PLAC, USAID-SCALE Dialogue Session Agree Push Back on Shrinking Civic Space

Policy and Legal Advocacy Centre (PLAC) held a Dialogue Session on ‘Closing Civic Space – Effect on Advocacy and Freedom to Participate in Governance’ on Monday, 31^st January 2022, in Abuja. The meeting was supported by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID)’s Strengthening Civic Advocacy and Local Engagement (SCALE) project. Civil society organisations (CSOs) engaged in extensive conversations on the shrinking civic space with specific focus on the digital civic space, protection of individuals’ privacy rights, as well as threats to these rights. The participants agreed to take action to protect and expand the civic space. Proposals made at the session include following up on advocacy to review and amend laws at federal and state levels that impact on (digital) civic space, carrying out engagements with State authorities to create awareness on the importance of the work of CSOs.