Legal Frameworks and Political Space for NGOs – Executive Summary

Operating contexts are becoming increasingly difficult and challenging for civil society groups in many countries around the world. Yet even where restrictive legal frameworks are in place, important spaces for engagement exist. Researchers at INTRAC, the European Association of Development and Training Institutes (EADI) and the University of Portsmouth have explored these issues in two reports covering 12 countries. The first report, published in July 2013, looks at legal frameworks and political space for NGOs in Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Honduras, Kyrgyzstan, Serbia, and Uganda. The second, published in June 2014, covers Egypt, Kosovo, Myanmar, Peru, Rwanda, and Vietnam.

This two-page summary of both reports provides the highlights of the most important findings, the recommendations, and a snapshot of the situation in all 12 countries studied.