The Guide on Good Practices for NGO Regulation outlines key principles relating to the regulation of NGOs, their source in law, and some examples of good practices. NGOs can use this guide when engaging government regulators, other authorities, and their own constituencies to advocate for improved, enabling regulatory practices for the sector. 

ICNL and local partner CCOAIB developed a Compliance Checklist that aims to help legal drafters, NGO regulators and members of Parliament assess compliance of laws with the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights’ Guidelines on Freedom of Association and Assembly in Africa (the Guidelines). The checklist highlights key issues from the Guidelines that can help the user to confirm the provisions within the law that meet the standards laid out in the Guidelines, identify the provisions that may not fully protect the rights to the freedom of association, and provides suggested action to bring the law, policy, or practice in line with international and regional standards governing the right to the freedom of association. The handbook will contribute to NGO regulators being better equipped to implement the current NGO law in a manner that will protect and promote the freedom of association in accordance with international human rights standards. 

This page provides information on African government responses to the coronavirus, using information from the ICNL-ECNL COVID-19 Civic Freedom Tracker. 

A Checklist to assess whether Covid-19 legal measures comply with international legal guidance (the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights Human Rights Based Effective Response to Covid-19 in Africa and the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and association’s Ten Key Principles to ensure measures respect human rights to association and peaceful assembly). 

A Briefer on the international legal framework governing public health emergencies. It covers existing international human rights treaties that set out the parameters for protecting fundamental rights in times of emergency to assist states in ensuring a rights-respecting response.      

This Briefer outlines the Open Government Partnership system and explores how an open government approach can help protect civic space during the COVID-19 pandemic.  

This overview outlines measures introduced by the Kenyan government to address the coronavirus pandemic, noting instances where a measure has restricted or may restrict civic space.  

This overview outlines measures introduced by the Malawian government to address the coronavirus pandemic, noting instances where a measure has restricted or may restrict civic space. 

In Tanzania, ICNL supports the Legal and Human Rights Centre to develop and disseminate various knowledge products and policy briefs analyzing domestic law impacting on access to information, freedom of expression, association and assembly rights. The briefers promote public awareness and facilitate advocacy for an enabling legal environment for CSOs at the national and lower levels.  

With ICNL’s support, the Zambia Council for Social Development (ZCSD) undertook research assessing the impact of the AML/CFT and FATF processes on the legal and policy framework regulating civil society in Zambia, which has enabled targeted advocacy with government through stakeholder dialogues that brought together key actors in the sector and government institutions to address legal obstacles arising from the implementation of FATF recommendations.   

With support from ICNL, the Mzalendo Trust in Kenya undertook a rapid survey on the impact of Covid-19 on public participation of special interest groups (SIGs) in legislative processes, with local partners. The survey focused on women, youth and people with disabilities. It examined the level of involvement of the SIGs in the decision-making processes in the County Government of Kisumu during the Covid-19 pandemic; the effectiveness of the participation of the SIGs in decision-making processes; and challenges faced by both the SIGs and supporting entities in securing their effective participation and adopted measures to address the identified challenges impeding effective participation of the SIGs. Mzalendo convened three virtual forums to discuss the outcomes of the survey and obtain further input from the SIGs on challenges and recommendations.  

In March 2021, with ICNL’s support, HURISA finalized a four-country study on Freedom of Association and Assembly in the SADC Region. This focuses on the Democratic Republic of Congo, Lesotho, Malawi, and South Africa. HURISA hopes to expand the study to other countries in the SADC region in future iterations. Lesotho, Malawi and South Africa. 

ICNL collaborates with several civil society partners, including the Addis Ababa University School of Law, the African Civil Leadership Program and the Consortium of Ethiopian Human Rights Organizations to strengthen the legal enabling environment for civil society and continue to advocate for improvements in civic space protections.

Mzalendo Trust completed a rapid survey on the impact of Covid-19 on public participation of special interest groups (SIGs) in legislative processes. The survey focused on women, youth and people with disabilities. It examined the level of involvement of the SIGs in the decision-making processes in the County Government of Kisumu during the Covid-19 pandemic; the effectiveness of the participation of the SIGs in decision-making processes; and challenges faced by both the SIGs and supporting entities in securing their effective participation and adopted measures to address the identified challenges impeding effective participation of the SIGs. Mzalendo Trust convened three virtual forums – one each for women, youth, and people with disabilities–to discuss the outcomes of the survey and obtain further input from the SIGs on challenges and recommendations.

Network of the Independent Commission for Human Rights in North Africa produced a Handbook on Building Strong Alliances within North African Civil Society for a Free and Open Civic Space: Use of the ACHPR Guidelines on Freedom of Association and Assembly in Africa. The handbook is a resource for CSOs in the region, and is available in Arabic, English and French.

• WACSI developed two training tools to facilitate capacity building throughout West Africa on the effects of anti-money laundering and anti-terrorism legislation on civic space: a Handbook on Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism for Non-Profit Organisations in West Africa; and an accompanying Training Toolkit.