Dear friends and colleagues,

Last weekend I had the honour of speaking to the All-Africa Synergos Senior Fellows, the African arm of a global network that I’m privileged to belong to. Synergos (www.synergos.org) is dedicated to addressing the issues of poverty, equity and social justice I’d like to share with you the highlights of that address, because, despite its Africa focus, it raises issues that I believe are relevant in many parts of our world.  

‘Most of the millions worst impacted by inequities in trade, indebtedness, climate change, conflict and HIV AIDS live in Africa . Civil society is supposed to provide those millions a voice. It is supposed to invigilate the systems of governance that deprive them of their say in policy formulation and implementation. It is their last resort in their quest for justice, equity and a life of dignity.  

How is civil society in Africa doing? CIVICUS co-ordinates a participatory study of the state of civil society in 54 countries across the world called the Civil Society Index. 10 of the countries it has studied thus far are in Africa . The evaluations are determined by a participatory process involving civil society coalitions in each country themselves. The national reports vary considerably in both, current levels of health - measured by structure, environment, values and impact of civil society - and in positive or negative changes over time. With all the caveats applicable to generalisations of every kind, some broad trends across Africa are discernible.  

Pre-colonial African civil society as manifested by informal community groups, followed by the broader political mobilisations of the struggles against colonialism and the heyday of pan- Africanism have today, all too often, been replaced by:  

1. civil-societies either, co-opted into government, or in uneasy relationships with their former comrades in the freedom movements
2. NGOs who are expected to simply serve as agents or contractors of public goods and services provided by governments or by Northern donors
3. tensions between the need for racial or pan-African solidarity and the fundamental values of human rights and democracy
4. several countries with severe democratic deficits, fragile democracies or ongoing civil strife
5. dependency on Northern donors to determine subsistence, priorities and strategies
6. weak structures to foster solidarity, collaboration and joint advocacy
7. increasingly restrictive and, in some cases, severely threatening conditions, for civil society to operate freely. In 2007 alone 16 African governments passed legislation that imposed new constraints on civil society
8. and, to me the most disturbing of all, what I term the objectification of Africa – where everyone, it seems, except ordinary Africans themselves, can presume to prescribe policies, impose solutions and determine the fates of Africa and Africans. 

The key challenges for civil society across Africa are, in my view, accurately summed up in the CIVICUS CSI report for Uganda which asks: ‘Will civil society confine itself to a somewhat docile role, focusing on service delivery and sub-contracting from government? Or will it further develop its capacity to question the socio-political make-up? Striving to augment its autonomy, its sense of independent identity, its cohesion and local ownership?’  

How will civil society, the donor community (in-country and external), and governments at national, regional and pan-African levels respond to these challenges in terms of:

-          investments, not just in programmes or even in organisational capacity building, but in the development and strengthening of

o        the sustaining structures of civil society

o        in enabling indigenous philanthropy, and

o        in facilitating community-centric advocacy

-          building legitimacy, not just financial accountability to donors, but in the fidelity and authenticity with which we amplify the voices of those we call our beneficiaries and, equally importantly, in the values we practice within our own organisations and as a sector

-          solidarity, across causes, sectors and nations, when civil society is threatened by states or by non-state actors and in advocating for the rights of civil society to exist, express and engage freely

-          and relevance, in terms of addressing not just poverty or gender or education or health or environment or HIV/Aids but equally and simultaneously, democratic governance?  

The choices made, will, in my inexpert view as a relative newcomer to Africa, determine whether we can collectively hope for what could truly be described as an African Renaissance characterised by democracy, peace, stability, sustainable development and, ultimately, justice for all Africans and for Africa itself.’

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: 

. 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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