The CIVICUS Monitor is a participatory research platform that measures comparative civic space conditions around the world and provides up-to-date information on civic space developments at the national level. As such, it serves as a tool for CSOs, activists, policymakers and other stakeholders to use the information to conduct effective advocacy interventions.

To continue to strengthen our efforts to offer a tool that tracks developments in real time, the CIVICUS Monitor will add a feature in 2023 where every quarter, our regional partners will assess if the civic space situation in a country has deteriorated, improved or remained the same.

This assessment, conducted 3 or 4 times throughout the year, will allow different stakeholders to act promptly and enforce preventive advocacy interventions to prevent further deterioration and escalation of civic space deterioration or provide an opportunity to influence positive change when signals of improvements are showing.

During this session, we will provide a space for different stakeholders to provide feedback and challenge the idea, specifically as to:

1. What we need to consider (in terms of criteria, sources of information, risks and challenges) to build a rigorous yet flexible tool that can serve as an Early Warning System.
2. In the long term, what would be considered a successful tool aimed to prevent civic space deterioration or influence positive changes, and how to measure impact.
3. How to best use this research tool for advocacy purposes.