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Civic Space

Civic space is the place where individuals realise their rights – both online and offline. It is the space where we participate, express, assemble, and inform ourselves.

The global Civic Space score has decreased over the past decade, with no change between 2017 and 2018. The Americas have seen deterioration in their civic space, with crises in countries such as Venezuela,  Nicaragua, and Brazil where protest and public participation have been met with restrictions, both in law and on the streets.

While Africa, and the Middle East and North Africa, are seeing improvements in their Civic Space scores over 2018, they are still facing significant challenges, and their upturn in scores must be met with caution.

Table 6: Civic Space scores for each region, 2008–18

  2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
Africa 0.45 0.44 0.45 0.44 0.44 0.44 0.44 0.44 0.42 0.42 0.43
Americas 0.64 0.64 0.64 0.64 0.63 0.61 0.61 0.61 0.61 0.59 0.59
APAa 0.48 0.49 0.49 0.49 0.48 0.47 0.47 0.47 0.46 0.46 0.45
ECAb 0.69 0.69 0.70 0.70 0.69 0.68 0.67 0.67 0.67 0.66 0.66
MENAc 0.19 0.19 0.19 0.20 0.24 0.24 0.24 0.23 0.23 0.22 0.23
Average Country Score 0.52 0.52 0.53 0.53 0.53 0.52 0.52 0.51 0.51 0.50 0.50
Notes: a =  Asia and the Pacific; b =  Europe and Central Asia; c =  Middle East and North Africa.

Table 7: Top and bottom five scores for Civic Space, 2018

Position Country  Score
1 Norway  0.96
2 Denmark 0.95
3 Sweden 0.94
4 Switzerland 0.92
5 Finland 0.91
Average  0.50
157  South Sudan 0.02
158 Syria 0.02
159 Bahrain 0.01
160 Turkmenistan 0.01
161 North Korea 0.00

 Figure 3: Regional Civic Space Scores