After seeing its reach increase for decades, international support for democracy and human rights faces a serious challenge: more and more governments are erecting legal and logistical barriers to democracy and rights programs, publicly vilifying international aid groups and their local partners, and harassing such groups or expelling them altogether.

This report by the Task Team on Civil Society Development Effectiveness and Enabling Environment provides an overview of evidence of progress on commitments made at the Accra and Busan High Level Forums, as a qualitative contribution to the GPEDC’s monitoring exercise.

Cooperation between public authorities and civil society organizations has evolved significantly over the past few years in countries all over the world, and it continues to grow and shape based on local needs.

In this December 2013 report, Margaret Sekaggya, UN Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights Defenders, discusses how banning unregistered groups and imposing "treason" charges on groups that receive foreign funding are among the regulations that endanger human rights defenders and political rights activists.

Brief guidelines published by Amnesty USA which provide guidance to law enforcement on how to ensure that everyone can enjoy their human right to peaceful assembly, and that the rights to life and to be free from torture and other ill-treatment are respected at all times.

This 2013 study by the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Network examines the legislative framework that enshrines the right to assembly in 13 different countries in the Euro-Mediterranean region and the EU: Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Palestine, Syria, Tunisia, Turkey, Spain, and the United Kingdom.

The CSO Partnership for Development Effectiveness (CPDE) submitted this report to the GPEDC. Citing data from the Civic Space Initiative, it concluded that – despite the Busan commitments – governments have heightened restrictions on CSOs in recent years, particularly regarding access to foreign funding, thereby undermining sustainable and inclusive development.

This 2013 report by the International Network of Civil Liberties Organizations (INCLO) report examines protest case studies from the United States, Israel, Canada, Argentina, Egypt, Hungary, Kenya, South Africa and the United Kingdom, reflecting on several specific topics.

ICNL edited a compilation of chapters written by law professors from six Latin American countries on models, lessons learned, and recommendations for teaching the laws governing CSOs.

In this publication, the ICNL Alliance compares laws pertaining to NGOs in Belarus to international standards and best practices.