The COVID-19 health emergency triggered consequences for our societies, economies and democracies that are unprecedented for Europe in times of peace.
We have changed our lives to protect ourselves and others, and we have all been expected to act responsibly as individuals and as a community.
The need to provide a quick and strong response has increased the use of exceptional powers by the Governments at the expenses of democratic checks and balances.
But the pandemic and its socio-economic consequences have also led to an awakening of active citizenship to ensure, at the widest possible scale, effective access to basic rights that the crisis has put at risk. Many have found creative ways to be useful to their communities, to volunteer for providing support to the weak and vulnerable, to act as watchdog vis a vis the consequences of the democratic and social crises, and to propose societal alternatives.
This page collects civil society’s research, actions and demands to protect civic space and human rights in the present crisis.