Non-governmental organizations operate under severe constraints in Egypt. Those that seek to advance human rights and social justice through legal, political, and economic direct action are frequently harassed and confronted by state institutions. Nonetheless, in the final years under President Hosni Mubarak, NGOs carved out space for autonomous action within the overarching security regime. And, with the January 2011 uprising, they anticipated significant opportunities to promote democratic openings and reform the security apparatus. However, the quick seizure of power by the armed forces -- followed by the brief, polarized period of electoral democracy -- complicated these efforts. And then the powerful reassertion of state control in July 2013 upended these expectations entirely. The proposed paper will focus on the multiple challenges that face NGOs since July 2013 in the context of the uber-nationalism and eliminationist rhetoric that not only sought to repress Islamist voices but also to close all public spaces -- whether political, religious, professional, cultural, economic, educational or personal. The government imposed heightened restrictions on the operation of NGOs - and particularly advocacy organizations that had registered as companies or law firms - reflecting the regime's hostility to any autonomous actors and also the security perspective that subjects NGOs to intense surveillance as agents of hostile forces. Despite the atmosphere of suspicion, human rights and advocacy organizations continue to voice alternative societal visions, assist marginalized individuals and communities to counter repression, and hold the government to account, whether by legal defense for detainees, campaigns against torture and imprisonment, support for workers' strikes, or widely-publicized research that illuminates difficulties facing individuals and groups outside the monolithic religious and personal discourse (e.g. Baha'i, atheists, homosexuals). This paper complements the other panelist, who focus on the illiberal currents within the intelligentsia, i.e. those who condone - or have been coopted into - the uber-nationalist and eliminationist discourse. This paper shows that there are still individuals and groups that seek to articulate and achieve the values and aims expressed before and during the January uprising. Their struggles prevent the monolithic rhetoric from silencing alternative voices and are likely to provide the most important basis for a reaffirmation of discourse and practice grounded in social justice. The research is based on years of interviews and contact with Egyptian human rights organizations and immersion into contemporaneous research and analysis by Egyptian and foreign scholars and activists.