated with grand-scale economy and advance egalitarian, environmental chose change despite the incumbent’s multiple
corruption were ousted; in Bulgaria, as in Slovenia, and feminist values, offering voters a very stark attempts to skew the result.
Photo by Hristo Rusev/Getty Images
Photo by Marcelo Hernández/Getty Images
Bulgaria: new government, renewed hope Chile at the crossroads
between past and future
Moldova: time to break from a corrupt past Zambia’s democracy survives crucial test Peru: time to break the pattern?
2022 STATE OF CIVIL SOCIE T Y REPORT DEMOCRACY 21Voters in Honduras also opted for change, a key factor in the ruling party’s surprise defeat. defeating establishment candidates. The new,
making left-wing Xiomara Castro their first female As well as being committed to climate action – young members of parliament are working across
president, a verdict in part on the extraordinary see below – many of the new independents are sectarian barriers and embedding demands for
corruption that has seen her predecessor, Juan women, offering an alternative to the country’s women’s and LGBTQI+ rights in their calls for
Orlando Hernández, extradited to the USA on drug- prevailing macho politics and the toxic nature of political and economic change.
trafficking and firearms charges. Halfway across the mainstream political discourse.
world, Samoa also elected its first female leader, Despite taking place in an extremely complicated,
Prime Minister Naomi Mata’afa, marking the first Even Lebanon’s hopelessly deadlocked governance uncertain and turbulent political and economic
electoral defeat of a party that had ruled since – where the distribution of power between context, the process resulted in the election of many
1982, and a potentially significant challenge to sectarian groups has long fostered extraordinary new independent candidates coming from civil
patriarchal norms that often see women excluded corruption and perpetuated governments with no society and calling for change. These new voices have
from politics in Pacific Island nations. interest in tackling political and economic problems political agendas that are very different from those
– came under challenge in the May 2022 election. of traditional ruling parties: they call for a new, more
In Australia’s May 2022 election, several independents A cadre of young leaders who emerged from the accountable governance system and for women’s rights,
succeeded in defeating established politicians, protest movement active since 2019 were elected, among other issues. These agendas include road maps
Photo by REUTERS/Loren Elliott via Gallo Images
Photo by Camilo Freedman/APHOTOGRAFIA/Getty Images
Honduras: the end of a cycle? A female first for Samoa Change on the cards in Australia
2022 STATE OF CIVIL SOCIE T Y REPORT DEMOCRACY 22for overcoming the ongoing deep economic crisis. And their seats, and the fragmentation of parties on the corruption struck a chord with voters seemingly
most importantly, they focus on how to stop the political left enabled right-wing business leader Guillermo casting around for anything fresh.
race to the bottom that’s been happening in Lebanon.” Lasso to win the presidential run-off vote. But
LINA ABOU HABIB, Asfari Institute for Civil Society and corruption scandals and neoliberal economic Winners in many recent elections should be aware
and Citizenship,
Citizenship, Lebanon
Lebanon policies meant his popularity was short-lived, with that their victory may have less to do with their
protests suggesting more volatility to come. appeal than with rejection of incumbents. As they
In many of these cases, voters have, when given the become the incumbents, they should be mindful that
chance, dumped established parties and embraced In Costa Rica’s presidential election in February voters will judge them the same way. They must work
newcomers. The volatility of voter preferences is 2022, far many more people didn’t vote in the in the interests not only of their voters but of society
resulting in highly fragmented legislative bodies first round than backed any of the candidates. as a whole and deliver on the anti-corruption and
and presidential candidates making it into runoff In an incredibly crowded field, eventual winner accountability promises made on the campaign trail.
races on low shares of the vote. Rodrigo Chaves secured the support of just 16.8 No one has a mandate to monopolise power, and
per cent of voters. His policies differed little from election winners have a duty to respect and uphold
In 2021, around 70 per cent of Ecuador’s National those of his runoff opponent, but his positioning democratic institutions and processes and enable
Assembly members standing for re-election lost as a newcomer prepared to take on establishment civic space so that civil society can play its proper part.
Photo by Arnoldo Robert/Getty Images
Photo by Franklin Jacome/GettyImages
Photo by REUTERS/Aziz Taher via Gallo Images
Elections bring a breath of fresh air to
Ecuador: political turmoil far from over Costa Rica at the polls: voting or gambling?
Lebanese politics
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