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Affinity Group of National Associations
Affinity Group of National Associations

Affinity groups are groupings of CIVICUS members that exist to take forward CIVICUS’ mission and values. The Affinity Group of National Associations (AGNA) brings together national associations from around the world to foster greater co-operation across national and regional boundaries and to increase their ability to collaborate on mutual areas of interest.

The establishment of AGNA in 2004 was influenced by the realisation that national associations in countries around the world provide a collective voice for civil society in their countries and regions. It was recognised that national associations are unique in having few, if any, comparative organisations in their respective countries; their natural peers are geographically dispersed, so there is a need for an international forum to facilitate the exchange of experiences and best practices.

AGNA was created to adress the following identified needs:
- the need for an international citizens’ coalition;
- to reverse the current understanding of capacity building characterised by a North to South flow of knowledge, information and experience sharing;
- to provide a support network for national network leaders; and
- to reduce the ‘re-invention of the wheel’ and improvisation in the leadership of NGOs/NPOs.
How We Work
The geographic representation of AGNA covers Africa, Asia and the Pacific, Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean, and North America. Currently, AGNA has representation in 77 countries around the world.

To facilitate knowledge transfer between the bodies, AGNA members engage in peer-learning and activities generating from five major working groups: the enabling environment and government relations; legitimacy, transparency and accountability; governance; sustainability; and advocacy.

The collective membership meets once a year during the Annual General Meeting, where they discuss the challenges, opportunities and priorities for the forthcoming year. The network is governed by a steering committee composed of 8 regional representatives, elected by members each year.

Resources
AGNA Member Profiles
AGNA Steering Committee Members
Terms of Reference of Working Groups:
Legitimacy, Transparency and Accountability; Advocacy; Sustainability and Resources; Enabling Environment and Government Relations; Governance and Membership

Research and Publications

Resource Guide for National Associations:
Part 1: Understanding National Associations English | Spanish | French
Part 2: Managing National Associations English | Spanish| French
Part 3: Establishing National Associations English | Spanish| French
Part 4: Determining Institutional Structures English | Spanish | French
Part 5: Running National Associations English | Spanish | French
Part 6: Managing Institutional Relationships English | Spanish | French
Also available in: Spanish; Russian; Chinese

Snapshots of Civil Society in AGNA countries

AGNA members give us a brief summary of the situation of civil society in their respective countries, with a special focus on their challenges and opportunities, as well as their resourcing situation.

Argentina 2015 2016 | Bolivia 2015 |Bosnia and Herzegovina 2016 | Cambodia 2016 | Dominican Republic 2016 | Estonia | Fiji 2016 | Finland 2015 2016 | France 2016 | Ghana | Honduras 2016 | India 2015 2016 | Jamaica 2016 | Japan 2015 2016 | Jordan 2015 2016 | Kenya 2016 | Kyrgyzstan | Liberia 2016 | Lithuania 2016 | Macedonia 2016 | Mexico | Nicaragua - Kepa | Nicaragua – Coordinadora Civil | Nigeria 2016 | Norway 2015 2016 | Palestine 2016 | Philippines | Poland 2015 2016 | Samoa 2015 2016 | Scotland | Serbia | Solomon Islands | Spain | Tajikistan 2015 2016 | Turkey 2015 2016 | Uganda 2015 2016 | United Kingdom | Uruguay | Zambia

State of Civil Society Report 2016- AGNA report (English | French | Spanish)

Joint Research

Solomon Islands and New Zealand

Mexico, Paraguay and Uruguay

Joint research paper by SCVO and OFOP presented at ISTR Conference

OFOPs ISTR Conference Report

Reports from Peer Learning Exchanges

Report from Peer-Learning on Advocacy & Campaigning December 2016

Report from Global Civil Society Exchange November 2016

Africa Meeting June 2014

Report from Peer-Learning on CSO Accountability April 2014

Report from Caribbean Peer Learning Exchange

Report form IS Peer Learning Event by CANGO China

Report from Peer-Learning Exchange NNNGO-SCVO

Report on NANGO-SCVO Peer-Learning Event September 2009

Reports from the Annual General Meetings and Workshops can be found here.

If you would like to join AGNA, please review the membership criteria and, if you meet them, complete the application form. If you have any questions about the network, email .

AGNA Regional Members

Africa

REPONGAC: Réseau des Plates-formes Nationales d’ONG de l’Afrique Centrale/ Network of National NGO Platforms from Central Africa

REPONGAC is a regional network of national platforms from Central Africa created in 2008 en Brazzaville by initiative of the national NGO platforms of Angola, Congo, Central African Republic and Rwanda. The network, with its Secretariat based in Democratic Republic of Congo, aims at promoting, developing and protecting national platforms and other networks of CSOs in the region to become legitimate and credible actors in their quest for real democratic systems. Their main areas of work area advocacy, capacity development and policy influencing. For more information, visit http://www.repongac.org/

REPAOC: Réseau des Plates-formes Nationales d’ONG de l’Afrique de l’Ouest et du Centre/ Network of West and Central African NGO National Platforms

REPAOC is a regional network of NGO platforms that was whose inception dated back in 2006 during the World Social Forum held in Bamako. It was institutionalised in 2007 in Dakar, Senegal. It consists of 14 National NGO Platforms. In total, it includes more than 800 local, national and international NGOs, working every day in the field with highly marginalized populations. REPAOC intends to strive collectively to fight against poverty and for to promote human rights at regional and international levels in a background of increasing North-South, but also South–South inequalities. It has 4 objectives: Ensure greater representation for West and Central African NGOs at regional and international level, both governmental and non-governmental; Take collective stands with national, regional and international institutions by undertaking common opinion campaigns; Strengthen the organisation of NGO National platforms for developing services for members, to ensure greater co-action with national government bodies and guarantee independence of its members; and Help African civil societies to be heard in international media. For more information, visit http://www.repaoc.org/

WACSI: West Africa Civil Society Institute

West Africa Civil Society Institute (WACSI), based in Accra, Ghana, is a non-profit organisation that was established by the Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA) in 2005. The organisation seeks to strengthen the institutional and operational capacities of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) through capacity strengthening programmes for increased and effective policy engagement, the promotion of development, good governance and democratic values in West Africa. It serves as a resource centre for training, research, experience sharing. The organisation seeks to enhance the capacity of civil society to adequately and effectively partner government and the private sector to achieve sustainable development in West Africa. For more information, visitwww.wacsi.org

Asia

ADA: Asia Development Alliance

Asia Development Alliance (ADA) was created in 2013 as a new initiative that brings together leaders of national and sub-national CSOs platforms engaged in international development cooperation to promote effective cooperation and solidarity in addressing common development challenges in the 4 Asian regions. With its Secretariat in India, the main agenda of ADA is to share national and international experiences, analysis of international development agenda and processes, and strategic planning among national and sub-national platforms in cooperation with international CSO networks. More concretely, post-Busan High-level Forum on Aid Effectiveness, Post Rio+20, MDGs and G20 Development Agenda are expected to be addressed under the theme “Promote Asian Solidarity for the World We Want – Asian Civil Society Strategies on Global Development Challenges” in the context of Post 2015 process. For more information, visit http://adaasia2015.org

The Americas and the Caribbean

Rendir Cuentas

Rendir Cuentas is a regional network of CSOs created in 2010 to promote the transparency and accountability for and by civil society in Latin America and the Caribbean. The group aims at establishing systematic self-regulation practices through peer-learning and the transference and adoption of voluntary and common standards. Rendir Cuentas is composed by 25 organisations form 6 countries sin the region working in two areas: I) Identification, analysis, systematization and dissemination of good practices; II) promotion of self-regulation practices within civil society. For more information, visit: http://rendircuentas.org

RedLad: Red Latinoamericana y del Caribe para la Democracia/ Latinamerican and Caribbean Network for Democracy

RedLad is a platform created in 2008 by more than 480 civil society organisations, networks, activists, academia, trade unions and social movements from Latin America and the Caribbean. The main objective of the platform is to strengthen democratic systems in the region, defend human rights and promote sustainable development and social cohesion. RedLad works in the areas of capacity development, knowledge generation and advocacy. For more information, visit http://www.redlad.org/

CPDC: Caribbean Policy Development Centre

The Caribbean Policy Development Centre (CPDC) is a coalition of Caribbean non-governmental organizations with base in Barbados. It was established in 1991 to sensitize NGOs and the general public on key policy issues and to impact policy makers on decisions which put the interests of Caribbean people at the centre of the Caribbean development strategy.
Since its inception CPDC has lobbied regional and international governments on behalf of the sections of the Caribbean populations whose voices are less heard. In doing so CPDC has become accepted as a significant social partner in the development of the region. For more information, visit http://www.cpdcngo.org/

Europe

ENNA: European Network of National Civil Society Associations

The European Network of National Civil Society Associations (ENNA) was created in 2011 as an international not-for-profit association. ENNA is a membership organisation, bringing together organisations, platforms, and associations that work at a national level to promote the cross-sectoral interests of the not-for-profit/public benefit/civil society sector. ENNA’s members work across different sub-sectors of civil society. They work on topics that affect all not-for-profit actors regardless of whether they work solely on social issues, environmental issues, socio-cultural activities, or any other topic of societal interest. For more information, visit http://www.ennaeurope.org/

MENA

ANND: Arab NGO Network for Development

The Arab NGO Network for Development (ANND) is a regional network working in 10 Arab countries with seven national networks and 23 NGO members. ANND was initiated in 1997 and has its secretariat office in Beirut, Lebanon, since 2000. ANND’s program work focuses on advocating for social and economic rights in the Arab region. It works in three main areas: 1. development policies in the region, 2. social and economic reform agendas, which integrate the concepts of sustainable development, gender justice, and the rights-based approach, and the role of international and regional organizations, and 3. economic and trade liberalization policies and its social and economic implications. On a horizontal level, ANND makes use of networking, capacity building and sharing, provision of research and information materials, advocacy strengthening, coalition building, monitoring, evaluation, and engagement with policy-making processes and related institutions among civil society groups. For more information, visit www.annd.org

Pacific

PIANGO: Pacific Islands Association of NGOs

The Pacific Islands Association of Non-Governmental Organisations (PIANGO) is a regional network of NGO focal points or coordinating bodies known as National Liaison Units (NLUs) based in 21 Pacific Island countries and territories. PIANGO was formally established in 1991 to assist NGOs in the Pacific to initiate action, give voice to their concerns and work collaboratively with other development actors for just and sustainable human development. PIANGO's primary role is to be a catalyst for collective action, to facilitate and support coalitions and alliances on issues of common concern, and to strengthen the influence and impact of NGO efforts in the region.
PIANGO is based in Fiji and exists to enable the Pacific extended family of NGOs to more effectively promote and advance the interests and wellbeing of their people. More specifically, PIANGO is a network of Pacific NGOs, existing to facilitate communication, provide a common voice at regional and international forums, assist NGOs to strengthen and develop Pacific identities, unity, cultures and forms of social action, as well as to improve the wellbeing of the communities they serve. For more information, visit www.piango.org/