STRENGTHENING CIVIL SOCIETY GLOBALLY 2018 CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANIZATION SUSTAINABILITY INDEX FOR THE MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA 7th EDITION – NOVEMBER 2019 2018 CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANIZATION SUSTAINABILITY INDEX FOR THE MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA 7th EDITION – NOVEMBER 2019 Developed by: United States Agency for International Development Bureau for Democracy, Conflict and Humanitarian Assistance Center of Excellence on Democracy, Human Rights and Governance Acknowledgment: This publication was made possible through support provided by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) under Cooperative Agreement No. AID-OAA-LA-17-00003. Disclaimer: The opinions expressed herein are those of the panelists and other project researchers and do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID or FHI 360. Cover Photo: Participants in the Libyan Youth Leadership Academy, organized by USAID/Libya’s implementing partner International Republican Institute (IRI) on March 11–13, in partnership with Generation Democracy. Photo Credit: International Republican Institute (IRI) for USAID/Libya TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................................................................................... i ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ...................................................................................................................................................................... ii EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ....................................................................................................................................................................... 1 2018 CSO SUSTAINABILITY INDEX Egypt ..................................................................................................................................................................................................... 6 Iraq ...................................................................................................................................................................................................... 15 Jordan ................................................................................................................................................................................................. 23 Lebanon .............................................................................................................................................................................................. 31 Libya .................................................................................................................................................................................................... 40 Morocco ............................................................................................................................................................................................ 47 Yemen................................................................................................................................................................................................. 55 ANNEX A: CSO SUSTAINABILITY INDEX METHODOLOGY ............................................................................................ 63 ANNEX B: STATISTICAL DATA ..................................................................................................................................................... 77 ANNEX C: REGIONAL MAP ............................................................................................................................................................ 79 The 2018 CSO Sustainability Index for the Middle East and North Africa INTRODUCTION The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is pleased to present the seventh edition of the Civil Society Organization (CSO) Sustainability Index for the Middle East and North Africa, covering developments in 2018. This edition of the Index reports on the strength and overall viability of the CSO sectors in Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Yemen, and—for the first time—Libya. The Index addresses advances and setbacks in seven key components or “dimensions” of the sustainability of civil society sectors: legal environment, organizational capacity, financial viability, advocacy, service provision, sectoral infrastructure, and public image. The Index is intended to be a useful source of information for local and international CSOs, governments, multilateral institutions, donors, academics, and other partners and stakeholders who want to better understand and monitor key aspects of sustainability in the CSO sector. The Index’s methodology relies on CSO practitioners and researchers, who in each country form an expert panel to assess and rate these dimensions of CSO sustainability during the year. The panel agrees on a score for each dimension, which ranges from 1 (the most enhanced level of sustainability) to 7 (the most impeded). The dimension scores are then averaged to produce an overall sustainability score for the CSO sector of a given country. An editorial committee composed of technical and regional experts reviews each panel’s scores and the corresponding narrative reports, with the aim of maintaining consistent approaches and standards to facilitate cross-country comparisons as well as assessments of trends over time. The CSO Sustainability Index for the Middle East and North Africa complements similar publications covering other regions. The CSO Sustainability Index for Central and Eastern Europe and Eurasia assesses the civil society sectors in twenty-four countries; the CSO Sustainability Index for Sub-Saharan Africa covers thirty-one countries, and the CSO Sustainability Index for Asia reports on developments in nine countries. In addition, the first report for Mexico is being published this year. These various editions of the CSO Sustainability Index bring the total number of countries surveyed in 2018 to seventy-two. To further explore CSOSI’s historical data and past reports, please visit - www.csosi.org. The 2018 CSO Sustainability Index for the Middle East and North Africa i ACKNOWLEDGMENTS A publication of this type would not be possible without the contributions of many individuals and organizations. We are especially grateful to our implementing partners, who played the critical role of facilitating the expert panel meetings and writing the country reports. We would also like to thank the many CSO representatives and experts, USAID partners, and international donors who participated in the expert panels in each country. Their knowledge, perceptions, ideas, observations, and contributions are the foundation upon which this Index is based. IMPLEMENTING PARTNERS EGYPT Hesham Issa, PhD and May Seoud, Center for Development Services IRAQ Sangar Y. Salih and Abdullah Khalid, Peace and Freedom Organization (PFO) JORDAN Aida Essaid and Ayed Tayyem, Information and Research Center/ King Hussein Foundation LEBANON Layal Bahnam and Roula Mikhael, Maharat Foundation LIBYA Ahmed Albibas and Mohammed Tantosh MOROCCO Yassin Bazzaz and Zineb El Jouak, Prometheus Institute for Democracy and Human Rights YEMEN Maher Othman, Resonate Yemen ii The 2018 CSO Sustainability Index for the Middle East and North Africa PROJECT MANAGERS FHI 360 Michael Kott Eka Imerlishvili Alex Nejadian David Lenett INTERNATIONAL CENTER FOR NOT-FOR-PROFIT LAW (ICNL) Catherine Shea Jennifer Stuart EDITORIAL COMMITTEE Elly Page, Loubna Rais, Kristen McGeeney, Asta Zinbo, Najiyah Alwazir, and Amy Hawthorne The 2018 CSO Sustainability Index for the Middle East and North Africa iii EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The CSO Sustainability Index for the Middle East and North Africa evaluates the strength and viability of the CSO sectors in Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, and Yemen. This edition of the Index covers events and trends affecting CSOs in 2018. It is the first edition to include a report on Libya. CSOs in the Middle East and North Africa faced a range of external challenges in 2018. Across much of the region, organizations operated under challenging economic conditions that both impeded their work and created new demands for their services and advocacy. In Yemen, 85 percent of the population subsisted below the poverty line—many on the brink of famine; local CSOs struggled to meet the overwhelming needs for humanitarian aid and assistance as inflation drove up the price of basic goods and services. In Egypt, austerity measures depressed the value of the Egyptian Pound and increased the cost of necessities, making it more difficult for CSOs to pay their staff and cover the costs of their activities. Jordan’s economy continued to struggle under growing public debt, a 19 percent unemployment rate, and rising costs of bread and fuel; these hardships coincided with reduced local donations to CSOs. A new income tax law that would have raised taxes for most people sparked major protests in Jordan that CSOs helped to organize and participated in. In a number of countries, armed conflict and its side effects shaped CSOs’ ability to work and the nature of their activities. The ongoing war in Yemen constrained CSOs’ access to certain parts of the country, for instance, and exacerbated a humanitarian crisis that CSOs sought to alleviate through relief and humanitarian aid. The conflict also perpetuated political sensitivities that CSOs had to navigate when engaged in advocacy. In Libya, powerful militias continued to clash with each other and with the Islamic State, which