The civil society organisations I’ve encountered here in the US seem to be scrambling to understand how to respond to the quickly-changing political environment. Now, US-based organisations need to take a moment to listen and learn from counterparts in countries where authoritarian governments have been in power for years, and where trust between government and civil society has long been broken (if it ever existed).

For too long, “partnership” efforts have been far more about getting perceived “developing” countries to be more like “developed” countries. Finally it’s becoming clearer that that relationship should be anything but one-way and linear.

Zara Rahman, “Moving Civil Society into the Digital”