PUBLISHED: OCTOBER 3, 2012

On Tuesday, September 25, 15 governments and several civil society representatives gathered to discuss the Lifeline Embattled CSO Assistance Fund at a side event to the United Nations General Assembly. ICNL was pleased to be one of the CSOs that participated in the meeting, and ICNL President Douglas Rutzen presented remarks on civil society legal trends.

On October 1, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton acknowledged the importance of the Fund in her comments on protecting the rights to freedom of association and assembly:

“In New York last week, the United States was also proud to stand with 15 countries and two foundations that have joined us in supporting Lifeline, a rapid-response assistance mechanism for embattled NGOs.”

ICNL participated in the launch of the Fund in 2011 and is part of the civil society consortium implementing this project.