FROM THE DESK OF THE ASSISTANT SECRETARY-GENERAL FOR PROGRAMMES
Strengthening civil society in an increasingly complex world: Thoughts on CIVICUS’ future direction.
Release Date: 12 May 2006
By Finn Heinrich, CIVICUS Assistant Secretary General for Programmes
When starting a new job, it is always good to look back to the beginning. CIVICUS was founded in the early 1990s, when the context for civic activists around the world was pretty straightforward: there was widespread support for civil society and its causes from all parts of society in most corners of the world. CIVICUS was an expression of this support and enthusiasm for the new (or, in some cases, recently re-discovered) phenomenon of civil society. In its first decade, CIVICUS therefore focused its work on building the knowledge base and raising public awareness about what civil society is, can and should do and what should be done for it to thrive.
Things have progressed dramatically for civil society over the last fifteen years. There are now millions of CSOs working in every field of political, social, economic and cultural life at every level, from the local to the global; in many countries, the terms ‘civil society’ or ‘NGO’ have become a household name. Whereas in the 1990s, there was only the World Economic Forum, bringing together business and government leaders, now there is also the World Social Forum, populated mainly by civil society activists. As witnessed by last year’s activities around the Global Call to Action against Poverty as well as the demonstrations against the War in Iraq in 2002, a global civil society coalition is now able mobilize millions of people as well as attract the interest and support of celebrities. Also, at the local level, civil society organisations are at the forefront of day-to-day struggles for greater justice, exemplified by the Bolivian movement against water privatization and many other local-level efforts that often go unnoticed.
It is therefore fair to say that civil society has matured - rapidly and profoundly; so profoundly that the issues civil society is grappling with have also become much more profound and complex. In the 1990s, debates were on inward-focused issues such as NGO registration, basics of organisational management, fundraising and sectoral representation. Today’s burning issues are more outward-focused relating to complicated matters like downward accountability, national accreditation and information systems, rules of engagement with government and business and civil society’s appropriate role in the increasingly complex system of governance.
In its current strategic plan, CIVICUS has already embraced and developed responses to many of these challenges. Examples are the Legitimacy & Accountability Programme and work around participatory governance. Over the coming years, CIVICUS will seek to scale up and broaden, as well as give greater coherence to, its programmatic work.
Scaling up and broadening will predominantly mean building more partnerships and links with CSOs at all levels. CIVICUS’ new role as the secretariat for the Toolkit Partnership - which focuses on citizen participation at the local level - is a wonderful opportunity to bring CSOs, working on local level issues, into the CIVICUS’ fold and expand CIVICUS’ work and own understanding about citizen engagement in local governance. As of this year, the Civil Society Index will have been implemented by CIVICUS and its local partners in more than 50 countries. A larger number of countries are envisioned to be included in its next phase in 2007/08. There are also additional exciting projects in the pipeline which deal with the more and more frequent violations of the freedom of association, such as the development of an early warning system and a series of awareness-raising and mobilisation campaigns. Lastly, CIVICUS is leading an initiative by international advocacy NGOs on a new Charter of Accountability. In all these initiatives, CIVICUS’ policy is to maximize partnerships, leadership and involvement of members, CSOs and other stakeholders.
Achieving greater coherence in programmes and relationships is premised on the insight that most of the complex challenges mentioned above are closely intertwined. A strong dedication by CSOs to ensure maximum levels of accountability, transparency and professionalism in their work will enable civil society to advocate effectively for a stronger role in governance and development. Likewise, a greater public role will provide civil society with the resources and capacity to further consolidate its internal structure.
Recognising these inter-linkages, CIVICUS is exploring the idea of a global campaign on the relevance of a vibrant civil society for today’s societies, which would provide a common umbrella and focal point for CIVICUS’ diverse programmatic activities. The campaign would have a three-pronged approach: at its most basic level, it would argue the case for a strong civil society at local, national and global levels. It would also demand that public institutions accept civil society’s fundamental rights, particularly its right to be heard in public affairs. It would link this external call for recognising and respecting civil society’s rights, roles and relevance with an internal call on CSOs to maintain high ethical standards in their work.
By responding to the common needs of CSOs, such a campaign would have the potential to become a unique rallying point for civil society around the world. If effective, it can help civil society to tackle its current challenges and move it forward on its path of maturation. However, to be effective in its campaigning work as well as other programmatic efforts, CIVICUS requires the active support and involvement of an expanding range of CSOs from around the world.
In this regard, the upcoming CIVICUS World Assembly in Glasgow from 21-25 June will provide a unique opportunity for CIVICUS to interact with members, partners and other organisations committed to strengthening civil society, on these and any other burning issues facing civic activists around the world today. I hope to see many of you there. I would also invite you to stay tuned to these columns in e-CIVICUS as well as our website to find out how you can engage with CIVICUS as the organisation sets out on its exciting future programmatic course.
Best wishes,
Finn Heinrich
For more information and suggestions, please e-mail finn@civicus.org
