Civic Spaces in Asia

Promoting evidence based policy actions towards protecting and expanding civic spaces in Asian democracies

Our Focus

Provide evidence of shrinking civic spaces

Actions being taken to defend civic spaces

Suggested policy actions for protecting civic spaces

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The last decade has seen a worrying trend of shrinking civic space around the globe, including emerging and established democracies. Civil society organisations (CSOs) – from grassroots movements to large international organisations and their staff – face vilification, threats, arrests, frozen bank accounts, revoked licenses, blocked websites, coerced registrations and closure of their offices. Civil society activists continue to face worst forms of repression, such as imprisonment, harassment, disappearances, and execution. It in this context that PRIA conducted a research to promote evidence based policy actions towards protecting and expanding civic spaces in Asian democracies.

Objective
The research report will seek to provide the answers to the following questions
• What evidences suggest shrinking of civic spaces in Asian democracies? 
• What actions are being taken by the democracy defenders to protect and expand these spaces? 
• What has been the impact of these actions on actors and spaces? 
• What lessons can be drawn to suggest policy actions for protecting and expanding civic spaces?

Method
The participatory research study will seek to collate the findings of the country partners along the following four parameters:

• Freedom of Association
• Freedom of Assembly
• Freedom of Expression
• Right to Participation

PRIA will adopt a cross country analysis approach for 5 countries this research study.

As an outcome of the process, a synthesis report will be prepared to present the state of the civic space in 6 Asian countries (India, Pakistan, Indonesia, Philippines, Taiwan and Srilanka).

A national dissemination workshop/roundtable was convened by the country partners to share and validate the findings of the study. The findings of the India study was shared in a workshop  convened by PRIA jointly with VANI on 25 July 2017.

• Research study on Civic spaces in India
• Collating the studies for 5 countries to prepare the synthesis paper.
• Preparing for the National workshop
• Convening the national workshop to disseminate and validate the study findings.

This project augments PRIA’s continuing initiative in the sphere of civic space, both nationally and internationally.

Supported by East Asia Institute, Korea