The Nobel committee were decisive in highlighting the remarkable contribution that civil society can make to peace and sustainable development. The winners of the Nobel Peace Prize — the Tunisian National Dialogue Quartet, a coalition of Tunisian unionists, employers, lawyers and human rights activists — were pivotal in helping their country's transition to democracy for the third time in the last five years.
This recognition, however, comes at a time when the mounting pressure on such visionary individuals and cutting-edge organizations is curtailing their ability to flourish.
Critically, in the name of “development,” we are witnessing many governments attempting to suppress dissenting voices within their local civil society by enacting a range of restrictions on the freedom of assembly, expression and association. Increasingly, the ability of CSOs to register, operate and/or access funds is declining rapidly.