Mr. President, thank you for your time and consideration.
The report of the Special Rapporteur is welcomed by the United Kingdom. We believe that access to money, especially cross-border funding, is critical to fostering a conducive climate for civil society to flourish. We are really worried about the rising trend of financing constraints.
Civil society’s capacity to exchange ideas, raise concerns, and mobilize resources is critical to its success and, as we saw during the Covid 19 epidemic and more recently in Ukraine, to society’s resilience in times of crisis.
Security concerns are frequently misapplied as a pretext for restricting civic society. While nations have a responsibility to defend their citizens, implying that foreign money to civil society is inherently dangerous or that those who receive it are less genuine is not believable.
The United Kingdom collaborates extensively with its international allies to promote the rights to peaceful assembly and association.
Rapporteur spécial,
What can be done to encourage a more balanced, risk-based approach to civil society regulation and funding?
Thank you very much.