The CIVICUS Monitor is a cutting edge research tool built by civil society. The initiative aims to share reliable, up-to-date data on the state of civil society freedoms in all countries. Through the interactive world map live updates from civil society around the world can be accessded, threats to civil society can be tracked and it can be learned about the ways in which the right to participate is being realised or challenged.

This new, robust and frequently updated tool collects, curates and communicates the many strands of information about civic space to force governments and private companies to adhere to domestic and international commitments to uphold human rights.

The CIVICUS Monitor offers:

• Ratings of the state of civic space in every country of the world, based on several sources of constantly-updated data.
• News of latest developments in each country, no matter how big or small.
• Updates that reflect the voices of local people and civil society organisations.
• Analysis that takes into account the vast differences between country contexts.
• Information and news that is credible and has undergone a thorough verification process.
• Comparisons between countries and across time.

The CIVICUS Monitor does not intend to duplicate the valuable work of existing resources on civic space. There are annually-updated international indexes of democracy and key human rights indicators, while traditional and social media report numerous stories of disrupted protests and imprisoned journalists.  Yet these sources of information are not triangulated, and the voices of local groups are often missing from prominent international indexes. Information provided at the international level is often months, if not years, out of date, even though the conditions for civil society are volatile and can change rapidly. Advocacy to defend civil society and civic space is thus not as well-informed as it could be, and less effective than it strives to be. The CIVICUS Monitor can help fill this gap by offering well-informed, frequently-updated reports and analysis on civic space developments, available on a global scale.