Dear friends and colleagues,    

After a longish stint in Johannesburg , I’ve spent the past 3 weeks on the road, or more precisely, in conference halls, meeting rooms and airports. In meetings large and small, I sense a collective wearing down of spirit.  

From aid in Accra to human rights in Paris and New York and governance in Syracuse , I experienced a lowering of expectations by civil society of civil society. Beyond the formal assaults – in the form of legislation, financial control, harassment, attacks and incarceration of activists – are the less overt, but more insidious, wearing down of expectations. The hardening of attitudes and beliefs that freedom is a necessary casualty of security concerns. That our circumstances – be they hostile governments, media populism, invasions of civil society spaces by powerful interests – are reasonable, given the grave crises we confront. That we ought to be grateful for the crumbs we can wrest and settle for the ‘deals’ on offer. That we substitute pragmatism for idealism.  

I was grateful to be reminded yesterday at the UN of the long arc of freedom, of the fact that when we look back over the past 6 decades, civil society has come a long way in claiming its place around the tables of policy decision-making. And in achieving peace, human security and a modicum of acknowledgement of the rights of all peoples to be heard. It was a brief ray of optimism in the surrounding gloom at the continuing onslaught on civil society spaces around the world.  

It was, however, also a reminder of the immense effort now required of us if the modest gains of the past are not to be eroded by challenges both new and familiar. Also of the need for urgent investments in enriching our capacities to engage on a rapidly widening spectrum of issues, many of which demand greater technical expertise than most of us are currently equipped with. And of the urgency of the need to collaborate more widely and intensely while remaining true to the values that differentiate civil society from other sectors.

This week, following the 7^th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, I have also asked my colleague, Julie Middleton , Acting Manager of our Civil Society Watch Programme, to share with you an understanding of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and how it relates to the War on Terror. What does this mean for civil society? To read more on the column, click here.

With gratitude, faith and solidarity,

Ingrid Srinath,

CIVICUS Secretary General 

To send your comments, suggestions or contributions of articles to e-CIVICUS, e-mail editor@civicus.org.

For previous articles from the Secretary General, see details below: 

. Human rights education at the UN DPI NGO conference in paris

. Citizens must be at the centre of effective aid

. Disabling by Design? - The Ethiopian Charities and Societies Proclamation

. China: Double double talk

. View from civil society: Key political challenges for social justice in Africa

. What now, Mr. Lamy?

. "If CIVICUS didn’t exist, we’d have to invent it"

. Beyond G-8: At the table? On the table? Whose table?

. Beyond G-8: Civil society challenges

. Recalling the Day of the African child

. CIVICUS 2008 World Assembly, a unique opportunity to effect real change

. CIVICUS new Secretary General appointed. 

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