Shrinking civic space and sustainable development

The document argues that 'communication and information poverty'—characterized by lack of access to platforms, media misrepresentation, and limited media literacy—is a structural deficit that hinders the achievement of the UN 2030 Agenda. While acknowledging that SDGs 5, 9, 16, and 17 touch upon ICTs and public information, the authors contend that these are insufficient. They advocate for a rights-based approach to communication, emphasizing that freedom of expression must be supported by rights to privacy, data protection, and linguistic diversity to ensure marginalized groups can participate in decision-making processes.

• The authors identify 'communication and information poverty' as a form of poverty resulting from structural deficits that prevent individuals from participating in decision-making processes. This poverty manifests as a lack of access to communication platforms, underrepresentation in media, low media literacy, and restrictions on freedom of expression, association, and assembly.
• The document argues that the UN 2030 Agenda is incomplete without a dedicated goal for communication rights, proposing a missing 'SDG 18: Communication rights for all' to ensure that communication and information issues are centrally integrated into sustainable development.
• Regarding SDG 5 (Gender Equality), the text asserts that gender inequality is a primary dimension of communication poverty, as women and girls face discrimination in media representation and encounter gender-based violence when exercising freedom of expression, particularly women journalists.
• While SDGs 9 and 17 promote universal internet and mobile access—noting that approximately 3 billion people lack internet and 2 billion lack mobile phones—the authors argue that mere access is insufficient. They state that digital infrastructure must be accompanied by frameworks addressing human rights, privacy, and illegal surveillance.
• The analysis of SDG 16 (Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions) suggests that while the goal includes public access to information and the protection of journalists, it fails to explicitly address critical issues such as media concentration, linguistic rights, and freedom of expression.
• The authors advocate for a rights-based approach to communication, starting with Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. They argue that freedom of expression must be supported by complementary rights, including the right to participate in one's own culture and language, privacy, and data protection standards in the age of artificial intelligence.

APA

Vargas, L., & Lee, P. (2019). Shrinking civic space and sustainable development. World Association for Christian Communication. https://waccglobal.org/shrinking-civic-space-and-sustainable-development/

Chicago

Vargas, Lorenzo, and Philip Lee. Shrinking civic space and sustainable development. World Association for Christian Communication, 2019. https://waccglobal.org/shrinking-civic-space-and-sustainable-development/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Vargas |first1=Lorenzo |last2=Lee |first2=Philip |title=Shrinking civic space and sustainable development |publisher=World Association for Christian Communication |date=13 May 2019 |url=https://waccglobal.org/shrinking-civic-space-and-sustainable-development/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{vargas2019shrinking, author = {Vargas, Lorenzo and Lee, Philip}, title = {{Shrinking civic space and sustainable development}}, institution = {World Association for Christian Communication}, year = {2019}, month = may, url = {https://waccglobal.org/shrinking-civic-space-and-sustainable-development/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }