Illuminating New Solutions and Programmatic Innovations for Resilient Spaces

A thriving civil society is crucial for sustainable, equitable development. Since 2012, however, more than 72 countries have proposed or enacted repressive laws and other measures to curtail fundamental rights to association, peaceful assembly and expression. This ‘closing civic space’ restricts the ability of human rights advocates, development and humanitarian groups and community-based organizations to deliver much-needed health, education and nutrition services.

The Challenge

Both formal legislative measures and informal measures such as anti-civil-society rhetoric in state-run media outlets and the impunity of non-state actors can deeply undermine local civil society change agents working across health, education and nutrition. Under these increasingly difficult circumstances, there is an urgent need to deepen analysis and broaden options for concrete and practical strategies that civil society can proactively implement.

Many current best practices have been developed through a series of ad hoc responses to space suddenly closing, but research examining the effectiveness of these interventions is necessary. In addition, more rigorous testing is needed to identify interventions that can assist CSOs and other in-country actors not only in responding to civic space shocks when they occur, but also in strengthening their proactive resiliency in the face of such threat.

The Opportunity

The Illuminating New Solutions and Programmatic Innovations for REsilient Spaces (INSPIRES) project was developed through a process of co-creation with USAID to better understand drivers of closing civic and political space, and to support USAID’s DRG Center to strategically respond to this growing trend. INSPIRES takes two important and complementary approaches to combatting civic space closures.  First, INSPIRES predictively assesses where, when and how changes in civic space will occur. Second, the project tests strategies to protect and enhance civic space in the face of impending and occurring closure.

Together, the consortium generates evidence to help local and international actors better understand 1) what catalyzes the expansion and closure of civic space; 2) the most effective approaches for navigating these shifts; and 3) how government strategies of closure may vary by context. With this knowledge, they are better positioned to protect civic space and continue their life-saving work.

Our Work

A robust monitoring, evaluation, research and learning (MERL) strategy is embedded into all components of the project technical activities. R4D leads the design and implementation of rigorous qualitative research, consistent and rapid monitoring, and structured feedback and learning loops to adapt and improve the project design and provide guidance to civil society, local partners, and USAID missions about impending civic space closures, what form these closures may take and evidence-based strategies to address closures in diverse contexts.

Resources

As INSPIRES comes to a close in late 2023, R4D is developing a set of evidence-based action and learning briefs to share recommendations from evaluations and research undertaken during the project.  These briefs are designed to support the uptake of learnings and lessons from INSPIRES by civil society organizations, international partners, and donors to strengthen the impact of work seeking to protect civic freedoms around the world.

(Action Brief) Key Findings and Recommendations from a Deep Dive Study of ResiliencyPlus This action brief captures key findings and recommendations from a deep dive study of 10 participating organizations in the second cohort of ResiliencyPlus, one of the core activities undertaken by the INSPIRES project.

(ResiliencyPlus Learning Brief) Process Overview and Key Findings from a Most Significant Change Study of Cohort 2 This brief aims to document the Most Significant Change (MSC) process undertaken with participating organizations in Cohort 2 of ResiliencyPlus, as well as highlight key reflections and lessons learned that came out of it. All the 22 final stories of change from participating organizations are also included in an appendix.

(ResiliencyPlus (R+) Rapid Feedback) Reflections on the difference between R+ and Traditional Capacity Building Approaches This learning brief synthesizes key takeaways from participating organizations and R+ coaching teams on defining organizational resilience, as well as their reflections on key differences between R+ and traditional capacity building models.

(Learning Brief) Flexible and Rapid Response Funding: An analysis of helping and hindering factors.  This brief features results and recommendations from the analysis of data from 46 flexible response activities undertaken by the INSPIRES project to reveal what factors helped these activities be more effective, what factors hindered the activities, and what can partners do to better leverage or mitigate these factors in the future.

(Learning Briefs) Results of Flexible Response Fund (FRF) Process Evaluations.  R4D led a series of process evaluations of individual FRF activities undertaken in countries around the world.  These learning briefs feature the outcomes of those activities as well as helping and hindering factors cited by key stakeholders:

• Improving digital security and safety for activists and journalists in Bangladesh (Internews)
• Developing guidance for better Freedom of Assembly and Association laws in Benin (ICNL)
• Combatting misinformation to address COVID awareness and vaccine hesitancy in Bolivia (Internews)
• Supporting greater digital literacy for students and journalists in Cambodia (Internews)
• COVID Fact-checking and Journalism Training in Central African Republic (Internews)
• Strengthening reporting to combat illegal fishing in the Galapagos (Internews)
• Strengthening independent media for marginalized communities in Ecuador (Internews)
• Promoting independent media during COVID-19 in Ethiopia (Internews)
• Improving access to information on elections for ethnic minorities in Georgia (Internews)
• Monitoring COVID-19 and Freedom of Assembly Restrictions in Georgia (ICNL)
• Supporting journalists against Freedom of Media attacks in Guatemala (Internews) English version
• Supporting journalists against Freedom of Media attacks in Guatemala (Internews) Spanish version
• Improving civil society-government engagement on AML/CFT in Honduras (ICNL)
• Combatting disinformation and human rights violations during COVID-19 in Indonesia (Internews)
• Strengthening freedom of association laws and government-civil society relations in Jordan (ICNL)
• Improving risk assessment methods for the non- profit sector in Kazakhstan (ICNL)
• Improving COVID-19 reporting and journalist health and safety in Kenya (Internews)
• Enhancing COVID-19 information sharing between the government and citizens in Liberia (Internews)
• Conducting legal analysis to improve Mauritania’s Law of Associations (ICNL)
• Supporting improvements in NGO framework laws in Mongolia (ICNL)
• Building evidence on the impact of emergency COVID measures on civic space in Nigeria (ICNL)
• Aligning COVID-19 response measures with human rights standards in Rwanda (ICNL)
• Supporting journalists and journalism on issues of COVID-19 and governance in Rwanda (Internews)
• Building capacity for COVID-19 reporting in South Africa (Internews)
• Tackling COVID-19 misinformation in South Sudan (Internews)
• Improving the laws for media freedom in Tanzania and Zanzibar (Internews)
• Supporting CSOs in Yemen on financial sustainability and bank de-risking (ICNL)
• Supporting civil society, government, and financial sector engagement in Yemen (ICNL)
• Producing COVID-19 and civic freedom media content in Zimbabwe (Internews)

(Learning Brief) Strengthening laws to support civil society This brief features results and recommendations from the analysis of data from 12 flexible response activities that sought to improve laws and legal frameworks for civil society and media, evaluating the strategies, outcomes, and factors influencing these INSPIRES activities.

(Learning Brief) Combating disinformation and misinformation This brief features results and recommendations from the analysis of data from 8 flexible response activities that sought to push back on disinformation and misinformation related to COVID-19 and other issues, evaluating the strategies, outcomes, and factors influencing these INSPIRES activities.

(Learning Brief) Strengthening the financial sustainability of local actors This brief features results and recommendations from the analysis of data from 6 flexible response activities that sought to help local CSO and media partners be more financially sustainable in the face of threats to funding, evaluating the strategies, outcomes, and factors influencing these INSPIRES activities.

(Working Paper) Combating civic space closure in Serbia This qualitative evaluation investigates the results of crosscutting activities undertaken by the INSPIRES project between 2019 and 2021 to strengthen civic space in the country. The paper provides evidence on four key research questions:

• Did INSPIRES activities contribute to new or stronger engagements and collaborations across Serbian civic space actors – and if so, how?
• Did INSPIRES activities contribute to other civic space outcomes – and if so, how?
• Did changes in engagement, collaborations, and outcomes sustain fifteen months after the completion of INSPIRES activities?
• What factors helped and hindered these changes and sustainability?

(Learning Brief) Collaborating, Learning, and Adapting: Lessons for Global DRG Mechanisms. This brief highlights key takeaways and lessons learned from implementation of a robust Collaborating, Learning and Adapting (CLA) approach that was integrated into the INSPIRES project from 2019-2023. It aims to serve as a useful set of lessons and recommendations for future Democracy, Human Rights and Governance (DRG) global programs.