At this pivotal moment for people and planet, the world has a once-in-a-generation opportunity to advance an inclusive socio-economic recovery from Covid-19 that drives down poverty and inequalities; advances the protection of our natural world; and boosts decisive climate action. Yet the foundations that all these ambitions are built on -- trust between people and governments -- has been eroded by the Covid-19 pandemic. Through misinformation and division, it has been argued that the media and governments are feeding a vicious cycle of distrust and "exploiting it for commercial and political gain". The key to reversing this worrying trend is strengthening civic space, so that everyone can speak out about the future they want.
Despite the world's health, wealth, and education outcomes being at an all-time high, this lack of trust is making people feel apprehensive about their futures. A recent report by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) underlines the strong association between declining levels of trust and feelings of insecurity. People with higher levels of perceived human insecurity -- defined as freedom from want, freedom from fear, as well as freedom from indignity -- are three times less likely to find others trustworthy.
Like other parts of the world, civic space in Asia and the Pacific continues to shrink with many countries rated as "closed", "obstructed", or "repressed". In the past five years alone, countries in Asia have adopted 47 new measures restricting civic space. Moreover, misinformation and hate speech continues to sow misinformation and crowd-out evidence-based news, fermenting intolerance and even conflict. Therefore, UNDP is working with countries throughout the region to protect and restore civic space.
