The warning is from Mandeep Tiwana, Secretary General of CIVICUS<\/a> Global Alliance, who points to a troubling trend: civil society is increasingly considered a threat to those in power.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That is a sobering assessment from CIVICUS, which reports that a wave of repression by authoritarian regimes is directly fueling corruption and exploding inequality<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe quality of democracy on hand around the world is very poor at the moment,\u201d Tiwana tells IPS in an exclusive interview. \u201cThat is why civil society organizations are seen as a threat by authoritative leaders and the negative impact of attacking civil society means there is a rise in corruption, there is less inclusion, there is less transparency in public life and more inequality in society.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n His comments come ahead of the 16th International Civil Society Week<\/a> (ICSW) from 1\u20135 November 2025 convened by CIVICUS and the Asia Democracy Network<\/a>. The ICSW will bring together more than 1,300 delegates comprising activists, civil society groups, academics, and human rights advocates to empower citizen action and build powerful alliances. ICSW pays tribute to activists, movements, and civil society achieving significant progress, defending civic freedoms, and showing remarkable resilience despite the many challenges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The ICSW takes place against a bleak backdrop. According to the CIVICUS <\/a>Monitor, a research partnership between CIVICUS and over 20 organizations tracking civic freedoms, civil society is under attack in 116 of 198 countries and territories. The fundamental freedoms of expression, association, and peaceful assembly face significant deterrents worldwide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt is becoming increasingly dangerous to be a civil society activist and to be the leader of a civil society organization,\u201d Tiwana tells IPS. \u201cMany organizations have been defunded because governments don\u2019t like what they do to ensure transparency or because they speak out against some very powerful people. It is a challenging environment for civil society.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Research by CIVICUS categorizes civic freedom in five dimensions: open, narrowed, obstructed, repressed, and closed. Alarmingly, over 70 percent of the world\u2019s population now lives in countries rated in the two worst categories: \u2018repressed\u2019 and \u2018closed.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThis marks a regression in democratic values, rights, and accountability,\u201d Tiwana noted, adding that even in the remaining 30% of nations, restrictions on civic freedoms remain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Repression Tools in Tow<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The ICSW, being held under the theme \u2018Celebrating citizen action: reimagining democracy, rights, and inclusion for today\u2019s world,\u2019 convenes against this backdrop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Multifaceted tools are used by governments to stifle dissent. Governments are introducing laws to block civil society organizations from receiving international funding while simultaneously restricting domestic resources. Besides, laws<\/a> have also been enacted in some countries to restrict the independence of civil society organizations that scrutinize governments and promote transparency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For civil society activists, the consequences are sobering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIf you speak truth to power, uncover high-level corruption and try to seek transformative change in society, whether it\u2019s on gender equality or inclusion of minorities you can be subjected to severe forms of persecution,\u201d Tiwana explained. \u201cThis includes stigmatization, intimidation, imprisonment for long periods, physical attacks, and death.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Multilateralism Tumbles, Unilateralism Rises<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Tiwana said there is an increasing breakdown in multilateralism and respect for international laws from which civil society draws its rights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This erosion of civic space is reflected in the breakdown of the international system. Tiwana identified a surge in unilateralism and a disregard for the international laws that have historically safeguarded the rights of civil society.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIf you look at what\u2019s happening around the world, whether with regard to conflicts in Palestine, in the Congo, in Sudan, in Myanmar, in Ukraine, in Cameroon, and elsewhere, governments are not respecting international norms,\u201d he observed, remarking that authoritarian regimes were abusing the sovereignty of other countries, ignoring the Geneva conventions<\/a>, and legalizing attacks on civilians, torturing and persecuting civilians.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This collapse of multilateralism has enabled a form of transactional diplomacy, where narrowly defined national interests trump human rights. Powerful states now collude to manipulate public policy, enhancing their wealth and power. When civil society attempts to expose these corrupt relationships, it becomes a target.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThey are colluding to game public policy to suit their interests and to enhance their wealth. The offshoot of this is that civil society is attacked when it tries to expose these corrupt relationships,\u201d said Tiwana, expressing concern about the rise in state capture by oligarchs who now own vast swathes of the media and technology landscapes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Citing countries like China and Rwanda, which, while they have different ways of functioning, Tiwana said both are powerful authoritarian states engaging in transactional diplomacy and are opposed to the civil society\u2019s power to hold them to account.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The election of Donald Trump as US President in 2025 has shattered the foundation of the US as a democracy, Tiwana noted. The country no longer supports democratic values internationally and is at home with attacks on the media and defunding of civil society.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The action by the US has negative impacts, as some leaders around the world are taking their cue from Trump in muzzling civil society and media freedoms, he said, pointing to how the US has created common cause with authoritarian governments in El Salvador, Israel, Argentina, and Hungary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The fight Goes On<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Despite facing repression and threats, civil society continues to resist authoritarian regimes. From massive street protests against corruption in Nepal,<\/a> and Guatemala<\/a> to pro-democracy movements that have removed governments in Bangladesh<\/a> and Madagascar,<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cPeople need to have courage to stand up for what they believe and to speak out when their neighbors are persecuted,\u201d Tiwana told IPS. \u201cPeople still need to continue to speak the truth and come out in the streets in peaceful protest against the injustice that is happening. They should not lose hope.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n On the curtailing of civil society participation in climate change negotiations, Tiwana said the upcoming COP30 in Brazil offered hope. The host government believes in democratic values and including civil society at the table.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cPast COPs have been held in petro states\u2014Azerbaijan, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt\u2014which are all authoritarian states where civil society has been attacked, crushed, and persecuted,\u201d he said. \u201cWe are hopeful that there will be greater inclusion of voices and the commitments that will be made to reduce emissions will be ambitious but the question is really going to be after the COP and if those commitments will be from governments that really don\u2019t care about civil society demands or about the well-being of their people.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Young people, Tiwana said, have shown the way. Movements like Fridays for Future <\/a> and the Black Lives Matter<\/a> have demonstrated the power of solidarity and unified action.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But, given the massive protests, has this resistance led to change of a similar scale?<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cUnfortunately, we are seeing a rise in military dictatorships around the world,\u201d Tiwana admitted, attributing this to a fraying appetite by the international community to uphold human rights and democratic values.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cConflict, environmental degradation, extreme wealth accumulation, and high-level corruption are interlinked because it\u2019s people who want to possess more than they need.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Tiwana illustrated what he means by global priorities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe have USD 2.7 trillion in military spending year-on-year nowadays, whereas 700 million people go to bed hungry every night.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAs civil society, we are trying to expose these corrupt relationships that exist. So the fight for equality, the struggle to create better, more peaceful, more just societies\u2014something CIVICUS supports very much\u2014are some of the conversations that we will be looking to have at the International Civil Society Week.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n INPS Japan\/ IPS UN Bureau Report<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By Busani Bafana BULAWAYO & BANGKOK (IPS)\u00a0– From the streets of Bangkok to power corridors in Washington, the civil society space for dissent is fast shrinking. Authoritarian regimes are silencing opposition but indirectly fueling corruption and widening inequality, according to a leading global civil society alliance. The warning is from Mandeep Tiwana, Secretary General of CIVICUS Global Alliance, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9339,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,3,22],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-9338","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-goal10","8":"category-sdgs-2","9":"category-un-civil-society"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inpsjapan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9338","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inpsjapan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inpsjapan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inpsjapan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inpsjapan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9338"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/inpsjapan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9338\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9342,"href":"https:\/\/inpsjapan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9338\/revisions\/9342"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inpsjapan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9339"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inpsjapan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9338"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inpsjapan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9338"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inpsjapan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9338"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/inpsjapan.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Protesting-against-climatrotesters-Protesting-about-climate-change-during-COP25-in-Egypt-credit-Busani-Bafana-IPS.jpg\")