Between 2013 and 2016, civil society in 22 countries carried out an Enabling Environment National Assessment (EENA). The EENA is a civil society-led process that analyses the extent to which national conditions enable the work of civil society.
The EENA analysis explores in particular how laws and regulations relating to civil society are implemented in practice, and how they impact on civil society. The assessments, led by national civil society partners, employed a common methodology that encompassed interviews with key stakeholders, consultations, focus groups and desk research. In every country, six core dimensions were assessed: the ability of civil society groups to form, operate and access resources -all aspects of the freedom of association – plus the freedoms of peaceful assembly
and expression, and relations between civil society and governments.
Overall the EENA assessments reveal a picture of an environment for civil society that is volatile, contested and often under pressure, but also with some optimism in some contexts about the potential for progress.
