PUBLISHED: MAY 6, 2015

The International Center for Not-for-Profit Law (ICNL) and the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency are pleased to announce the Global Forum 2015: Shaping Civic Space. This invitation-only event will bring together over 200 of the world’s leading experts in civil society, government, multilateral institutions, and the donor community – all there to help shape the future of civic space.

The Global Forum 2015 is made possible by the generous support of the Government of Sweden through the Civic Space Initiative. Organized by ICNL, it will take place in Stockholm, Sweden from May 10-12, 2015.  The Global Forum is a one-of-a-kind platform bringing together leading thinkers with the aim of assessing where civil society stands – and how to make it stand taller.

This year’s Forum is marked by a sense of urgency unlike any other in recent times. In too many places, governments are becoming increasingly creative in their efforts to shrink civic space. At the Global Forum, we will advance the field of civil society law to turn the tide against shrinking space.

Among others, speakers will include:

• Charlotte Petri Gornitzka, Director-General, Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency
• Maria Leissner, Secretary General, Community of Democracies
• Maina Kiai, United Nations Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association

Participants from eighty countries will discuss foreign agent laws, hate speech and the freedom of expression, the Post-2015 development agenda, mass protests, government surveillance, counter-terrorism, restrictions on LGBT rights, and other cutting-edge issues affecting civil society space.

For more information on the Global Forum, please visit www.icnl.org/globalforum2015.

This event is organized by the International Center for Not-for-Profit Law (ICNL), through the Civic Space Initiative, implemented in partnership with ARTICLE 19, CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation, and the World Movement for Democracy.