Civitates dedicates €1.4m in funding to 14 national coalitions defending civic space

Civitates, a consortium aimed at protecting and expanding civil society, has dedicated €1.4m in funding to help 14 national coalitions in Europe address the challenges and opportunities related to shrinking civic space.

Civil society organisations across Europe have voiced increasing concern about the legal and practical limitations affecting their work and their operating environment: including restrictions on freedoms of association, assembly or protest, administrative harassment, budget cuts or difficulties to access funding or reduced access to policy-makers and opportunities to participate in the policymaking process.

Civitates is committed to supporting open civic space and an enabling environment for CSOs in Europe. As such, it supports collective actions from national civil society organisations and initiatives working towards an enabling environment for civil society at the European level.

The funding is for 2022-2023, and the 14 grantees are based across 10 countries. They operate at a national level for a context-specific approach, working with partners from different sectors and cities. Each aims to build solidarity, and the capacity to defend civic space and perform their watchdog role more effectively in their respective countries.

The grantees are:

– RavniBG, and Citizen Participation Forum in Bulgaria

– Centre for Peace Studies in Croatia

– Neon Coalition in Czech Republic

– Italian Coalition for Civil Liberties and Rights in Italy

– Network of Community Organisations for Education, Our Ombudsman Initiative, and The Coalition for Equal Participation of NGOs in Monitoring Committees for the 2021-2027 Perspectives in Poland

– Open Spaces & Civilisation Coalition in Hungary

– Peace Institute in Slovenia

– The Resource Centre for Public Participation in Romania

– Voice of Civic Organisations in Slovakia

– Coalition for Associative Freedom in France

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