1,000 civil society leaders come together, demand democracy and civic freedoms from governments and institutions
Happening now
Nearly 1000 activists from around the world are gathering in Bangkok, Thailand for International Civil Society Week 2025 (ICSW). The world’s largest civil society gathering began Saturday 1 November in Bangkok, Thailand, co-hosted by global civil society alliance CIVICUS and the Asia Democracy Network (ADN). The five-day event includes over 120 sessions and cultural events led by more than 75 organisations from around the world.
Celebrating citizen action: reimagining democracy, rights, and inclusion for today’s world
The 2025 edition’s key theme will be Celebrating citizen action: reimagining democracy, rights, and inclusion for today’s world.
ICSW pays tribute to activists, movements, and civil society achieving significant progress, defending civic freedoms, and showing remarkable resilience despite the many challenges.
The event comes at a time when civic freedoms are being curtailed in most countries, with civil society under severe attack in 116 of 198 countries and territories. The world faces significant deterrents to freedoms of expression, association, and assembly.
Given the changing and challenging context, we must reimagine how we champion democracy, human rights, and inclusion. We must mobilize new frontiers to be inclusive and to reach beyond the traditional confines of civil society by widely engaging grassroots communities, corporations, educators, and a broader range of citizens of the world.
Let’s dream bigger – be more imaginative, adaptable, and resilient to build a better world for everyone. Together, we must work for a democracy that works for the people – accessible, inclusive, and relevant to all.
Media Fellowship Opportunity
The Fellowship has two categories: the Journalist Fellowship and the Young Journalist Fellowship. We will invite 15-20 selected journalists from around the world to participate.
Applications are due 14 September, with fellows chosen and notified by early October. We strongly encourage journalists from Global Majority countries to apply. If you have any questions, please contact icsw@civicus.org.
What to expect at ICSW
ICSW provides an open space for global civil society organizations, activists, human rights defenders, and allies through a week-long series of conferences, workshops, trainings, and cultural events.
ICSW will bring together citizen’s movements from around the world and provide spaces for learning from and building upon wins, strategizing to tackle challenges and strengthen civic spaces and citizen action, and innovative co-creation to catalyse social change.
How to participate and engage with ICSW
Call for Ideas: Help Us Shape ICSW 2025 in Bangkok!
The main focus of ICSW 2025 will be democracy, innovation, and human rights. If you’d like to host a session, co-develop an activity, contribute expertise, or support in another way, we want to hear from you! Submit your ideas here.
Please follow us here and on social media for updates.
For inquiries, reach out to us at icsw@civicus.org. You can also become a member of CIVICUS global civil society alliance.
History of ICSW
The ICSW and its predecessor, CIVICUS World Assemblies, have a proud history of nearly 30 years, having debuted in Mexico City in 1995. The international events brought together a diverse range of partners from civil society and beyond to find progressive solutions to global challenges collectively.
The most recent events were held online in 2020/21 and in Belgrade, Serbia in 2019.
For feature details, visit Whova