🔎 Facty Friday Edition #92: The effects of NGO repression

This edition of Facty Friday highlights some effects of repressive NGO laws.

NGOs respond to repressive laws by adjusting, resisting, or disbanding

Repressive NGO laws have been on the rise since the mid 2000s. Researchers studied the effects of these laws in Bangladesh and Zambia. They found that NGOs adopt one of three strategies: (1) adjust, (2) resist, or (3) disband. Groups adjust by shifting to service provision, refraining to comment on political issues, working with local rather than central governments, and implementing rather than setting agendas. They resist by not registering as NGOs and circumventing anti-NGO laws. Or they disband and cease their activities. NGOs devoted to labor and human rights, which tend to be viewed as hostile to ruling regimes, are often disbanding or ceasing transnational advocacy activity. This research shows how NGOs strategically adapt to repression and suggests that repression effectively restricts labor and human rights organizations.

Repression of domestic CSOs deprives international organizations of information needed to bring attention to domestic issues

Global public goods and development goals – such as the environment, human rights advocacy, good governance and anti-corruption – all depend on an independent flow of information from local civil society.  Researchers studied how repression of domestic CSOs affects the information available to international NGOs. They found that small amounts of repression have minimal effects and trigger international shaming campaigns, but large amounts of CSO repression block information supply lines and deprive international organizations of the information they need to bring international attention to domestic issues. They illustrate this effect with a case study in Egypt. This research demonstrates the importance of protecting local civil society organizations.