FROM THE DESK OF THE SECRETARY-GENERAL

An invitation to a global event that you do not want to miss

Release Date: 31 October 2007

By Kumi Naidoo, CIVICUS Secretary-General

Dear e-CIVICUS Subscriber, 

As we get towards the end of 2007, the hardworking World Assembly team is already in full planning mode for next year’s edition of CIVICUS’ main global convening event. This week I have asked our new World Assembly Manager, Margaret Fish, who has worked closely with our colleague, Roseline Zigomo, to whom we are bidding farewell this week, to share with you why you should consider participating in next June’s CIVICUS World Assembly in Glasgow. For me, the World Assembly is a place to recharge your batteries, learn from colleagues addressing similar challenges that you are facing in your own countries, a time for planning joint activities as well as a time for CIVICUS Board and management to account for their last year’s activities in the presence of members and partners. I urge you to pencil the dates into your diary and to try and secure the resources to attend the CIVICUS Assembly next year. Margaret goes into more detail in her column on the purpose and approach to the CIVICUS Assembly and I hope that you take the time to read her article and that we will have the honour to welcome you to the next Assembly.

Warmest regards,

Kumi

Participation will be the focus of the 8^th CIVICUS World Assembly
By Margaret Fish, CIVICUS World Assembly Manager
The CIVICUS World Assembly has proved itself to be a primary venue for civil society to share ideas and experiences on strengthening citizen participation. The central goal is to convene a diversity of civil society voices and the voices of civil society stakeholders, such as government, business, donors and media, from different regions across the globe, exchanging experiences, challenges, successes, dreams and, most importantly, concrete ideas for a more equitable and just world. The World Assemblies have been held every two years since 1995, and have been hosted in Mexico City, Budapest, Manila, Vancouver, Gabarone and Glasgow. 

In 2004, the CIVICUS Board agreed to hold the World Assembly annually, beginning in 2006, with a three-year cycle in one venue. In addition to reducing the logistical burden of organising such a major international event, the annualisation allows CIVICUS to focus more intensively on programme content and ensuring widespread participation. The Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations successfully bid to host the CIVICUS World Assembly in Scotland for 2006-2008.

The 8^th World Assembly in 2008 (18 to 21 June) will be the last of the Glasgow series, which has seen a growth each year in the number of delegates and the number of countries represented. The overall theme will once again, as in the past three years, be Acting Together for a Just World, with a focus theme of People, Participation and Power.

People, Participation and Power involves people coming together to access, engage and participate in the various spheres of governance at the local, national and international levels. Civil society has long bemoaned the fact that governments do not appear to listen to the voice of the people. What therefore is the role of civil society in governance?; why is its participation so resisted?; what does civil society need to do to overcome these challenges?. Business seems to be more successful at getting governments to hear their views; Can we learn anything from some of the methods they employ?

Our focus theme this year will highlight the role of the people in effecting change through advocacy, mobilising and campaigning to bring about real change in their communities at the local, national and international levels. Part of the discussions will also explore the issue of people’s participation and influence over organisations such as companies and international government agencies.

Once again the 2008 programme will include plenaries, mini-plenaries, learning exchanges – such as a visit to the Scottish Parliament – workshops, film screenings and networking opportunities. In addition, there are two special tracks. These are the Intelligent Funding Track and the Media Track, which will build on the discussions held on these issues in the past two World Assemblies; another advantage of holding an annual event in the same city. This year our Intelligent Funding Track plenary on Aid Effectiveness was televised in the form of a BBC World Debate and we are planning another televised plenary session for next year.

A very special event in 2007 was the introduction of the Youth Assembly. This dovetailed with the World Assembly and started to explore how young people could get their voices heard on the issues that affect their lives. The youth delegates then joined the main World Assembly event. Building on that first event, the organisers of the Youth Assembly are visiting CIVICUS this week to explore further how young people can better understand the work of CIVICUS and how they can be more involved in CIVICUS’ programmes and networks. This is a very useful exercise that we hope will culminate in more meaningful interaction between the youth and adult delegates in 2008, a better integrated World Assembly programme and benefits for the future of CIVICUS’ programme work.

The CIVICUS Youth Assembly will be held immediately prior to the World Assembly in Glasgow and has rapdily established itself as a unique global youth forum encouraging young people to engage with critical challenges facing their communities, countries and the world. It will offer an exceptional opportunity to meet and work with other young women and men who are really making changes for the better. It will give young people an opportunity, programme and space to develop and commit to unified action internationally. The dates of the Youth Assembly are 16th -18th June 2008. The application process will open online on 6 November and the closing date for applications is Monday 31 March 2008

Please visit the CIVICUS youth website (www.civicusyouth.org) to find more details on how to apply.

Calls for the submission of workshop proposals for 2008 have gone out and are repeated in this newsletter, as is the call for applications for the Nelson Mandela Graca Machel Innovation Awards, which provide seed funding for innovative projects arising out of participation at the previous World Assembly. The winners of these awards will be announced at a gala dinner on the last night of the Assembly.

Please join us for our last Glasgow World Assembly next year. Registration will open on the World Assembly website on 12 November and close on 15 January 2008. The website also has a discussion forum and we invite you to make a contribution to this blog leading up to the next World Assembly. We very much look forward to seeing many of you there.

For more about the CIVICUS World Assembly, visit www.civicusassembly.org or email civicusassembly@scvo.org.uk

For more information on the Youth Assembly, visit www.civicusyouth.org.
For more information on CIVICUS, visit www.civicus.org.

To send you comments, suggestions or contributions of articles, e-mail editor@civicus.org.

Below you will find all previous columns published. 

• Islam: The New Fascism?

• Standing Up for the People of Burma

• Closing the gap between volunteering and social activism

• A poor climate makes for poor people

• It starts with you: become a volunteer GCAP organiser and Stand Up and Speak Out Against Poverty and Inequality

• Enforced disappearance threaten us all

• We must plug the leaks: Civil Society and Aid Effectiveness

• October 17: Stand up with millions united as one

• Should the voting age be reduced to sixteen? International Youth Day: a time for reflection

• CIVICUS partners continue to languish in jail

• If civil society organisations cannot change how governments can?  

• Climate Change: How much longer can we ignore this catastrophe and how will climate change affect the work of civil society?

• Civil society engaging with inter-governmental organisations: is the feeling mutual?

• 07/07/07: Reflection on the mid-point of the Minimalist/Millennium Development Goals

• Towards the Legal Empowerment of the Poor

• Continuity and Change: The position of CIVICUS' Secretary General

• Continuity with change: Governance change at CIVICUS

• From a whisper to a whimper: Reflections on the on the G8 Summit

• Will the G8 deliver according to its broken promises?

• CIVICUS World Assembly need you to set the agenda 

• "We' re Living in a World of Global Economic Appartheid" 

• Renewed dedication to the Call for Poverty Eradication and Equality  

• Wolfowitz must resign to regain World Bank's credibility  

• Criminalising Human Rights in Zimbabwe

• Who's accounatability to who and why?

• Civil society and the progress of the feminist movement in transitional democracy

• The role of civil society organisations in promoting corporate citizenship

• Civil society faces increasing challenges in Zimbabwe

• The road to Accra: Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness

• CIVICUS Youth Assembly to urge for ‘Accountability to Future Generations’

• International Women’s Day, 8 March 2007: Men will never be free until women enjoy full gender equality

• The World Economic Forum is too important to be left to economists alone

• From Nairobi to Davos: Reflections on the World Social Forum and World Economic Forum

• The role of civil society organisations in managing for development results

• World Social Forum 2007: Another World is Possible for Africa

• The importance of civil society in the year 2006

• International Advocacy NGO Accountability Charter: Walking the talk

• Human Rights Day: Righting the Wrongs

• Sharing member impressions and why civil society should be part of CIVICUS’ alliance

• 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence

• CIVICUS strategic planning takes centre stage

• Reflections on the CIVICUS Civil Society Index country reports

• Civil society and the challenge of Regional Integration in the Pacific

• Over 20 Million People 'STAND UP AGAINST POVERTY' to Set New Guinness World Record

• People created poverty. Only people can eradicate it." World-wide commemoration of October 17: International Day for the Eradication of Poverty

• Campaigning Works!

• If only civil society was taken seriously: Reflections on the fifth anniversary of the tragedy of 11 September 2001

• Help set a Guinness world record by standing up to poverty

• Civil society takes centre stage at the AIDS Conference

• Can we reform the International Finance Institutions?

• Article on the Doha collapse

• Civil Society and the Middle East Conflict

• Reflections of a Meeting with the Russian President, Vladimir Putin

• You can participate in the CIVICUS World Assembly even if you are not going to be there in person

• Can Civil Society make a difference in Iraq?

• The Ethics of Cherry Picking: The dilemma of where you live, work and play!!!

• Former CIVICUS Board Member passes away

• Reflections on a visit to prison

• The struggle for justice is a marathon not a sprint: A personal reflection

• Can Civil Society make 2006 a year of more and better coherence, coordination and communication?

• What 2005 means for civil society?

• Argentina: Thriving without the IMF

• Can legal frameworks strengthen civil society? Is the time right for a Campaign for Civil Society Rights?

• Why trade justice matters to you

• December 2005: Determined, Dedicated and Diverse Dimensions to Direct Action For Justice, Human Rights and Equality

• Reflections on the United Nations Summit

• Civil society gears up for the UN World Summit

• Reflections on the G8 Summit

• Nelson Mandela: Inspiring civil society efforts to create a just world

• Children, youth and the struggle for a just world

• So we think democracy is growing?: Rethinking social exclusion

• You can make difference on ‘Whiteband Day’ - 1 July 2005

• CSW Monthly Bulletin provides a global forum to protect the rights of civil society

• What does democracy really mean today

• The absence of democracy at the World Bank

• Grassroots activism: ordinary people making an extraordinary difference

• Madrid, Manhattan, Manica and Musina: Civic activism driving the agenda for social and political justice

• On International Women's Day civil society wonders if this is Beijing Plus Ten or Beijing Minus Ten

• Internal governance: Responding to the challenge of civil society legitimacy, accountability and transparency

• Poverty or social exclusion - What unites civil society in the North and South?

• Should civil society engage with governing institutions even when they have deep democratic deficits?

• One month gone, eleven to go: Is 2005 the year civil society focuses on its common shared values and agrees to disagree on strategy and tactics?

• The beginnings of the biggest ever mobilisation against poverty launched at the World Social Forum

• Civil Society gears up for a major global campaign against poverty

• What the Tsunami Tragedy means for Civil Society.

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