Issue 15

April 2009


INSIDE THIS ISSUE

Editorial

What's New

CIVICUS World Assembly Cancelled

Reflections: A Pacific Taste of CSI

MENA Region Partners: Concluding the Phase 2 Training Workshops

Enhancing Communication Within CSOs: The CIVICUS Civil Society Index Blog

Partner Profile: Counterpart International, Armenia & Fundacion Soles, Chile

Contact Us

EDITORIAL

Dear friends and partners of the Civil Society Index,

Welcome to the current edition of the CSI newsletter, and the first one of 2009! The New Year has brought a surge of implementation activity, with some partners already administering their surveys and moving towards the National Workshop. It looks like the training workshops from last year were well received, and partners around the world are now moving forward to implement the CSI in record time.

During February and March, we also saw the final two training workshops completed: one for the Asia Pacific region that took place here in Johannesburg, South Africa; and the second at the beginning of March for partners from the MENA region, which was held in Beirut, Lebanon. We now have all 55 partners trained and ready to implement the project!

These past months have also brought a few staff changes as we say goodbye to old friends and welcome new ones to the team. We thank Sinqobile Dube for her valuable contributions to the team and welcome Muelelwa Khosa back from maternity leave. In the coming months, we will also be welcoming Bilal Aurang Zeb, a new M&E Programme Officer and Katherine Langer, an impact assessment intern.

The CSI team hopes you enjoy this latest issue of the newsletter as we continue to support our partners in implementing the CSI all over the world!  Please also remember to visit our website (www.civicus.org/csi) and the new CSI blog (http://civilsocietyindex.wordpress.com/) for recent updates on the project.

With best wishes,

Amy Bartlett

WHAT'S NEW

  • The CSI programme would like to announce that, related to the MENA training workshop (see article below), the CSI toolkit is now available in not only English, French and Spanish, but also Arabic.
  • The Mozambique CSI project report is now published. The CIVICUS Civil Society Index (CSI) in Mozambique was implemented by the Foundation for Community Development (FDC) between March and December 2007. The report can be accessed via the CIVICUS website www.civicus.org or you can follow the link http://www.civicus.org/new/CSI_Mozambique.htm to access it directly 
  • The ISTR Latin America Regional Conference will be held this year in Mexico, and the CSI will be attending as well. A proposal was submitted between CIVICUS and some of the implementing partners in the region, including Uruguay, Mexico, Nicaragua and Argentina, and the proposal has been accepted. Please check out the following link if you would like more information on the conference: http://www.istr.org/networks/lac/index.htm

CIVICUS WORLD ASSEMBLY CANCELLED

Losing Our Assembly, Keeping Our Hope

By Tracy Anderson, CSI Research Fellow

Job losses, Bankruptcies, House foreclosures, Economic meltdowns…

The 2009 global economic crisis has spread its tentacles far and wide, and so it was only a matter of time before civil society experienced the repercussions.  After much debate and with much regret, CIVICUS’ Board passed a resolution on 15 March 2009 to postpone this year’s World Assembly to 2010.

Katsuji Imata, CIVICUS’ Deputy Secretary General-Programmes, had this to say:

“This decision has not been taken lightly and we are very conscious of the fact that current crises facing the world’s citizens make it all the more important that civil society come together to discuss solutions to these challenges together with government, business and funding organisations.”

With this in mind, CIVICUS as well as the CSI is exploring a number of alternatives to the WA in order to provide forums in 2009 for building civil society solidarity, facilitating the exchange of ideas and information, and evolving collective solutions.  For example, we will be attending the Latin America Regional ISTR conference in Mexico in July 2009, where many partners from the region will be in attendance.

We welcome any suggestions from our members and partners to help us do so. Furthermore, plans for the 2010 World Assembly are underway with our hosts in Montréal, Institut du Nouveau Monde (INM).

Please check our website (www.civicus.org) regularly for updates on the 2010 World Assembly, and be sure that the CSI programme will continue to engage partners and stakeholders in 2009, with out without a World Assembly.

REFLECTIONS: A PACIFIC TASTE OF CSI

A Pacific Taste of CSI

Reflections from Amelia Kinahoi-Siamomua, UNDP representative and participant at the CSI Asia-Pacific training workshop held in February 2009

All the way from the isles of the Pacific to the gorgeous green environment of the “Cottages” in Johannesburg, all to learn about the CSI project.  It was a rewarding workshop in terms of the richness of exchanges on the potential for making a difference to our communities, while at the same time exploring the very similar challenges in Asia-Pacific countries that will be faced by CSOs as they implement the research and analysis for the CSI.  The society mapping shared by participants reiterated the uneven playing field and power relations which civil society operate with and must strategically find ways to bring about positive societal changes in their countries.

The juicy part of the CSI for me, is the “so what” aspect of the CSI --- at the end of the research and analysis, would be the production of briefing and policy recommendations and possible follow-up work to make those changes happen?  In my opinion, after learning about the programme, the CSI is a tool and process for making those changes happen!   In the long-run, I hope to see the fruits of the work of CSI taken seriously at all levels for a greater tomorrow for our children and their children.

MENA REGION PARTNERS: CONCLUDING THE PHASE 2 TRAINING WORKSHOP

CIVICUS Civil Society Index training workshop for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region partners

By Jacob M. Mati, CSI Research Officer

CIVICUS CSI held its last training workshop for the 2008/9 implementation phase for its partners in the MENA region between the 1st and the 3rd of March 2009 in Beirut, Lebanon. This was the sixth and last in a series of trainings that have been running since August 2008. The MENA region training was a little different from the ‘traditional’ trainings that we have done for other regions for at least two reasons.

Firstly, the training was made possible through a partnership of the United Nations Development (UNDP) Arab Region Office (who graciously funded the training); the Arab NGO Network for Development (ANND) a long standing CIVICUS member in the region who undertook all the logistics for the training and CIVICUS CSI team (represented by Nermine Wally and Jacob M. Mati) who ran the training. The CIVICUS CSI team extend their thanks to the organizations we partnered with to conduct this training.

Secondly, the training, just like for the Swedish trainings in September, was not limited to only the NCOs in the region. In addition to the partners drawn from Bahrain, Djibouti, Lebanon, Morocco, and Jordan, there were participants drawn from other civil society organisations that included Egypt, Sudan, and Syria. The training also attracted attendance from some academics as well as UNDP staff from various countries in the region.

The idea was to introduce CIVICUS CSI methodology to a wider audience in the region and build interest that would lead to more countries participating in implementing CSI in the region. This objective of reaching out to a wider civil society community was further cemented by a networking session between CSOs in the region that ANND and UNDP led and was also graced by Ingrid Srinath, the CIVICUS Secretary General, on the 4th of March 2009. The session was attended by over 40 participants. The networking session was preceded by the launch of Toolkit for monitoring MDG implementation in the region which was attended by over 100 activists, government functionaries and UNDP staff. You can find pictures from the CSI in Lebanon on our blog: http://civilsocietyindex.wordpress.com/ 

We hope that the training will lead to the successful implementation of CSI as well as to longer term partnerships in civil society strengthening initiatives in the region and especially so, considering that the region has the least compiled data on the state of civil society compared to all other regions in the world. 

ENHANCING COMMUNICATION WITHIN CSOs: THE CIVICUS CIVIL SOCIETY INDEX BLOG

The CIVICUS Civil Society Index Blog is up and running!

By Amy Bartlett: Programme Officer

The CSI blog was launched at the end of February 2009, and is now enjoying dozens of hits a day from partners, stakeholders and other interested parties all over the world.

The blog provides CSI partners as well as interested parties all over the world a more informal and interactive way of giving and getting updates during this implementation phase, and is serving as a hub of information for people and organizations to disseminate, access and interact throughout the project.

If you have not already done so, please visit http://civilsocietyindex.wordpress.com/ and share the link with your colleagues, networks and stakeholders.

We have put out a few calls for content and updates, and would like to thank those who have already contributed. We encourage you to join the discussions, and suggest that you can start getting involved in the following ways:

  • send us your online CSI links and resources so that we can publicize your online CSI information and progress
  • leave a comment to start a discussion on a posting or article
  • send us your updates, articles, information and resources so that we can share them with the world

You can email us with your content and submissions at: index@civicus.org, and we will post your news and successes for the world to see.

We look forward to continuing our virtual interactions with you, and welcome comments, queries and suggestions as we work to provide spaces and opportunities for interaction and dialogue about the CSI programme and your implementation experiences.

PARTNER PROFILE: COUNTERPART INTERNATIONAL, ARMENIA & FUNDACIÓN SOLES, CHILE

Counterpart International, Armenia

Founded in 1965, Counterpart International is a non profit organization dedicated to building a just world through service and partnership. Counterpart gives people a voice in their own future through smart partnerships, offering options and access to tools for sustained social, economic and environmental development.

Counterpart International and its partner organizations are responsible for the implementation of the Civil Society Index in Armenia, where we have been working on civil society strengthening programming since 2004, and on humanitarian assistance provision since the early part of the decade. For more information on this project and Counterpart International’s work and partners in Armenia click here. (www.counterpart.am)

We have forged strategic partnerships in the public and private sectors to help people improve the quality of their lives and revitalize their communities in more than 60 nations. Counterpart International provides people access to the tools they need for a life of dignity for themselves, their communities and their countries.  Since 1993 Counterpart has built, developed and strengthened over 10,000 non-governmental organizations in Eastern Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), as well as the Middle East and Southeast Asia. Working with local communities to build their capacity to act on their local problems in the way they want, Counterpart programs include humanitarian and relief assistance, education, healthcare, democracy and governance, food security, enterprise and business development, sustainable tourism and natural resource management. For more info click here (www.counterpart.org)

Fundación Soles, Chile

Fundación Soles is a non-profit, non-governmental organization focused in social research and intervention, aiming specially the strengthening of civil society. Since its foundation in 1993, Fundación Soles promotes amongst people the development of social justice and the generation of a solidarity-based society, including the State and the private sector on its initiatives. We constitute a meeting point between the existing interests and needs for collaboration, without prejudices of any kind. Fundación Soles has established multiple alliances with national and international organizations to enhance impact in development. Fundación Soles has engaged several research in civil society related areas, culture, modernity, individuality and complex systems, amongst other topics, including civil society strengthening activities, solidarity programs and volunteer work. More recently, our organization is implementing for the second time in Chile the CIVICUS Civil Society Index, a participatory needs assessment of civil society in order to promote its strengthening. For more about Fundación Soles, please visit the website  on www.fundacionsoles.cl 

CONTACT US

We value your comments, feedback as well as contributions.

You may contact  
index@civicus.org

CIVICUS House
24 Gwigwi Mrwebi (formerly Pim) Street, corner Quinn Street
Newtown, Johannesburg 2001


PO Box 933
Southdale
Johannesburg 2135
South Africa

Tel: +27 11 833 5959
Fax +27 11 833 7997
e-mail:
info@civicus.org

Website:
http://www.civicus.org