National Reports

Algeria: New Legislation and Old Mechanisms Take Over All Ambitions for Change

2023

From 2021 to mid-2023, Algeria has experienced the impact of the repercussions of the popular movement. While it sent shockwaves through the foundations of the ruling system, the movement has not thus far succeeded in paving the way for a democratic transformation. The regime successfully exploited the coronavirus pandemic to suppress popular demonstrations and abort all civil society initiatives and political elites that supported the demands of the popular uprising that began in February 2019 to oppose a fifth term…

Bahrain: State of Society and Freedoms

2023

The Kingdom of Bahrain is located on the western coast of the Persian Gulf region. It is a member of the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf (GCC) and adopts a “constitutional monarchy” political system. The Kingdom of Bahrain has a bicameral parliament, consisting of the Council of Representatives and the Consultative (Shura) Council. The Council of Representatives is the legislative body. It is elected for 4 years and comprises 40 members representing four governorates. The members are elected…

Egypt: New Spaces and Traditional Strategies

2023

At the end of 2021, one year after the regime in Egypt expressed its intention to improve the conditions of civil society, many observers noted that this improvement process began to take shape in the middle of 2022. Some cases were closed, and the executive regulations of the Law on Associations were issued after being suspended for more than two years. At the end of summer, a human rights strategy was adopted in Egypt, after which several detainees were released, and the cases of others were referred to courts. These…

Iraq: National Report on Civic Space

2023

The early Council of Representatives elections on October 10, 2021 were a pivotal event in Iraq. The hope was that these elections would be the first step to exit the dysfunctional political reality and to transition towards a system of governance based on the concept of political majority. However, that was not actually the case. The results of the elections instead reflected these increasingly severe social divisions, and they may portend a deterioration of the current situation to unimaginable levels.

Jordan: Reality and Challenges

2023

Jordanian Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) have recently played influential roles in the political, economic, and social fields and served as a public space between the State and people by adopting and defending human rights principles in every sense. This has contributed to their role as a safety valve in protecting spaces of freedom despite the many legislative, political, and procedural constraints governing their work. The political transition process taking place in the country is characterized by two trends:…

Lebanon Report on Civic Space

2023

Lebanon's political, social, and economic reality comprises a number of constants on the one hand and variables on the other. The constants mentioned in the previously published report relate to the nature of sectarianism, a political system based on clientelism and power-sharing between different sects prior to the civil war and then amongst the ruling warlords after 1990, as well as to the nature of the rentier and service economy that has wiped out industry and agriculture, creating an uneven distribution of income…

Mauritania: Civic Space Monitor Report

2023

First: The Political Scene and its RepercussionsThe most recent nationwide development took place during the May 13 elections for Parliament (the National Assembly), in which a total of 178 deputies were elected, the majority of whom hail from the ruling party, with the opposition winning a total collective of 19 seats, distributed among various factions. The sudden election results propelled a whirlwind of criticism and doubts, which represented, according to opposition parties, a return to fraud, intimidation, and…

Morocco: Civil Society Organizations: Dynamic and Challenges

2023

This report debates some aspects of the reality of civic space in Morocco as a space for the work of civil society organizations during the year 2022 and the first half of 2023. First, it focuses on the international and national context and economic, social, and environmental conditions. The report goes on to showcase civil society in Morocco through the relationship between civil society and government institutions, the work of civil organizations, and freedom of association. It will also address access to resources…

Palestine: National Report on Civic Space

2023

Palestinian society is governed by a wide range of laws that hark back to different periods, including Ottoman law, British mandate laws, Jordanian law in the West Bank, Egyptian law in the Gaza Strip, the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO)’s revolutionary law of 1979, and laws that were put in place by the Legislative Council after the establishment of the Palestinian Authority in 1994. In addition to these, there are presidential decrees, legislative decisions issued by the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah,…

Sudan: Civic Space and Indicators of Movement and Expression

2023

In a stunning twist of events on October 25, 2021, Lieutenant General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, who was in charge of the transitional authority and served as the supreme commander of armed forces, staged a coup against his own leadership. It is suspected that some members of the Sovereignty Council and various armed factions that had signed the Juba Peace Agreement might have been involved in the scheme. This goes against the constitutional document that was ratified on August 4, 2019, establishing the transitional government.…

Tunisia: Civic Space Under Threat

2023

Tunisia is witnessing a deep structural crisis that has wreaked havoc on all fields and institutions, including the civic space which has been severely afflicted. Over the last ten years, instability has reigned in the country, amidst a low growth rate and increasing social, political, and economic issues. The situation, however, has worsened since President Kais Saied assumed full power on July 25, 2021, when he dissolved the Parliament, abolished the constitution and declared a state of emergency, which aggravated…

Yemen: Continuing conflict leads to civic space erosion and civil society disintegration

2023

Political and Socio-economic FrameworksPolitical FrameworkAt the theoretical level, there are four governing references in Yemen as follows: The 1990 Constitution, or the Constitution of the “Unitary State”The 2011 GCC Initiative and its implementation mechanismThe 2014 National Dialogue Conference outcomesRelevant international resolutions, mainly Resolution 2216. The three references govern all international resolutions issued by the United Nations, the Security Council, and all its affiliated bodiesIn terms…