CIVICUS CIVIL SOCIETY NEWS
Evaluating the Civicus World Assembly: Was it Worth Attending?
Fazila Farouk, Deputy Director, SANGONeT and editor of NGO Development Information Portal
Every person working in the NGO sector should attend the Civicus World Assembly (CWA) at least once. So the short answer to the question that I pose above is a definite "yes".
For a first timer like me, it was a valuable introduction to the world of global civil society and I felt privileged for the opportunity to get to see its face.
A Home for Global Struggles
My understanding of the role and contribution of international organisations such as Civicus has improved substantially. Discussions critiquing the war on terror, the Global Call for Action against Poverty and Millennium Campaigns are all important issues driven from this level.
The world assembly’s theme, “Acting Together for a Just World” , appeared to do justice to these issues, which affect every citizen of the world. Civicus, with its membership exceeding 1,000 civil society organisations in over 100 countries, appears well positioned to champion the causes that promote global systemic change.
Moreover, for any social justice activist from the NGO sector, the CWA definitely reinforces a sense of community amongst a particular grouping, whilst Kumi Naidoo, head of Civicus for 7,5 years, with his background in the South African anti-apartheid struggle and charming demeanor, aptly fits the profile of the global activist leader.
The Devil in the Detail
However, moving away from the big global issues, the vastness of the civil society sector and its diversity certainly revealed itself at this event. Conspicuous by their absence were the faith-based organisations and trade unions --- the very groups with the strongest historical reputation for taking on causes that promote social justice.
The CWA definitely felt like it was the domain of NGOs and wider nonprofit organisations (NPOs) and it’s this group, in particular, where ambiguity and divergence of purpose is glaringly obvious.
Service sector NPOs, voluntary associations, welfare and social justice NGOs mingled politely in the spaces between sessions. But it was hard to reconcile the routines and objectives of the projects of many of the less politicized groupings with the broad themes of the event. More than that, it was quite difficult to pinpoint a specific point of ideological convergence within or amongst the diverse group.
Sensing a disconnect between many of the pure non-profit delegates and the broader themes of the event, I couldn’t help wondering, for example, with all due respect to the NPO that hosted the most successful exhibition stand offering free massage and reiki - what was the position of Scotland’s North Region Stress Centre on MDGs? Or how well equipped was the lady who heads the Scottish Girl’s Guides Association to chair the session on new media strategies for information advocacy?
For more information, please contact http://sangonet.org.za/portal/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4465&Itemid=1.
