"Civil society in the post-pandemic world", July 01, 2020 

Looking back over recent decades, it is clear that civil society action has been central to every single collective effort that has made our world a more liveable place… Most recently, civil society has been deeply affected by the COVID-19 pandemic… One of civil society’s unique strengths lies in sustaining connections between the local and global levels. But, while our deep roots in local communities are not in question, our leverage in global arenas is being increasingly challenged. Even within the United Nations’ human rights system, in which civil society has long played a vital role, anti-rights forces are on the rise and authoritarian states are attempting to close down human rights scrutiny and challenging the limited access civil society currently has. We also face the challenge of increased access by private corporations, as international institutions respond to financial restrictions with private partnerships… Civil society needs to remain vigilant during the post-pandemic recovery to address the problems of climate crisis and economic injustice, but it also needs to play a bigger role in more technical decision-making arenas, including multilateral financial institutions, like the International Monetary Fund (IMF).