As the COVID-19 pandemic swept the world, civil society stepped up to help. Civil society organisations (CSOs) made a difference to people and communities experiencing the impacts of both the pandemic and the emergency measures taken by states. CSOs worked not only as frontline responders, but also as defenders of human rights during the pandemic, including the rights of vulnerable and excluded groups. This report outlines some of the many civil society responses to the COVID-19 crisis. It sets out how CSOs provided help to people and communities, how CSOs defended rights and how civic action was sustained through new and alternate means. It complements CIVICUS’s other initiatives to document and understand the multiple ways in which the pandemic affected civil society, including its impacts on civic space and civil society resourcing.