Supporting
an enabling environment
for civil society
The EU System for an Enabling Environment for Civil Society (EU SEE) is a consortium of international civil society organisations and network members in 86 countries. The partnership implements an Early Warning and Monitoring Mechanism to document changes and shed light on critical trends in the enabling environment for civil society.
Early Warning and Monitoring Mechanism
The EU SEE consortium assesses these events to trigger alerts indicating significant changes to the enabling environment. The Enabling Environment Snapshots capture the current – downward or upward – trend of the enabling environment for civil society and provide a quick overview of significant events that have occurred over the past four months.
The Early Warning and Monitoring Mechanism focuses on events that impact the enabling environment for civil society in 86 participating countries.
Alerts: types and definitions
Context to Watch
Indicates a context where the status quo is uncertain or under turbulence, with outcomes still unclear and needing to be kept under observation for further developments.
Crisis Alert
Highlights the outbreak and turning points in crises relating to structural issues that have a (potential) significant impact on all EE principles. Aimed at enabling civil society to respond to threats in crisis contexts or take advantage of opportunities to resolve the crisis
Deterioration Alert
Refers to situations that have already occurred and significantly negatively impacted the state of the EE for civil society. Aims to inform and raise awareness about these events.
Early Warning Alert
Highlights situations expected to have a medium to high negative impact on the EE for civil society. Offers a timely alert to influence outcomes and potentially prevent further restrictions or contractions of the EE.
Improvement Alert
Refers to situations that have already occurred and positively affected the state of the EE for civil society. The purpose is to acknowledge and highlight the improvements.
Opportunity Alert
Identifies situations expected to have a medium to high positive impact on the EE for civil society. Presents opportunities to actively support positive outcomes and strengthen the EE.
Latest alerts
Latest resources
News and views
Overview of Alerts February 2026
February was marked by intensifying constraints on the enabling environment for civil society space across multiple regions, even as some positive steps underlined the continued importance of civil society advocacy, such as Nepal’s withdrawal of its restrictive Social Media Bill, and the reactivation of dialogue on regulations to protect the right to protest in Colombia.…
Podcast: Nepal – Hope, Gen-Z and Gender Empowerment Ahead of 5 March Elections
Today’s guest is Arjun Bhattarai, President of the NGO Federation of Nepal and a member of the global Forus network, EU SEE network member. Nepal’s most important election in years is right around the corner. In this timely episode, we talk about the youth-led mobilisation in Nepal, shifts in the enabling environment and — especially…
Hong Kong’s Global Isolation Escalates with 20-Year-Sentence for 78-Year-Old Democracy Campaigner Jimmy Lai
Hong Kong courts have sentenced the longtime pro-democracy campaigner Jimmy Lai to 20 years’ in prison. This sentencing is symbolic of the continued attempts to crush the enabling environment for civil society in Hong Kong and to systematically destroy civic freedoms and the space for cultural exchange. Although the Hong Kong courts are supposed to be independent of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), but this independence has been called into question, particularly in cases involving the National Security Law. China’s National People’s Congress imposed the National Security…
How content suppression is shrinking the enabling environment for civil society
By Clarisse Sih and Bibbi Abruzzini, Forus, EU SEE consortium partners In many parts of the world, the enabling environment for civil society has long been shaped not only by overt bans, arrests, or the closure of organisations, but also by more subtle forms of restriction. Among these is content suppression — a quieter and…
Overview of Alerts January 2026
The start of the year has been marked by heightened political volatility, regional insecurity, and a sharp contraction of civic and democratic space across regions. Positive developments such as the court‑ordered releases of detained activists in Tunisia and funding protections for cultural institutions in India were overshadowed by intensified reprisals against civil society, renewed attacks…
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