ITUC’s Freedom Report on Peace and Democratic Rights denounces shrinking civil space

Democratic rights and freedoms, wages and social protection remain under attack in the majority of countries around the world, and the conditions for peace and equality are absent, shows the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC)’s latest report “Freedom Report: Peace and Democratic Rights”.

The recently-released report depicts peace and democracy struggles in various countries (Algeria, Argentina, Brazil, Ethiopia and Eritrea, Hong Kong, India, The Philippines and Turkey) and analyses different sources of conflict threatening peace, democracy and rights, which are the very foundations for realising the Sustainable Development Goals.

According to the report, the conditions for the “current age of anger” and lack of trust in institutions we are witnessing today are being entrenched as:

• only 30%  of the world’s people believe that their voice matters;
• living standards are not based on minimum living wages and collective bargaining to guarantee decent jobs;
• universal social protection and quality public services are not a bulwark against poverty; and
• equal economic participation of women and inclusion of young people is not guaranteed; and
• fundamental human and labour rights including mandated due diligence with grievance mechanisms and remedy are not enforced.

SOLIDAR shares the concerns highlighted in the report, and firmly believes that civic space is the bedrock of any open and democratic society. Civil society organisations are a key player for our democracy to flourish, and the more the civic space shrinks the less a society can be considered democratic.