FROM
THE DESK OF THE SECRETARY-GENERAL
Reflections
on the CIVICUS Civil Society Index country reports
Release Date: 13
November 2006
By Kumi Naidoo, CIVICUS Secretary-General
Dear e-CIVICUS Subscribers,
Over the past three years, the CIVICUS Civil Society Index (CSI) has engaged
over 5,000 stakeholders in more than 50 countries in one of the largest and
most comprehensive evaluations of civil society to date. Through the dedication
of our partners, the CSI has generated valuable knowledge on the state of civil
society in a wide range of countries - as politically, culturally and socially
diverse as China, Lebanon, Macedonia, Sierra Leone and Uruguay. In this week’s column, I would
like to share with you the insights of Hannelore Wallner, CIVICUS Civil Society
Index Project Manager, into the preliminary findings of the CSI study.
In Solidarity,
Kumi Naidoo
CIVICUS Civil Society Index’s contemporary challenges for civil society
By Hannelore Wallner, CIVICUS Civil Society Index Manager
Over the past three years, the CIVICUS Civil Society Index (CSI) has engaged
over 5,000 stakeholders in more than 50 countries in one of the largest and
most comprehensive evaluations of civil society to date. Through the dedication
of our partners, the CSI has generated valuable knowledge on the state of civil
society in a wide range of countries as politically, culturally and socially
diverse as China, Lebanon, Macedonia, Sierra Leone and Uruguay. As an action-research project, the
CSI has also helped to challenge popular myths and raise awareness about civil
society among the media, academia, the private and public sectors, and even
civil society practitioners themselves.
The preliminary findings of the CSI study provide important insights into the
challenges and opportunities faced by civil society around the world. This
innovative action-research project highlights numerous issues, such as the
changing forms of citizen participation (which privilege faith-based
organisations and social movements, rather than NGOs); the importance of
indigenous financial resources for civil society (vis-à-vis waning financial
commitment of international donors); the critical relation with the state and
policy-making; and the new phenomenon of corporate philanthropy and social
responsibility.
The CSI is a self-assessment methodology conducted for and by civil society,
with the main aim of enhancing the strength and sustainability of civil society,
and strengthening civil society’s contribution to positive social change. A
unique combination of research elements and participatory activities make up
the methodology that is implemented by partner CSOs in the countries. The CSI
is based on the hypothesis that the combination of knowledge generation and
participation can lead to action and change. The driving principles of the CSI
are its inclusive and participatory nature, as well as the full ownership of
the implementation process by in-country partners. The project framework relies
on common core standards while at the same time allowing for some flexibility
in order to ensure contextual validity.
Based on the definition of civil society as “the arena, outside of the family,
the state and the market where people associate to advance common interests”,
the CSI’s underlying analytical framework utilizes the Civil Society Diamond
(developed by Dr. Helmut Anheier) that assesses four dimensions of civil
society: structure, environment, values, and impact.
Looking at the four dimensions at the centre of the assessment, the country
studies conducted during this phase (2003-2006) show that civil society’s
impact in many regions of the world is limited or even restricted by a variety
of external factors. The set of CSI studies completed thus far shows us that
citizen participation in civil society activities is rather low and, although
sometimes galvanized by periods of social or political conflict (e.g. Bolivia
and Ukraine), it seldom turns into systematic participation of citizens and organised
civil society in policy-making processes. The one exception seems to be Western Europe, where citizen participation is
less volatile, and the contribution of civil society to policy-making processes
appears to be more systematic and institutionalised.
A weakness that can be determined in most regions of the world is civil
society’s infrastructure. It is particularly weak in Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa, and somewhat more developed
in post-communist Europe, where infrastructure has been a
focus of donor efforts for the last decade. That said, even in this region,
institutions providing support to civil society did not usually reach
local-level organisations.
The CSI country studies confirm that financial resources for CSOs are limited
in most regions of the world. CSOs in post-communist Europe, particularly, are often
donor-driven, and to a lesser extent the same problem exists in sub-Saharan Africa. As donor priorities shift or donor
commitment declines, civil society’s financial sustainability is likely to
become a challenge. This leads to the conclusion that in the future the state
is (or will be) the main source of funding for civil society – providing
opportunities as well as posing challenges for CSOs. One of the most pressing
questions that arise for the future is whether increasing state funding will
undermine the autonomy of civil society and its role as ‘watchdog’? Will
certain types of organisations be at the risk of being co-opted? In response to
this, potential alternatives such as resource mobilisation beyond state support
(e.g. membership fees) as well as support from the private sector should be
explored.
When assessing the environment dimension, it is the political context,
especially in terms of laws and practices constraining civic activism, which
often hampers the development of civil society. Interestingly, infringements of
citizens’ rights were noted in countries with rather different political
contexts (i.e. Scotland, Togo, Russia and China). Importantly, the CSI found that a ‘weak’ state is a main
challenge to the development of a strong civil society. In most countries it is
the ineffective, corrupt, clientelistic, and unresponsive character of the
state that poses obstacles to civil society’s growth and effectiveness. A
‘strong’ state, it appears, is a precondition for a ‘strong’ civil society.
The CSI studies demonstrate that the current impact of civil society is rather
low – in many cases due to reluctant governments, which either feel threatened
by or do not recognise the importance of civil society involvement. Many
country reports show how civil society and government view each other with
suspicion and do not engage in meaningful dialogue. Similarly, civil society
relations with the private sector are still rather tenuous. Furthermore, the
role of civil society in many countries is predominantly that of a service
provider, as opposed to an advocate for basic rights.
While civil society upholds important progressive values, such as non-violence,
tolerance and gender equity – it lags behind on others. Internal transparency
and accountability mechanisms, particularly, are challenges which CSOs need to
tackle. It has become apparent in all regions, except for Western Europe, that while mechanisms of
transparency and accountability often exist, they are scarcely enforced in the
civil society sector.
Civil society is facing a growing challenge in securing financial resources,
coupled with potential threats to the sector’s autonomy due to its dependency
on state funding. In this insecure funding environment, CSOs will have to find
new ways of maintaining and strengthening their capacity to influence policy
processes.
Many of the CSI partner organisations, as well as other CSOs in their countries,
have actively responded to the results of the study by developing projects to
tackle the challenges it identified. According to the study, many CSOs lack the
resources and expertise to influence policy making, even when governments are
open and collaborative. As a result, some CSOs are now working to strengthen
their ability to engage with policy makers. Interestingly, the project itself –
which required the consultation of multiple stakeholders such as media,
academia and the private and public sectors – acted as an avenue for bridging
the gap to help increase civil society’s influence in policy-making.
The first of two volumes of the publication “Assessing and Strengthening Civil
Society Worldwide” are being published by Kumarian Press and will be available
in mid-2007. For more information on the project, please visit www.civicus.org,
or contact Hannelore Wallner at hannelore.wallner@civicus.org.
Warmest regards,
Hannelore Wallner
Below you will find all previous columns published within e-CIVICUS editions.
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• What the Tsunami Tragedy means for
Civil Society.
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