Democratic and inclusive governance is seen as key for fighting poverty, achieving sustainable development and social justice. There is now growing consensus that such a system of democratic governance has to involve ample opportunities for citizen and their organizations to engage with government – what is usually termed ‘participatory governance’.

However, in reality, such opportunities remain rare and citizens in both the North and the South express growing disillusionment with their governments – citing problems of lack of transparency, responsiveness and accountability. Human and citizen rights are not fully acknowledged nor respected and, as a result, ordinary citizens are largely excluded from governance processes and the making of decisions that directly affect their lives.

Around the world, citizens suffer from a lack of adequate information, lack of awareness and acknowledgement of human and citizen rights and inadequate opportunities for meaningful dialogue and negotiation with public actors. In many countries all over the world, civil society organizations have been at the forefront of advocating for greater citizen participation in public life.

Many courageous and dedicated government actors (at local and national levels) have also initiated efforts to create space and mechanisms for citizen participation in governance processes. The current phase of the CIVICUS Participatory Governance Programme seeks to make a contribution to these efforts through a combined focus on capacity-building, networking and knowledge exchange among participatory governance practitioners in the South.

• to enhance the capacity of southern civil society practitioners (CSOs and government actors)

• Enhance southern practitioners’ knowledge and learning of participatory governance principles, rights, benefits, critical issues and strategies.

• Assist southern practitioners to acquire the skills and tools they need to effectively promote participatory governance.

• Build bridges between civil society and government practitioners and strategic networks for the promotion of participatory governance.

The programme is based on an inclusive approach, involving a multitude of national and international civil society organizations (including existing networks, training institutes and organizations specialized in various aspects of participatory governance) in order to draw on comparative advantages and maximize programme impact.

It places special emphasis on involving and promote linkages between civil society and government actors. In implementing the programme, CIVICUS seeks to build up the analytical and operational capacity of participating organizations rather its own, keeping programme staff to a strict minimum and aiming for the “community of practice” to become increasingly independent and self-sustaining over time.