Paris, July 7, 2022 - The sustained and multifaceted critique of civil society, and of activists in particular, by a growing number of political regimes who outbid themselves in calling into question the legitimacy, independence, and credibility of NGOs and civic actors mobilising around the world, represents a significant and increasing threat. 

To counter this trend, activists have been engaging with an innovative body of work on alternative narrative building - from human rights defenders in Pakistan and community radios in Cape Verde, to organisations calling for transparency in Nigeria, and tech-for-good initiatives in Taiwan.  

“Narratives are a form of power that throughout history have been used to raise awareness and mobilise people, but also to disengage and divide. If we want to find an antidote to the exacerbating political polarization shaking societies across the world, making use of more positive narratives can be the first step to start healing divisions,” says Sarah Strack, Forus Director.  

The new report developed by Forus, a global network of civil society organisations representing over 22,000 NGOs, collects testimonials from 15 NGO platforms and examines how the dissemination of dominant and negative narratives, targeted especially at human rights and gender activists, as well as environmental defenders, is used to keep certain ideas or sets of existing power relations in place. 

“Enabling Stories: How civil society can build new narratives in a world transformed by Digitalization and the Covid-19 Pandemic”, launched during the UN High-Level Political Forum, looks in particular at how recent challenges and trends have functioned as disruptive factors where civil and political participation are concerned.  

The research showcases examples from 15 countries grappling with these problems and trying to transform them into opportunities in their different contexts: Guatemala, Taiwan, Latvia, Bolivia, Paraguay, South Korea, Pakistan, Cape Verde, India, Nigeria, Colombia, the UK, Uganda, Italy and West Africa. 

Since the COVID-19 pandemic, online restrictions have had a chilling effect on those at the forefront of the promotion of human rights and liberties. At the same time, civil society and their communities are using the digital realm to support a power shift and the decolonisation of traditional attitudes, by building understanding of emerging technological developments and their implications for digital rights and equity. 

“The pandemic revealed the costs of the digital divide — it must also be the catalyst for closing it. Because whether we work on climate change, disaster relief, or defending human rights, the collective work of global civil society depends on us being able to fully realize the internet’s power to organize and reach those we serve. We can achieve universal access if we’re all advocates for digital equity and work to connect those communities that have been left out of the digital revolution,” says Chris Worman, co-founder of Connect Humanity, who collaborated on the report.  

As a dynamic and global network, Forus is calling for donors to support the building of technological competencies amongst activists while building alternative, more positive narratives, in order to create an environnent in which civil society can thrive.  

“Donors have a vital role to play in enabling civil society to secure critical regulatory reforms that protect civic space from urgent and growing digital threats, and to develop the narrative competencies to build a collective vision for human rights. As donors we need to work in alignment and at scale to build the civic power of movements able to disrupt and reform the increasing securitization of civic space,” says James Savage, Program Director – Enabling Environment for Human Rights Defenders at the Fund for Global Human Rights, who wrote the foreword of the report. 

For media enquiries or interview requests: 

• Forus International – Bibbi Abruzzini, [email protected], and Sanaa Nadir [email protected]