A/HRC/35/28 (b) The 2016 Oslo Freedom Forum, Oslo (23 and 24 May 2016); (c) Expert consultation in Kenya on the report submitted by the Special Rapporteur to the General Assembly at its seventieth session (13-14 May 2015); (d) International Federation for Human Rights, 39th Annual Congress, Johannesburg, South Africa (23-24 August 2016); (e) Academic visit to Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand (1-10 December 2016); (f) The World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2017, Davos, Switzerland (1720 January 2017); (g) Expert consultation to conclude the Special Rapporteur’s litigation project in Kenya (6-7 February 2017); 2 (h) Academic visit to Swaziland and Zimbabwe (20-24 February 2017); (i) Testimony before the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission of the United States Congress, Washington, D.C. (21 March 2017). III. Achievements of civil society A. Objective, scope and limitations of the report 8. in this report, the Special Rapporteur seeks to refocus global attention on the myriad of ways in which civil society has improved societies throughout the world by protecting civil and political rights, advancing development objectives, moving societies towards freedom and equality, achieving and upholding peace, checking corporate behaviour, protecting the environment, delivering essential services and advocating for economic, social and cultural rights. The report highlights both the intrinsic and instrumental value of civil society as a means for people to aggregate their views and voices in general, and its value to functioning democracies in particular. Civil society occupies the space between the State and the market, often playing a countervailing as well as a complementary role against those two forces, which are increasingly finding common ground and excluding the majority of people. 9. The Special Rapporteur approaches the subject by imagining what a world without civil society would look like and invites the reader to do the same. In his view, this world would be vastly different, and far worse, than it is now. This is not to say that civil society has achieved, or continues to achieve, single-handedly, the transformations that have characterized human history, but to assert that, despite efforts to restrict its influence, civil society has been an essential component of advancements that have benefited humanity. The free exercise of the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association, among other rights, underpins a vibrant and dynamic civil society. 10. There is no widely accepted definition of civil society. The Special Rapporteur has adopted an understanding of civil society as embodying “forms” (diverse associational relationships), embracing “norms” (values that shape a “good society”, such as freedom, democracy, tolerance and cooperation), and engaging in “spaces” (the public sphere where discussions and disputes can freely take place with a view to achieving consensus on what is good for society).3 He uses these concepts to discuss civil society’s achievements in order to highlight the nature and characteristics of civil society and their potential contribution to its achievements and successes. 2 3 4 See http://freeassembly.net/litigation/. See Michael Edwards. “Introduction: Civil Society and the Geometry of Human Relations”, The Oxford Handbook of Civil Society, Michael Edwards, ed. (Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2011), pp. 3-14.