CIVICUS' communications activities are co-ordinated by the Knowledge Development and Dissemination Programme (KDDP). During 2006, KDDP developed an e-CIVICUS editorial policy which was updated with comments from subscribers and at the end of December 2006, subscriptions for this e-publication had increased to 77,500. The number of visitors to www.civicus.org also continued to increase as KDDP updated the Civil Society Index (CSI), Legitimacy, Transparency and Accountability (LTA) and the Millennium Development Goals sections of the website and created new sections such as CIVICUS Gender Policy, Affinity Groups and International Advocacy NGOs and Networks. CIVICUS' Better Communication and Planning Toolkits continued to be the most popular downloads from the CIVICUS website as the year saw these toolkits translated into English, French, Spanish and Russian. A new Internal Communication toolkit is now also available on the website.
2006 also saw the emergence of the KDDP programme (formerly the Communications Department) from a period of transition to one where it faced new challenges with regard to re-affirming and/or adjusting its communication strategy and operational framework. As the KDDP programme, it now focuses on developing and disseminating knowledge and information that strengthens civil society and raises citizen awareness of the issues facing civil society worldwide.
The other KDDP focus is on increasing the ability of civil society organisations (CSOs) to work together and to engage with other institutions to improve and increase the quality of access to reliable information. In addition, the programme continues to promote CIVICUS and build its relationships with members and partners.
Due to limited human and financial resources, KDDP has focused on maintaining its key outputs on e-CIVICUS, CIVICUS website, CIVICUS Intranet and the promotion of the Better Communication and MDG toolkits. In addition, the KDDP strove to support and maintain a limited communication strategy for CIVICUS and its programmes.
e-CIVICUS
 | This e-publication continues to provide free weekly electronic news on civil society worldwide, news about the organisation, its members andnetwork partners, and provides links to useful electronic and print resources aimed at strengthening the reputation of civil society. This electronic publication is made available to subscribers in html, word, pdf and text versions. |
| Subscription: The target of 50,000 subscribers by the end of 2005 was surpassed by 1,199 on 1 January 2006. At the end of December 2006, subscription for this electronic publication has increased to 75,800 subscribers. Board members and CIVICUS programmes have been enlisted to assist in boosting e-CIVICUS subscription. e-CIVICUS subscribers are encouraged to forward their partners’ e-mail addresses to us and we send invitation letters to subscribe. Currently, 600-700 invitations letters for free subscription are being sent every week. |
| Translation: In January 2006, e-CIVICUS featured a call for volunteer translators and identified 3 volunteers who could translate e-CIVICUS into French. Unfortunately, there were problems with reliability and the ability of translators to commit to translating e-CIVICUS on a regular basis. By April 2006 all three translators had stopped working with CIVICUS. It is the programme’s desire to enhance French translation and to look at possibilities of producing e-CIVICUS in Spanish, Chinese, Portuguese, Russian, Japanese and Arabic. |
| Dissemination: In April 2006, CIVICUS subscribed to an online email marketing service called Groundspring (www.groundspring.org). The service provides the inclusion of automatic subscribe and unsubscribe buttons and software on e-CIVICUS and tracks click-through and open rates. |
Website
| Content: In 2006, the programme created new sections on the website for CIVICUS Gender Policy, Affinity Groups, International Advocacy NGOs and networks (IANGOs) and Legitimacy, Transparency and Accountability (LTA). The CIVICUS website gets updated in line with e-CIVICUS’ weekly schedule. |
| Visitors: The number of visitors to www.civicus.org has continued to increase. April 2006 saw the website hits rise to 310,000, up from 33,000 in July 2005. |
| CIVICUS blog: The programme uses a CIVICUS blog, launched in October 2005, to further market CIVICUS’ civil society activities and debate important issues for the sector. The blog complements the CIVICUS website, which is updated weekly in line with the e-CIVICUS schedule. |
In mid 2006, KDDP, through e-CIVICUS, worked with other CIVICUS programmes to develop a strategy aimed at maximising and leveraging the volume of knowledge and information generated throughout all CIVICUS programmes and departments. An exercise inviting CIVICUS programme managers to write articles on programme activities for e-CIVICUS in order to identify the synergies and gaps in current knowledge development and dissemination practices throughout civil society organisations was initiated and used to kick-start a new coordinated-information, knowledge-dissemination and communication-for-change strategy.
As part of this strategy, the programme continued to support other programmes’ communication initiatives including the Millennium Development Goals, Global Call to Action against Poverty (GCAP), Civil Society Index, Participatory Governance, CIVICUS World Assembly, Civil Society Watch, Membership Department, monthly Civil Society Watch Bulletin, the Civil Society Watch website and the Civil Society Index Quarterly Update.
Throughout 2006, the management of information, knowledge creation and information sharing remained a crucial challenge for the Knowledge Development and Dissemination Programme. One of the greatest challenges facing the programme is to mainstream the CIVICUS and civil society vision for a better world and to ensure that those of us involved in the struggle for global justice are as well informed as possible. As such, the new programme seeks to be a “clearing-house” for useful knowledge and information on civil society broadly, as opposed to an organisational service which largely focuses on promoting CIVICUS programmes and activities.
2007 goals
| The programme will continue to work towards developing and disseminating knowledge about or concerning CIVICUS to both internal and external audiences to ensure that the organisation has a more solid support-base, a strong worldwide presence, solid credibility, a positive image and a more secure future. |
| Raise publicity of CIVICUS' Better Planning and Communications and MDG Toolkits. |
| Increase the quality of list serves in terms of subscription and geographic participation. |
| Increase media work in raising CIVICUS' profile (development of media strategy). |
| Help CIVICUS, in partnership with other global CSOs, to explore the possibility of establishing a global information and knowledge portal on civil society. |
| Take a lead in the overall aim of e-CIVICUS to develop and share knowledge with the goals of raising the profile of civil society around the world and building civil society’s reputation. |
| Take a closer look at the emerging trends, achievements, overall challenges and opportunities that e-CIVICUS faced in 2006. |
2007 Challenges
| Sharpen e-CIVICUS' profile and clarify its position in comparison to other global e-newsletters. |
| Focus on raising the number of subscribed readers to 150,000 by the end of 2007. |
| Produce e-CIVICUS in French, Spanish, Chinese, Portuguese, Russian, Japanese and Arabic. |
| Increase the value of e-CIVICUS as an evaluation tool to analyse the extent and significance of the role civil society plays in world politics, democracy, good governance and sustainable human development. |
| Contribute to the global debates about the concept and definition of civil society. |
| Take a look at a cohort of specialised organisations that support civil society as a whole, providing policy dialogue and analysis, training, sectoral, and other services that help amplify the 'collective voice' of civil society as a partner in development and governance issues. |
| Enhance and strengthen the diversity of opinions in e-CIVICUS and create opportunities for subscribers to contribute to the publication. |
In 2007 and beyond, the KDDP programme, through e-CIVICUS and other new initiatives, will continue to highlight developments within civil society to encourage the spirit of activism among members and partners. e-CIVICUS will continue to provide subscribers with a means to engage with CIVICUS programmes, as well as our partners in civil society, government, the corporate world and the donor community around important issues of common interest.
Eric Muragana
KDDP Communications Associate 2004 - 2006
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CIVICUS Better Communications and Planning Tool kits:
See the full list at: http://www.civicus.org/new/content/civitoolkits2.htm