Joint Civil Society Statement on the Publication of the first EU Civil Society Strategy

As civil society organisations working to advance human rights, gender equality and sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) at EU level and in eight national contexts across Europe, we recognise the release of the EU’s first Civil Society Strategy as an important acknowledgment of the essential role that civil society organisations (CSOs) and human rights defenders (HRDs) play in upholding EU values including fundamental rights, equality, the rule of law and democracy in the EU.

However, the Strategy falls short of presenting concrete and adequate initiatives to address challenges faced by CSOs and HRDs in the EU today. The Civil Society Strategy also missed a critical opportunity to recognise and respond to the specific, gendered and intersectional challenges faced by women human rights defenders (WHRDs) and those working on gender equality and SRHR. It is paramount that the EU implements the Strategy’s commitments and actions in a gender-sensitive manner, to ensure WHRDs and those working on gender equality are not left out.

You can read the joinz statement here:

Civil-Society-Strategy-Joint-submission-Responding-to-SRHR-CSOs-and-HRDs-threats-and-challenges

Across the EU, civic space is under growing strain. CSOs and HRDs, particularly those advancing gender equality and SRHR, face escalating threats including smear campaigns, judicial and administrative harassment, censorship, disinformation, intimidation and physical attacks. These challenges are deeply gendered: women and LGBTIQ+ defenders are targeted both for their work and for who they are, and in many contexts, attacks on them intersect with broader efforts to weaken democratic institutions, erode the rule of law and roll back fundamental rights. This context forces CSOs and HRDs working to advance gender equality and SRHR to use scarce financial and human resources to respond to attacks rather than advancing rights, increasing risks to the welfare of the organisations and their staff.

SRHR organisations and defenders across the EU are also facing growing financial pressure and uncertainty as global and European funding priorities shift away from human rights and gender equality. With shrinking sources of funding, organisations are pushed into competing for smaller and smaller funds. Meanwhile, anti-rights actors are increasingly well funded, channelling their resources to undermine decades of progress on SRHR, gender equality and LGBTIQ+ rights. For more information about the context in which gender equality and SRHR organisations and defenders in Europe operate, please see our joint Recommendations for the First EU Civil Society Strategy.

The Civil Society Strategy puts forward timid commitments to address the current challenges confronting civil society in the EU and beyond. The lack of attention to the particular challenges faced by WHRDs and those working on gender equality and sexual and reproductive health and rights specifically reflects a failure to address the situation of some of the defenders and organisations most at risk.

We call on the European Commission and all Member States to ensure that the Civil Society Strategy leads to concrete and gender-sensitive measures that strengthen civic space, guarantee meaningful participation of CSOs and HRDs in policymaking, and provide sustainable support to organisations advancing gender equality, SRHR and fundamental rights. The Strategy’s commitments must be strengthened and matched with political will, resources and accountability, and effectively integrate with and mutually reinforce other EU Equality Strategies and frameworks.

We urge EU institutions and Member States to take robust action to support those defending the values on which the EU was built.

Background

In 2024, the European Commission announced its ambition to adopt the first EU Civil Society Strategy, which would seek to propose a framework for action at EU and Member State level to strengthen meaningful engagement with and protection of civil society organisations active in promoting and protecting EU values.

In September 2025, the Center for Reproductive Rights, together with 20 other organisations working on sexual and reproductive health and rights in 14 national contexts across Europe and at EU level, made a submission to the European Commission consultation, providing key recommendations to ensure EU efforts to support, protect and foster an enabling environment for civil society are gender-sensitive. Our submission highlighted the specific challenges and threats faced by human rights defenders and civil society organisations working to advance gender equality and sexual and reproductive health and rights across the EU, and called on the European Commission to ensure the new Civil Society Strategy responds to these challenges and needs. 

The Civil Society Strategy was published on 12 November 2025.

Signatories

1. Aidos – Italian Association for Women in Development (Italy)
2. Asociația pentru Libertate și Egalitate de Gen – A.L.E.G. (Romania)
3. Center for Reproductive Rights
4. CESI – Center for Education, Counselling and Research (Croatia)
5. Coalition for Gender Equality – (Romania, 12 organisations)
6. Danish Family Planning Association (Denmark)
7. E-Romnja Association (The Association for Promoting Roma Women’s Rights) (Romania)
8. EMMA Association (Hungary)
9. FEDERA Foundation for Women and Family Planning (Poland)
10. FILIA Center (Romania)
11. Freedom of Choice (Slovakia)
12. International Planned Parenthood Federation – European Network (IPPF EN)
13. pro familia Bundesverband e.V. (Germany)
14. Romanian Midwives Association
15. Rutgers