The State of Civic Freedom in the Middle East and North Africa

The State of Civic Freedom in the Middle East and North Africa released its annual report which noted a diversity of trends in civic space across the region, with a focus on Jordan, Morocco, Kuwait, Lebanon and Tunisia. The report notes that the challenges faced by CSOs vary greatly depending on the country. For Instance, in Morocco and Jordan most CSO stakeholders citied that the price of registering an organization was most significant obstacle to establishing an organization, while in Tunisia, Kuwait, and Lebanon the most significant obstacle was governments not responding to their registration applications. However, cross regional trends include fear the state security forces will violently retaliate against demonstrations, and the belief that the legal environment discourages civic involvement.