The regional coalition members of Forus meet regularly to exchange about different topics relevant to all, such as the enabling environment for civil society. Not only does Forus create different spaces for all its seven regional members to lead and participate in,  Forus also supports the implementation of projects on enabling environment by five of its regional members.  

Working at the regional level on this topic is very strategic, as these organisations are able to develop an analysis of the contexts and identify trends and threats around the shrinking of civic space which are common to a specific region. Thus, they are able to create joint action plans which are representative of the different situations in each region, sharing concrete experiences among their members and strengthening their capacity to participate in democratic and governance processes across each region.   

Some examples of activities implemented in the different regions are virtual forums and debates, built to facilitate CSO participation in the development of public policies. Common position papers on the state of democracy and governance are also agreed upon and published, as well as high-level meetings organized in the different countries to present these regional policy positions. Through awareness-raising campaigns, some regional coalitions seek to also involve and mobilize the general public, while others focus on in-depth training to support CSOs in the region. Their shared goal is to counter the restrictions of civic space and contribute to creating societies where citizens can actively and truly participate in social, economic and political development.  

ADA (regional coalition in Asia) for example, jointly produced with Forus, the report on “Realising the Promise of SDG 16 to promote and protect civic space” that stresses sufficient civic space needs to be available for civil society around the world to implement, follow up and review effectively the Agenda 2030. 

The REPAOC network (regional coalition in West Africa) works to improve the relationship between the west African governments and civil society organisations to fight against the shrinking of civic space, for instance highlighting the situation in Togo, where the granting and renewal of accreditations to CSOs have been suspended.  

Finally, in Latin America, MESA published bimonthly legal alerts on their website on situations and regulations that jeopardize the participation and actions of CSOs in public decisions.