In order to advocate for barrier-free access to resources, civil society organizations need to be aware of the legislation affecting their income. To help organizations build awareness, the USAID Civil Society Engagement Program (CSEP), implemented by the East-West Management Institute, Inc., ICNL, and ECNL formed a team to prepare an assessment of the legal environment for civil society financial sustainability and corporate and individual philanthropy in Georgia.

Politically motivated boycotts have long been a tool for social change in the United States, from American colonists’ boycott of British tea to civil rights activists’ refusal to patronize segregated businesses in the Jim Crow South. Despite this proud tradition, Americans’ ability to use their consumer power to have their voices heard is under new threat after some states have penalized boycotts on positions with which they disagree.

This report, undertaken by a Myanmar civil society organization and its local partner networks, examines the impact of the military coup on local civil society organizations (CSOs), with coverage of how the pandemic and the military’s Covid-19 policies further complicated the operational environment.

With support from ICNL, local civil society organizations (CSOs) assessed the operational civic space for CSOs in Myanmar from December 2021 to April 2022. Led by a local partner with significant experience in service delivery and civic space issues, the assessment obtained first-hand testimonies from organizations operating on the ground in across Myanmar.

With support from the Ford Foundation, ICNL launched a project from February 2020 through October 2022 to address FATF and AML/CFT issues related to nonprofit operations in three countries: Jordan, Tunisia, and Lebanon.

In Uzbekistan, civil society organizations face acute problems with financial sustainability, which significantly weakens their ability to implement public benefit activities. ICNL’s legal analysis reviews provisions of the Uzbek government’s June 2022 regulation on foreign grants, identifies problematic provisions that may impact implementation, and provides a preliminary assessment of its potential impact.

Briefer summarizes these laws and implementation practices governing civil society organization in the 35 Organization of American States member States.

This document was designed to help participants in this process and other stakeholders understand the Principles, advocate for their adoption, assess country laws and practices against the Principles, and convene multi-sector dialogues to discuss the country’s legal environment as compared to the Principles.

In Defending the Right to Protest: Resisting Government Crackdowns on Nonviolent Demonstrators, ICNL provides an overview of critical threats to peaceful protest worldwide and shares important tools that civil society can use to defend and advance the right to protest. 

The Egyptian government has a range of laws to target dissent, and authorities have not hesitated to use them. When preparing for activities around COP27 in Sharm El Sheikh or elsewhere in Egypt, individuals and organizations should be aware that it is nearly impossible to participate in advocacy activities perceived as contrary to the government’s interests without risking severe criminal consequences. This explainer covers these laws.