As the COVID-19 pandemic upends societies and economies, most governments around the world have responded swiftly and decisively. Many have taken far-reaching decisions and adopted legislation granting them temporary powers to contain both the virus and its socioeconomic impact, and rightly so. Many countries, however, have experienced a dramatic shrinking of civic space, an increase in human rights violations, and draconian measures against civil society. Civic rights groups and human rights watchdogs in all regions have reported arrests of human rights activists, limitations to freedom of the press, severe restrictions on the right to digital privacy, and other incidents.

Many of the measures put in place by governments reflect a legitimate commitment to contain the virus, but there are concerns that COVID-19 has been systematically invoked at times, unwarrantedly and illegitimately, to restrict the right to freedoms of expression, assembly, association, and other fundamental human rights.

Among the leading government voices in the coalition to protect civic space is Denmark. Its ambassador to the UN, Martin Bille Hermann, said that voices of civil society are being reduced in about half of all countries during the pandemic. “We need an active and vibrant civil society to hold us accountable,” he said, “not least during a period with extraordinary and temporary government legislation in place.”

Sofia Borges of the UN Foundation, and the former permanent representative of Timor-Leste, said the pandemic is laying bare deep global inequalities. “In the rush to resume business as usual, there is a danger of exclusion and marginalization,” she said. “We need to push back on the pushback and elevate voices from civil society, especially from the Global South, including finding ways to overcome the digital divide.”

Read the full article about protecting civil society by Thure Krarup at United Nations Foundation.