Across Africa and Latin America, civil society faces an increasingly constrained environment. From restrictive NGO laws and shrinking civic space to rising digital surveillance, polarised narratives, and reduced funding, civil society actors encounter mounting barriers to participation. Yet, networks are responding by organising, connecting, and shaping political agendas in innovative ways. Forus, together with partners in the EU System for an Enabling Environment for Civil Society (EU SEE), the CELAC-EU civil society working group, and the Africa-Europe Civil Society Platform (CSEP), supports this resilience through collective advocacy, cross-regional solidarity, and evidence-based dialogue, leveraging verified early-warning data from 86 countries.
In Africa, EU SEE data from 29 countries highlights serious pressures on fundamental freedoms. Peaceful protests often face intimidation and force, while new association laws are enacted without consultation, threatening the survival of grassroots and rights-based groups. Public narratives frequently delegitimise independent CSOs as “foreign agents,” and digital repression limits online organising. These challenges intensify around elections, constitutional reforms, and anti-corruption activism. However, openings such as Access to Information laws, court rulings, and peace charters demonstrate opportunities for civic influence.
Latin America and the Caribbean face comparable pressures, including restrictive NGO laws, criminalisation of defenders and journalists, funding shortages, digital harassment, and polarised public narratives. Despite these challenges, public trust in NGOs remains high. Positive developments, such as court decisions defending press freedom in Panama, structural reforms in Chile, and environmental protections in Bolivia, show that civil society resilience can shape political outcomes and safeguard rights.
In Europe, civil society generally benefits from stronger protections but faces emerging challenges, including SLAPP lawsuits, digital surveillance debates, far-right narratives, and shifting public funding models. European actors increasingly recognise shared responsibility for maintaining an enabling environment both domestically and in partner regions.
A key insight from EU SEE data is the shift from focusing solely on “civic space” to a broader concept of the “enabling environment,” which includes fair laws, stable access to resources, safe digital spaces, constructive narratives, meaningful participation, and inclusive policymaking. Forus supports this approach by generating early-warning evidence, promoting cross-regional solidarity, and guiding advocacy efforts that strengthen civic resilience.
Through initiatives such as the CELAC-EU Civil Society Working Group, Forus has helped unite Latin American and European organisations, mobilising 190 groups ahead of the EU–LAC Summit to present a coordinated civil society agenda. Bi-regional declarations, including the AU–EU Civil Society and Youth Forum statement and the LAC–EU Civil Society Forum Declaration, translate these shared priorities into concrete political asks, focusing on participation, civic freedoms, digital governance, flexible funding, and accountability.
Forus advances a global theory of change grounded in six pillars: protection of freedoms and digital rights, meaningful participation, sustainable funding, countering delegitimising narratives, data-driven advocacy, and solidarity across regions. This model positions civil society not as a side actor but as a central pillar of democracy, shaping global agendas, defending civic space, and advancing resilience, accountability, and democratic renewal across Africa, Latin America, and Europe.
