Protection and Promotion of Civil Space

As the Charter of the United Nations celebrates its seventy-fifth anniversary, the present Guidance Note seeks to shed light on how best do justice to its promise of “We the peoples”. As the drafters of the Charter and of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights clearly recognized, development, peace and security, and respect for human rights are interdependent, and achieving them requires meaningful, inclusive and safe public and civil society participation. Meaningful participation in turn requires open civic space: an environment that brings a diversity of voices into debates, and safe channels and a vibrant media landscape that allow for peaceful disagreement and dissent.