The Capacity of Civil Society Organizations to Protect Human Rights

As a changing world continues to reduce human rights protections, civil society organizations (CSOs) become more important than ever in defending human rights. Despite a growing sense of irrelevance, civil society organizations are becoming even more critical in today's world of changing state structures and political cultures. They brought advocacy to the forefront of the “human rights” agenda as human rights values began to influence state revenues and expenditures and the law, and also attracted the attention of non-state actors such as business. The argument that civil society organizations are committed to promoting human rights and transmitting human rights values to broader sectors of society – and also helping to shape society in ways that promote human rights – makes defending their continued existence all the more important. In a world where state dominance is being challenged, support for human rights can continue to grow if there are strong civil society organizations working to put values at the center of the political arena. Civil society organizations are bastions of hope in defense of the most vulnerable nations. In today's world, a weak and limited state order is a source of hope for those who want to strengthen human rights and protect the political space for debate on human rights. The role that civil society organizations play in human rights ensures that human rights goals shape the contours of public response to the adoption of new laws and the implementation of already adopted laws. This article shows how civil society organizations can sometimes be at the forefront of human rights action in conflict and post-conflict situations.