At a time of shrinking civic space, and with the support of the Ford Foundation, the International Law Programme, Asia-Pacific Programme and the US and the Americas Programme at Chatham House hosted conversations on the role that the private sector can play in supporting and defending civic space. Two roundtables were held in September and October 2020, with the first looking at the role of companies in the extractive, manufacturing and services sector, and the second focused on the role of the tech sector. The conversations were held under the Chatham House Rule to encourage candid discussions between private-sector actors and experts drawn from civil society, international organizations and academia. These meetings were an opportunity not only to share perspectives from different stakeholders but also to explore how political and economic dynamics in different regions impact the role that the private sector can play.
The roundtables were complemented by two webinars held in July 2020 and October 2020, which allowed these issues to be explored with a wider network. We are grateful to all those who participated in the roundtables and the webinars for sharing their insights. Recordings of the webinars are available at:
This paper was drafted by Thiago Alves Pinto, project consultant, and Harriet Moynihan, senior research fellow, both of the International Law Programme. The roundtables and webinars benefitted from the input of Christopher Sabatini, senior research fellow for Latin America, US and Americas Programme, along with Champa Patel, director of the Asia-Pacific Programme.
