CIVICUS strengthening civil society alliance worldwide
Release Date: 01 December 2006
By Kumi Naidoo, CIVICUS Secretary-General
Dear e-CIVICUS Subscribers,
As you know CIVICUS is a membership-based alliance with a broad and diverse range of members from all regions and from the majority of countries around the world. We recently were very pleased to receive nominations of 109 candidates from roughly 70 countries around the world for consideration in selection of the final slate of candidates for the current round of CIVICUS Board elections. The final slate will have 26 candidates, from which members will be able to vote for 13 to serve CIVICUS and its various stakeholders in this important role. I would like to personally invite e-CIVICUS subscribers to consider becoming full members of CIVICUS so that when the ballot for the new board is sent out, they too can participate in this important part of CIVICUS’ governance. This week, Marianne Buenaventura, CIVICUS Membership Manager, reflects on how and why CIVICUS strives to strengthen civil society alliances. Warmest regards, Kumi.
Warmest regards,
Kumi Naidoo
Why join CIVICUS? Sharing member impressions
By Marianne Buenaventura, CIVICUS Membership Manager
It is a pleasure to have this opportunity to address e-CIVICUS subscribers in this week’s column regarding CIVICUS membership. I would like to begin by acknowledging and thanking our CIVICUS members for their invaluable support, and especially those long-standing members who have supported CIVICUS since its very early days. CIVICUS has succeeded in convening many different sectors of civil society in its various programmes and activities, beginning with the first CIVICUS World Assembly in 1995, later through the Civil Society Index research activities and publications, and more recently through CIVICUS’ current, considerably broader range of programmes and activities. Throughout, our members have been a key enabling force in allowing CIVICUS to pursue its mission of strengthening civil society around the world.
I would like to share with you some reflections from some of our longer-standing members on why they are members of CIVICUS:
Douglas Rutzen, President, International Center for Not-for-Profit Law (ICNL), United States of America, 23 November 2006.
“CIVICUS is an unparalleled source of new ideas, creative approaches and interesting contacts. In ethos and action, CIVICUS represents the essence of civil society. Through its Civil Society Watch Programme, CIVICUS plays a critical role in safeguarding civic space worldwide.”
Jean Dib Hajj, Managing Director, the International Management & Training Institute (IMTI), Lebanon, 24 November 2006.
“Why am I a CIVICUS member? A simple question that will require a profound answer. Founding CIVICUS in the early Nineties of the last century was a dream comes true. Having an international platform for civil society was instrumental in consolidating the power of social justice. For us, CIVICUS was the gateway to global deliberations. It enabled and induced interactions with counterparts from the different continents, and it facilitated the exchange of experiences and expertise. Also, it constituted a valuable resource base on several aspects of civil society including capacity building, fundraising, public policy formulation and evaluation. This wealth of data on civil society contributed effectively in empowering civil society organisations (CSOs) such as ours and in strengthening the voice of civil society (CS) in local, regional and global forums. Furthermore, CIVICUS provided us with the opportunity to establish partnerships with various stakeholders, whether at the global or regional levels. Finally, CIVICUS plays an important role in supporting CS in countries facing social, political, economic and legal turbulence. In this regard, international solidarity is provided to CS activists under threat.”
Okoko Davidson Chidiebere, President, Youthful Initiative for Education, Environment & Large-Scale Development (YIELD), Nigeria, 24 November 2006.
“I got interested in CIVICUS for the first time because I happened to come across the biography of its Secretary-General, Kumi Naidoo, and what role he played during his university years in social cohesion in South Africa. This interest was simultaneous with my involvement with the Nigerian Youth Coalition in the World Summit on the Information Society. We were a group of young people and we just modelled some prominent activists in making our voices heard at the Geneva and Tunisia phases of the Information Summit. I got more interested in CIVICUS when I was tasked to translate one of its official documents into Yoruba, one of Nigeria's tribal languages. Consequently I applied for organisational membership under the Youthful Initiatives for YIELD. Ever since I have fallen in love more with CIVICUS owing to its diverse type of membership spanning corporations such as Chevron, NGOs such as YIELD and individuals here in Nigeria. CIVICUS benefits my organisation most in sharing information about civil society worldwide. It keeps me abreast of the latest developments regarding social activism, world development, information and communication technologies. It is a pot-pourri of social networking and information-gathering, which are basic elements of this Age.”
On behalf of all of us at CIVICUS, I would like to thank these members for sharing their views on CIVICUS as a coordinating platform for international CSOs and activists. Such meaningful feedback is much appreciated as we continue the challenging but inspiring work of building a global alliance to defend, strengthen and promote civil society and citizen action. It is with this spirit of solidarity and action that CIVICUS can be effective in achieving its objectives.
CIVICUS continues to work to provide the space and the tools to improve and maximise opportunities for members and others to generate and share ideas and knowledge. As part of this, we have re-launched the CIVICUS “Membership Lounge,” which due to other priorities and capacity constraints had seen somewhat limited activity over the past few years. Accessible through the CIVICUS website, the membership lounge facilitates interaction and helps members keep abreast of developments in CIVICUS as well as with their colleagues from other parts of the world.
During the past year, we have also made increasing efforts to improve interaction with and among our members and partners by organising members’ meetings. With the invaluable assistance of our members, who have coordinated and hosted the events, CIVICUS has held members’ meetings in Beirut, Dublin, Madrid, Dar es Salaam, Beijing, Santiago, Sao Paolo and New Delhi, with an additional meeting planned for Melbourne this month. Further meetings will of course be held in 2007.
CIVICUS’ largest convening event for members and others is the annual CIVICUS World Assembly, which attracts organisations and individuals involved in civil society activism in many sectors, from around the world, and which includes an annual Members’ Meeting as part of the programme. CIVICUS Members are eligible for bursaries to attend the World Assembly, as well as discounts on delegate fees. The 2006 Members’ Meeting can be viewed on-line at www.civicusassembly.org. During the Members’ Meeting at the next CIVICUS World Assembly, to be held in Glasgow, 23-27 May, 2007, CIVICUS will also introduce its new Board of Directors, currently being elected by CIVICUS members.
Kumi Naidoo once told me that he has been stopped by people while traveling, to inform him that they are ‘e-Members’ of CIVICUS - by which they meant that they are subscribers of e-CIVICUS. We are delighted to have an “e-Membership” base of more than 77,300 subscribers. But there is more to CIVICUS membership than the newsletter, and we do hope that our “e-Members” consider joining CIVICUS as full-fledged members, to support and become part of our growing global network dedicated to strengthening civic action and civil society worldwide.
Membership is an essential element of the work of CIVICUS, and working with our members and partners, creating relationships and building upon each others’ efforts, is an essential part of our contribution to civil society at large. It is for this reason that we extend this special invitation to all our readers to become members of CIVICUS. We look forward to hearing from you soon.
