Blogs

• Thinking about how to measure your organisation’s accountability?

  ...then read on, because this blog post is for you!

  by Belén Giaquinta (CIVICUS)

  The Resilient Roots Accountability Initiative is working with 15 partners to help them design and rollout year-long accountability projects and document the factors which seem to help boost or hinder their accountability. We want to track changes in accountability over the course of the initiative, and to do so we need to measure our starting point!... But this proved to be much more complicated than we expected. Read on for some raw reflections about what we learned on the way!

  How to do an accountability baseline in a comprehensive, yet efficient and comparable way, you ask? Well, you make a survey. Or to be exact, you make two similar surveys that cover various aspects of accountability (such as voice, responsiveness, trust, communication, etc.), addressed to the core of any organisation: their primary constituents and their staff.

  For the majority of questions, the accountability baseline survey used the Net Performance Analysis (NPA) methodology, which involves respondents choosing a score on a scale from 0 to 10, from “totally disagree” to “completely agree”. The NPA then helped us generate a single number for each question which allows for easy comparison across constituent groups, between organisations, and over time. Comprehensive and comparable: check!

  The exact method used to administer these surveys varied from one organisation to the next (based on the age of respondents, access to the internet, geographical location, etc), and included a mix of in-person/over the phone interviews and online surveys via the web and mobile phone applications. To do this, Resilient Roots hired independent consultants in almost all pilot project countries to undertake the surveys in the local language, and help reduce bias in responses (as opposed to organisations carrying out these baselines themselves).

  Questions were standardised across all pilot project organisations, but the language in the surveys was adapted by each partner to fit the local context, make it less NGO-sounding and more accessible to its constituents. Then came the (11!) translations, one of the most time-consuming parts of the baseline measurement process. If you have ever tried to use “accountability” in another language, then you know the struggle of having to find translation for a term that simply does not exist outside of the English-speaking world. Now add words like “primary constituents” and “resilience” to the mix, and you have a buzzwords soup for a survey.

  We approached these steps on a case-by-case basis, which made it a very laborious and slow process. But we wanted this baseline to be a real shared effort between our partners and the Resilient Roots team, and here taking our time proved to be more rewarding than efficiency.

  So, we managed to create and implement a baseline survey that was indeed comprehensive, replicable, and comparable, and (to a lesser extent) efficient… That is until we got to the data analysis part, where we quickly realised how overwhelming this phase would be. The single, most important lesson learned from this is to “start at the end”. If we had started by spending more time thinking about the analysis, what we wanted to do with this information and what systems (read: complex equations on excel or powerful programming languages like “R”) we needed to set up to help us get there, this would have saved us lots of time and effort!

  And it did not stop there! Once we had some preliminary results, we then had to figure out how to share these findings with the pilot project organisations, in a constructive and learning-oriented manner. After much debating, the best we came up with was an eight-page report (we tried!) with follow up calls. Of most importance for us was to visualise the data without generalising the findings or missing the nuance the NPA can give. So after we graphed, and pie-charted, and density-plotted, disaggregated and tabled, I think we got there!

  Yet, a big part about understanding the results of this baseline survey does not depend on how many pretty graphs you make, but how vulnerable and open you are to both good and bad feedback from the people you work with. More importantly, it is about making serious commitments to address and respond to the feedback you receive. Accountability is (to a large extent) about organisational culture and how we “practice” sustainable development. These changes take time, and as a sector we have lots of work to do on this front! For Resilient Roots and the pilot project organisations, this baseline was our point of departure for setting off on this journey.

  In sum, this accountability baseline measurement has been truly illuminating – though quite challenging and a somewhat burdensome process. But we have learned a lot on the way and we will continue to improve and adapt our methodology based on these learnings. Now, we feel readier than ever to support these 15, very exciting accountability pilot projects organisations make the best out of their efforts to increase their primary constituent accountability!

  If you think, “hmm this is interesting, I want to know more about this methodology” then you are in luck! During the Global Accountability Week taking place 12-16 November, we will publish a much more comprehensive guide about how your organisation can measure its own accountability baseline. Stay tuned!

• Uganda: Over 50 civil society groups and human rights watchdogs illegally suspended

  

  Dunia Mekonnen Tegegn, Human Rights Lawyer and Gender Equality Advocate

  Dunia Mekonnen Tegegn is a human rights lawyer and Penn Kemble Fellow at the National Endowment for Democracy. She has also been working with the American Bar Association’s Center for Human Rights. Her previous roles have included working with Amnesty International USA, the Collaboration on International ICT Policy in East and Southern Africa (CIPESA), United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rghts' Eastern Africa Regional Office (OHCHR EARO), and the United Nations Agency for Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment, among others.

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  Authorities in Uganda have suspended more than 50 civic groups for allegedly not complying with regulations. This move, which targets organisations ranging from rights watchdogs to women’s groups, impacts hundreds of thousands of people who directly benefit from the organisations’ activities.

  The government’s Non-Governmental Organisation Bureau (NGO Bureau) announced the suspensions on August 20 2021, citing the following grounds: operating without valid permits, permits have expired, not filing returns. This move directly contravenes international guidelines related to freedom of association.

  The closure is part of a larger trend in the country. Earlier this year, the President also suspended the Democratic Governance Facility (DGF), which is a multi-million dollar fund which assists local organisations that focus on democracy, human rights and good governance.

  In 2019, the authorities banned the Citizens’ Coalition for Electoral Democracy in Uganda (CCEDU), an election monitoring coalition. In January 2021, the authorities also banned National Elections Watch – Uganda, a coalition of local organisations, from monitoring national elections. On Election Day, the police arrested more than 20 people working with Citizens Watch-IT and the Women’s Democracy Network for running a “parallel vote tallying center.” CCEDU and Citizens Watch-IT are among the groups whose activities have been banned by the NGO Bureau.

  For Chapter 4 Uganda, the recent closures are allegedly political in nature and related to their work demanding accountability for human rights violations during the past election. Another affected organisation is AFIEGO, which has been involved in the promotion of rights of people affected by the crude oil development project. Together with other charities, they have been campaigning against the proposed East Africa Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) project, citing potential impact on the climate.

  A number of women’s organisations were also affected in the recent suspensions, including Support Girl Child Uganda, Foundation for Women Empowerment, Kwataniza Women’s Organisation and Twimukye Women’s Organisation. All were suspended for operating without a valid permit.

  This move directly contravenes international guidelines related to freedom of association

  The guideline of the African Commission on Human and People’s Rights on Freedom of Assembly and Association under article 11 states that "states shall not oblige associations to register in order to be permitted to exist and to function freely and that informal associations shall not be penalised or criminalised under the law or in practice on the basis of their lack of formal status.”

  Furthermore, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Association and Assembly underlines that an important component of the right to freedom of association is that no one may be compelled to belong to an association. In his commentaries to Canada, Republic of Moldova, Slovenia, and the United States the Special Rapporteur reiterated that the right to freedom of association equally protects associations that are not registered. Individuals involved in unregistered associations should be free to carry out any activities, including the right to hold and participate in peaceful assemblies, and should not be subject to criminal sanctions.

  The Special Rapporteur is of the opinion that a “notification procedure”, rather than a “prior authorisation procedure” that requests the approval of the authorities to establish an association as a legal entity, complies better with international human rights law and should be implemented by states. Under this notification procedure, associations are automatically granted legal status as soon as the authorities are notified by the founders that an organisation was created. In most countries, such notification is made through a written statement containing a number of elements of information clearly defined in the law, but this is not a precondition for the existence of an association. It is rather a submission through which the administration records the establishment of the said association.

  Such a notification procedure is in force in countries such asCôte d'Ivoire, Djibouti, Morocco, Portugal, Senegal, Switzerland and Uruguay. Under both notification and prior authorisation regimes, registration bodies must be bound to act immediately, and laws should set short time limits to respond to submissions and applications respectively.

  The Special Rapporteur echoes a ruling of the ¹European Court which provided that “significant delays in the registration procedure, if attributable to the Ministry of Justice, amounts to an interference with the exercise of the right of the association’s founders to freedom of association.” During this period, associations should be presumed to be operating legally until it is proven otherwise.

  Conclusion

  In closing, the suspension of these civil society groups breaks international law. It further contributes to the squeezing of the CSO space in Uganda accompanied by the pervasive targeting of human rights defenders. The suspension also has implications on advocacy work around women’s rights and empowerment. For organisations such as CCEDU, the suspension cuts substantial work on electoral democracy including political accountability, and voter education. The recent crackdown on civil society work should be understood in this broader context to appreciate the trends thus far and design strategies on the way forward.

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  ^[1] European Court of Human Rights, Sidiropoulos and Others v. Greece, application No. 26695/95, 10 July 1998.

   

• UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association, Clément Voule meets with civil society to discuss threats to rights

   

  More than 80 representatives of civil society organisations, community leaders and academics met in Johannesburg on 30-31 May and on 3 June with the UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Association and Assembly, Clément Voule to discuss the impact of restrictions on freedom of assembly and association on sustainable development. Participants discussed the relationship between human rights and development and how governments perceived the two as separate from each other.  Participants were of the view that the targeting of civil society organisations using a range of restrictions slows down the attainment of development outcomes. That there are existing tensions around the rise of authoritarian models and development and that over the last decade countries like China and Rwanda have experienced some levels of economic growth despite the fact that they are under authoritarian leaders.  Other key insights from participants:

• Una estrategia para abordar los sistemas deficientes

  

  Actualización de la secretaria general: Marzo de 2022  

  Nos complace anunciar la aprobación de un plan estratégico revisado para el periodo 2022-2027. Este plan se ha elaborado tras un amplio proceso de revisión y actualización de las prioridades estratégicas de CIVICUS. La Junta de CIVICUS aprobó por unanimidad la adopción de la estrategia revisada en marzo de 2022. Así pues, se elaborarán versiones multilingües y de fácil lectura de la estrategia, que se publicarán en nuestro sitio web a finales de abril. Nuestro actual plan estratégico estuvo vigente desde julio de 2017 hasta junio de 2022 y será sustituido por una estrategia actualizada en julio de 2022. 

  Afrontar nuevas realidades 
  La estrategia revisada es el resultado de las conversaciones entre las partes interesadas de la alianza CIVICUS. Comenzamos esta andadura con varios ejercicios de análisis de tendencias y proyecciones con la membresía, socios y con el personal entre octubre de 2020 y marzo de 2021. Estas evaluaciones contribuyeron al desarrollo de futuros escenarios y direcciones estratégicas, que fueron revisados por la Junta de CIVICUS y nos impulsaron a actualizar nuestra estrategia. Las deliberaciones de la Junta Directiva pusieron de manifiesto la oportunidad de reafirmar nuestras ambiciones con mayor claridad y de determinar la mejor manera de abordar las nuevas realidades y retos relacionados con el espacio cívico y la sociedad civil. Al describir la estrategia que ahora hemos desarrollado, me gustaría citar a Vandita Morarka, la más joven de nuestras componentes de la Junta, que dijo: "Lo que más me enorgullece es que esta estrategia no es sólo una estrategia amable... está realmente comprometida con la solución de los sistemas que no funcionan". 

  Análisis de nuestra teoría del cambio 
  Entre julio y noviembre de 2021, los equipos de redacción formados por miembros de la Junta Directiva y del personal trabajaron juntos para revisar y reformular los supuestos clave relacionados con la teoría del cambio de CIVICUS. Analizamos los éxitos de la organización y los obstáculos a los que nos hemos enfrentado al poner en marcha nuestra estrategia actual y los comparamos con un análisis de los acontecimientos en el espacio cívico durante los últimos diez años (2011-21). Al hacerlo, hemos podido identificar tensiones y oportunidades en la forma de definir el cambio al que aspiramos y al que contribuimos activamente. Esta evaluación ha servido de base para la elaboración de un borrador de estrategia, que se ha sometido a dos niveles de revisión por parte de la Junta y el personal entre noviembre de 2021 y enero de 2022. 

  En febrero, el borrador de la estrategia se compartió con las principales partes interesadas de la alianza CIVICUS a través de una serie de diálogos, incluyendo dos sesiones interactivas entre miembros de la Junta Directiva sobre las prioridades propuestas y una reunión conjunta con los principales donantes. Estas interacciones generaron una gran cantidad de reacciones y preguntas sobre diversos aspectos de la estrategia. Me complace informar de que los equipos que redactan la estrategia han sido capaces de cerrar el círculo de comentarios al tomarse el tiempo de responder a las cuestiones planteadas por los distintos grupos. Los temas clave que surgieron de nuestros debates con la membresía de CIVICUS se reflejan en este documento de preguntas frecuentes (FAQ), que está disponible en tres idiomas en nuestra página web. 

  Afinar nuestros objetivos estratégicos

  Entre los principales cambios que se recogen en este plan revisado, que guiará el rumbo estratégico de CIVICUS para el periodo comprendido entre julio de 2022 y junio de 2027, se encuentran los siguientes:

  • El desarrollo de un objetivo general, es decir, fortalecer la sociedad civil y la acción cívica para un espacio cívico y democrático más amplio. Este objetivo refleja la importancia que concedemos a las iniciativas que no sólo defienden, sino que potencian las libertades cívicas y democráticas mediante la organización de actividades de incidencia, organización y solidaridad. La estrategia establece cinco objetivos básicos que apoyan la consecución de nuestro objetivo general, que son (i) generar un conocimiento adecuado; (ii) coordinar actividades de incidencia política específicas; (iii) ayudar a fortalecer los ecosistemas de emergencia y de apoyo sostenible; (iv) fortalecer el discurso público y las narrativas de la sociedad civil; (v) y construir el contrapoder con los grupos más afectados. 

  • Un enfoque de trabajo con y para los grupos afectados por los efectos combinados de las restricciones al espacio cívico y las formas estructurales de discriminación. La estrategia revisada hace hincapié en la colaboración con los movimientos dirigidos por la comunidad que se enfrentan a una discriminación estructural. Esto implica un mayor énfasis en la solidaridad y la creación de alianzas en todos los niveles de nuestro trabajo, así como una mayor representación de las cuestiones relativas a las libertades civiles y las libertades democráticas desde una perspectiva de justicia social. 

  • Una articulación más clara de nuestra contribución al cambio sistémico a largo plazo, que se describe en cuatro declaraciones de resultados que vinculan nuestro trabajo a todos los niveles y consolidan su impacto. Nuestros objetivos básicos constituirán la base de un marco general para medir los resultados y comunicar las lecciones aprendidas de nuestros progresos de forma más eficaz.   

  Hoja de ruta para la aplicación de la estrategia 

  El siguiente paso en este proceso es coordinar el desarrollo de un plan por fases para la aplicación de la estrategia. Para ello, se diseñará y activará un marco de resultados y se coordinarán las iniciativas de alineación de programas y operaciones necesarias para aplicar nuestra estrategia actualizada.  Dentro de este plan también se contempla un sólido proceso de participación continua de las partes interesadas en nuestros avances en la estrategia, que incluye la coordinación del Mes de la Membresía, una nueva iniciativa que tendrá lugar anualmente para permitir los intercambios sobre la estrategia y el impacto de la sociedad civil en toda la Alianza. 

  Les agradecemos de antemano su constante compromiso y apoyo en estos momentos tan importantes. La elección de una nueva Junta Directiva de CIVICUS de este año será una oportunidad importante para participar directamente en la supervisión de la transición de nuestra estrategia actualizada y el lanzamiento de una campaña de un año de duración para celebrar el 30º aniversario de CIVICUS en 2023. Si aún no lo has hecho, no olvides consultar nuestro calendario de elecciones a la Junta Directiva y participar directamente en los resultados de estas elecciones.   

  En solidaridad, 

  Lysa John 

  Lysa John es secretaria general de CIVICUS. Vive en Sudáfrica y se puede contactar con ella a través de su cuenta de Twitter: @lysajohn. 

• Une stratégie qui vise à remédier aux systèmes dysfonctionnels 

  

  Mise à jour de la Secrétaire générale: Mars 2022 

  Nous avons le plaisir de vous annoncer l'adoption d'un plan stratégique révisé pour la période allant de 2022 à 2027. Ce plan a été élaboré à l'issue d'un vaste processus de révision et de mise à jour des priorités stratégiques de CIVICUS. Le Conseil d'administration de CIVICUS a confirmé à l'unanimité l'adoption de la stratégie révisée en mars 2022. Des versions faciles à lire et multilingues de la stratégie seront donc élaborées et publiées sur notre site web d'ici la fin avril. Notre plan stratégique actuel a été effectif de juillet 2017 à juin 2022 et sera remplacé par une stratégie mise à jour en juillet 2022. 

  Faire face à de nouvelles réalités 

  La stratégie révisée est le résultat de délibérations entre les parties intéressées de l’alliance CIVICUS. Nous avons commencé ce voyage par plusieurs exercices d’analyse des tendances et des prévisions avec les membres, les partenaires et le personnel entre octobre 2020 et mars 2021. Ces évaluations ont contribué à l’élaboration de scénarios futurs et d’orientations stratégiques, qui ont été examinés par le Conseil d’administration de CIVICUS et nous ont incités à mettre à jour notre stratégie. Les délibérations du Conseil d’administration ont mis en exergue la possibilité de réaffirmer nos ambitions avec plus de clarté et de déterminer la meilleure façon de faire face à de nouvelles réalités et à de nouveaux défis liés à l’espace civique et à la société civile. Pour décrire la stratégie que nous avons maintenant développée, je voudrais reprendre les propos de notre plus jeune membre du Conseil d’administration, Vandita Morarka, qui a déclaré : « Ce dont je suis la plus fière, c’est que cette stratégie n’est pas une simple politesse... elle s’engage réellement à remédier aux systèmes dysfonctionnels. » 

  Examiner notre théorie du changement 

  Entre juillet et novembre 2021, des équipes de rédaction composées de membres du Conseil d’administration et du personnel ont travaillé de concert pour revoir et reformuler les hypothèses clés liées à la théorie du changement de CIVICUS. Nous avons analysé les succès de l’Organisation et les obstacles auxquels nous avons été confrontés dans la mise en œuvre de notre stratégie actuelle et les avons comparés à une analyse des évènements relatifs à l’espace civique au cours des dix dernières années (2011-21). Ce faisant, nous avons pu déceler les tensions et les opportunités liées à la manière dont nous définissons le changement auquel nous aspirons et auquel nous contribuons activement. Cette évaluation a permis d'élaborer un projet de stratégie, qui a fait l’objet de deux niveaux d’examen par le Conseil d'administration et le personnel entre novembre 2021 et janvier 2022. 

  En février, le projet de stratégie a été partagé avec les principales parties intéressées de l’alliance CIVICUS à travers une série de dialogues, dont deux sessions d’interaction entre le Conseil d’administration et les membres sur les priorités proposées et une réunion conjointe avec les principaux donateurs. Ces interactions ont suscité un grand nombre de réactions et de questions sur divers aspects de la stratégie. Je suis heureuse d’annoncer que les équipes chargées de rédiger la stratégie ont pu boucler la boucle de rétroaction en prenant le temps de répondre aux questions soulevées par divers groupes. Les thèmes clés qui sont ressortis de nos échanges avec les membres de CIVICUS sont repris dans ce document de Foire Aux Questions (FAQ), qui est disponible en trois langues sur notre site web. 

  Affiner nos objectifs stratégiques   

  Les changements clés soulignés dans le cadre de ce plan révisé, qui guideront le cours stratégique de CIVICUS pour la période allant de juillet 2022 à juin 2027, comprennent : 

  • L’élaboration d’un objectif général, à savoir, renforcer la société civile et l’action civique pour un espace civique et démocratique élargi. Cet objectif reflète l’importance que nous accordons aux initiatives qui ne se contentent pas de défendre les libertés civiques et démocratiques, mais de les améliorer également, en organisant des interventions visant à influencer, à organiser et à faire preuve de solidarité. La stratégie définit cinq objectifs fondamentaux qui soutiennent la réalisation de notre objectif général, à savoir : (i) générer des connaissances en temps opportun ; (ii) coordonner un plaidoyer ciblé ; (iii) contribuer à renforcer les écosystèmes d’urgence et de soutien durable ; (iv) renforcer le discours public et les récits de la société civile ; (v) et établir un contre-pouvoir avec les groupes les plus touchés. 

  Une attention particulière au travail avec et pour les groupes touchés par les effets combinés des restrictions de l’espace civique et des formes structurelles de discrimination. La stratégie révisée met l’accent sur la collaboration avec les mouvements dirigés par des communautés confrontées à la discrimination structurelle. Cela implique une plus grande importance accordée à la solidarité et à la création d’alliances à tous les niveaux de notre travail, ainsi qu’une représentation plus forte des questions de libertés civiques et démocratiques dans une optique de justice sociale. 

  • Une articulation plus claire de notre contribution au changement systémique à long terme, laquelle est décrite dans quatre énoncés de résultats qui relient notre travail à tous les niveaux et consolident son impact. Nos objectifs fondamentaux serviront de base à un cadre global permettant de mesurer les résultats et de communiquer plus efficacement les enseignements tirés de nos progrès.  

  Une feuille de route pour la mise en œuvre de la stratégie 

  L’étape suivante de ce processus consiste à coordonner l’élaboration d’un plan par étapes pour la mise en œuvre de la stratégie. Cette étape comprend la conception et l’activation d’un cadre de résultats et la coordination des initiatives d’harmonisation en matière de programmes et d’opérations, nécessaires à la mise en œuvre de notre stratégie mise à jour.  Un processus solide favorisant un engagement continu des parties intéressées dans nos progrès en matière de stratégie est également envisagé dans le cadre de ce plan et prévoit la coordination du mois de l’adhésion, une nouvelle initiative qui aura lieu chaque année pour permettre des échanges concernant la stratégie et l’impact de la société civile à travers l’Alliance. 

  Nous vous remercions par avance de votre engagement et de votre soutien continus au cours de cette période importante! L’élection d’un nouveau Conseil d’administration CIVICUS cette année sera une occasion importante de participer directement à la supervision de la transition de notre stratégie mise à jour et au lancement d’une campagne d’un an visant à marquer le 30 anniversaire de CIVICUS en 2023. Si vous ne l’avez pas encore fait, n’oubliez pas de consulter notre calendrier d’élection du Conseil d’administration et de contribuer aux résultats de cette élection. 

  En toute solidarité, 

  Lysa John 

   Lysa John est Secrétaire générale de CIVICUS. Elle est basée en Afrique du Sud et peut être contactée via son compte Twitter : @lysajohn. 

• Veinticinco años después: una mirada a mi viaje con CIVICUS

  French

  por Anabel Cruz, presidenta de la Junta Directiva de CIVICUS 2016-2019

  A principios de 1993, la democracia era aún bastante «joven» en muchas partes del mundo. Apenas habían transcurrido menos de cuatro años desde la caída del Muro de Berlín; el apartheid todavía no se había desmantelado por completo y las primeras elecciones sudafricanas mediante sufragio universal se celebrarían el año siguiente, en 1994. Al mismo tiempo, a principios de los noventa, varios países de América Latina habían dado sus primeros pasos hacia democracias representativas tras más de una década de dictaduras militares.

• Violence against transgender people in Pakistan

  TW/CW: transphobia, physical abuse, emotional abuse, financial abuse, sexual violence, rape, torture, murder, self-harm, drug and alcohol abuse

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  I am Saro Imran, a transgender activist running a community-based organisation in Pakistan. Pakistan is a signatory to several international human rights conventions that are of relevance to transgender people and other marginalised minorities, which the country has systematically failed to protect. The exception is the Trans Protection Act of 2018, which we already have in place. As a consequence of this limited protection, transgender people and other marginalised minorities suffer discrimination and violence in many spheres of their lives. 

  Earlier this month, a transgender person was killed and another was injured from gunshots fired by unidentified men in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) region of Pakistan. Both victims were rushed to the hospital, where doctors pronounced one victim dead. The other victim is undergoing treatment. According to the First Information Report (FIR), a group of transgender people had gone to perform at a wedding function and were preparing to leave when unknown people opened fire on them.

  In the same month, a transgender person was gunned down by his younger brother from Swabi. The person had gone to Rawalpindi and Islamabad to participate in several dance parties. His family was opposed to his dance performance, and his brother had warned him of ‘dire consequences’.

  Human rights violations and discrimination on the basis of gender identity are still prevalent and mount a big challenge for Pakistan. The transgender community and other marginalised minorities face stigma, discrimination and violence much more than non-marginalised groups. Transgender people, and transgender women in particular, face harassment, mistreatment and exclusion from society, from the public health care system, education system, employment and other institutions of government. They face different forms of abuse, ranging from exclusion from society to brutal murder. They are subjected to trafficking, extortion and forced prostitution. After the Trans Protection Act of 2018, things have slowly started to change. However, for the proper inclusion of transgender people in society and the acknowledgment of their basic human rights, the government will have to take a number of measures to address the gravity of the situation.

  In Pakistan, transgender people and other marginalised minorities are ostracised by society and sometimes disowned by their families. Transgender women, in particular, live in groups for protection and survival. Due to widespread stigma and discrimination, many transgender women engage in sex work in extremely unsafe environments and circumstances. Their clients or sex partners feel that the sexual abuse of a transgender woman is permissible. Therefore, when they solicit their services, they invite friends over and gang rape them. These abuses cause severe emotional distress and mental agony for many transgender women. To cope with these realities, many survivors start indulging in drugs and alcohol or resort to self-harm.

  Also, transgender individuals are often responsible for financially supporting their biological families, families who tend to resort to abuse, violence and torture to maintain their control over them. Forced marriage and physical and emotional torture are common forms of abuse against them, recorded in studies done by various organisations. The worst thing is, if police arrest perpetrators of violence, the biological family tends to forgive them in return for money. 

  The only support for transgender people in Pakistan is provided by their peers. In the absence of medical care that is sensitive to their needs, relief usually comes from community members looking after them using traditional methods and wisdom. 

  Community-based organisations all over Pakistan have arranged a protest against the murders and violence faced by transgender people. We demand justice for victims and survivors and security for the transgender community from the Government of Pakistan. We call for the development of provincial policies and legislation to criminalise offenses such as sexual violence and murder of transgender people.

• We need help from the international community

  Wai Hnin Pwint Thon, Switzerland

  Wai Hnin Pwint Thon is a Senior Advocacy Officer at Burma Campaign UK based in Geneva, Switzerland. She has worked with the families of political prisoners for over ten years.  Her father, Mya Aye, is a former and current political prisoner who has been at the forefront of Burma’s democracy movement for over 30 years. He was arrested in Yangon on the first day of the coup, February 1st.

  ---

  This is her story:

  “As a child, the first time I saw my dad was in Insein prison and there were iron bars between us so we could not even embrace each other. When I heard the news about my father’s most recent arrest, I felt really worried for him and my family. I did not want to believe that we all have to go through this horrible experience for the third time. 

  The last three months have been heartbreaking as every day I hear news about peaceful protesters being arrested and killed. Some of my friends are now either in hiding or in prison for speaking out. 

  Burma has seen the biggest anti-military protests in 30 years. Students who should have been pursuing their education and their dreams are instead being shot or jailed for fighting for democracy.

  Generation Z, who did not experience 1988 and 2007 uprisings, are now understanding what lives would be like if the military governs the country, and they are determined that they can’t live under another military dictatorship again.

  We want to live in a country where we don’t have to worry about getting arrested for speaking out. We want our children to go to school happily without having to worry about their schools being bombed. We want to live in a peaceful country with federal values, equality and dignity.

  To achieve our dreams, we need help from the international community. We are grateful to see many people from around the world are speaking out on social media, raising funds, holding events and asking their government officials to help people in Burma. This solidarity gives us strength and hope. 

  With Burma Campaign UK, I have worked with human rights defenders and grassroots organisations inside the country to make sure that their voices and demands for international action have been heard. We have been campaigning for the international community to impose smart and targeted economic sanctions against the military’s companies, to build a global arms embargo, and to hold the military accountable for all the crimes they have committed.

  No government can pretend they don’t know what is happening in Burma and don’t know what action people are demanding they take in response.”

  ---

  Photo captions: Wai Hnin Pwint Thon; Wai Hnin talking at recent ASEAN meeting. (Copyright: Wai Hnin Pwint Thon.) 

• Webinar: “How to Resource Youth-Led Movements in the 21st Century”

  Did you know that most youth-led groups and movements operate with an annual budget of less than 10,000 USD? It´s known that young people in the activism and development sector in the Global South face significant resourcing challenges: little capacity to attract funding and comply with donor requirements; ​restricted social, political and economic spaces to participate and grow; extensive gaps between the funds available to serve youth versus those managed directly by youth, and significant disparities between the resourcing opportunities that target young individual leaders within groups and movements rather than to the group itself, just to mention a few.

  These and other challenges, as well as potential resourcing opportunities, best practices and innovative models that can help to overcome them were discussed during the webinar “How to Resource Youth-Led Movements in the 21st Century”. This event was organised by CIVICUS with representatives of the CIVICUS Youth network and RECREAR on June 26^th, 2019. If you missed it, watch it on CIVICUS’ Youtube channel and share your thoughts in the comment box.

  This webinar is part of CIVICUS’ efforts to help increase the resiliency of civil society in a context of systemic repressions and discriminations against it, and to promote changes in the behavior and culture of the funding community and the traditional civil society sector.

  The 21^st century has showed us new dynamics in how citizens claim their rights, which is more evident in the case of youth-led civil action. Both funders and civil society organisations are invited to be part of this change by re-thinking how to work with this generation of young change-makers, especially those in the Global South, working at the local level and organising in more innovative ways. Together, we must advocate and raise awareness on the need for wider support to leverage our common networks, knowledge and visibility within the funding community to push for more and better resourcing mechanisms for young activists.

  The webinar’s panelists were Elisa Novoa, CIVICUS Youth Engagement Coordinator; Gioel Gioacchino, director of research at RECREAR; and Wilson Villones, researcher and a Goalkeepers Youth Action Accelerator advocate.

  We invite you to watch the webinar session where the panelists shared:

  • The key findings from CIVICUS’ “Landscape and trends ​analysis on resourcing​ youth-led groups and movements” ​
  • Why youth-led movements and groups need differentiated resourcing practices and models
  • Personal experiences with program that is intentionally tailoring support and resources to young activists: Goalkeepers Youth Action Accelerator

  The “Landscape and trends ​analysis on resourcing​ youth-led groups and movements” ​will be published as a toolkit and available to the public in September. Stay tuned!

  If you have any questions about this webinar or the analysis, please contact  

  Watch webinar:

   

• Webinar: Youth for Diversity

  On 17 May, the International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia, Interphobia & Transphobia (IDAHOBIT), we will hosted a Youth for Diversity webinar under the theme "South-South experiences on the human rights of LGBTIQ+ youth."

  The webinar brought together a panel of young activists from 4 regions in the Global South: Asia, Africa, Middle East and North Africa and the Pacific. Followingn this year's IDAHOBIT theme: Justice & Protection for All, the focus was to share insights into specific situations that young LGBTIQ+ communities experience, including the state of human rights and civil society engagement in their regions.

  The webinar went hand in hand with the Youth for Diversity Statement presented at one of the plenaries at CIVICUS’ International Civil Society Week in April. If you have not read and signed the statement yet, you may do so here.

  The panel explored how inclusion and diversity can ensure objectives are met or exceeded in civil society initiatives. Discussions were centered around the following questions:

  - Programming, interventions and solutions; how do we ensure we leave no one behind?
  - Practices and resourcing of inclusion and diversity.
  - What can come of South-South exchange, learning and collaboration?
  - The middle ground: how best do we move from passive ally-ship to meaningful partnership?

  Watch the full webinar below.

• What “Global Citizenship” means to you - if anything

  

  Marina Cherbonnier, CIVICUS membership engagement specialist and Bridge 47 steering group member.

  Do you consider yourself as a citizen of the world? Alternatively, do you feel uncomfortable, threatened or simply blank when hearing the term “global citizenship”? It fascinates me that the concept is crystal clear to some but does not resonate at all with others. It largely depends on the experience and exposure we have of the world - but not only.

  In the highly conceptual world that “International Development” evolves in, there is a project called Bridge 47. It works towards providing “global citizenship education” for all as a means towards building a world that is fair and resilient. The name “Bridge 47” resonates with the “SDG 4.7” framework: the 4^th Sustainable Development Goal on Education for All, of which item 7 focuses on global citizenship education.

  Learning to be a citizen of the world, in brief, is to grow the consciousness that everything is connected. For instance, child labour is not far from you if you buy products prepared by children. Learning to be a citizen of the world means building the spirit and competencies to make day-to-day decisions and actions that will have a positive impact on ourselves, our communities and the rest of the world all together.

  2-4 October 2018 marked the first gathering of Bridge 47 staff and steering group – which CIVICUS has been a part - since the launch of the project. The objective was to take stock of the project’s progress since then. We identified challenges and addressed them on a strategic and practical level, by looking at the four aspects of the project: innovation, advocacy, networking and partnership. It also brought together a hundred potential partners to strengthen the network around the project.

  The event gathered a fascinating group of diverse, international and enthusiastic people driven by social values and principles, and convinced about the power of working together. Most importantly, Global Citizenship (and my job) took all its meaning when appreciating how the CIVICUS delegation of members present united spontaneously as a family, despite their differences. Take Khurram: a senior monitoring and evaluation expert from Pakistan, Claudia: a young student in special education from Angola, Jamil: a SDG educational program implementer from Palestine. Their only apparent similarity was in their work on education. They bonded immediately and used each other as safety net while engaging with other participants.

  Over the past 10 years of working with international networks, it is precisely the connection that operates amongst members that has nurtured my faith for universal peace and care. The sense of belonging that a global community spurs is magical. CIVICUS membership IS global citizenship in spirit and practice.

  Yet, what strikes me is that those of us who have been convinced about the necessity of working collectively are yet to identify how to do this in a more efficient and cohesive way. How do we move from less “Blabla” to more “Boom Boom”, as eloquently put by one of my previous partners? As long as we stay in our own conceptual sphere, with our own language, how far will we go? How do we translate ideas into concrete actions? “How do we get real?” It is time to move from convincing ourselves of the need to work together. Implementing activities and showing what global citizenship means in practice are the next steps for Bridge 47 in 2019 onward. Stay tuned.

• What can we learn from Brazil’s election?

  By Ana Addobbati, CIVICUS Board Member and Feminist Activist

  

   

  Brazil has one of the largest democratic populations in the world. But democracy has not been around for very long in the country whose dictatorial past of the 1980s continues to haunt it in the 21st century. Now that Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has defeated Jair Bolsonaro in the second round with less than 2% of the votes in an election marked by threats of a military coup, the need to reinforce the importance of democratic debate and to challenge misinformation is necessary.

  The strategy for the extreme right who wished to end social policies that support most Brazilians was to quickly dominate Congress and the Executive to create an authoritarian regime. Like Trumpism, Bolsonarism used fear to reinforce the image of a saviour. Bolsonaro and his supporters sought to taint the right to protest by equating it with vandalism. They promoted the idea that any opposition to his rule was an obstacle to follow through with the plan to fight corruption. They even spread fake information on social media that electronic voting machines, one of the most sophisticated and secure systems for running elections in the world, were being rigged.

  Moreover, in the current era of fake news and biased algorithms which create opinion bubbles, we had a scenario in which memories and historical records of exile about restrictions on freedom of opinion and widespread torture were swapped for a simplistic discourse based on the image of Bolsonaro as a hero fighting corruption. We had conspiracies that a coup was being set by the communists to make Brazil the new Venezuela of South America. Images of demonstrations supporting the right to land and housing were manipulated and projected as demonstrations of violent attempts to usurp private property.

  We can see how key democratic values such as the right to protest and having a voice were misrepresented in an effort by extreme right-wing groups to generate fear and legitimise authoritarian acts by the former president, who denied existing racism in the country (with the largest Afro-descendant population in the world),  and the existence of COVID-19 (Brazil being responsible for 11% of the world's deaths during the pandemic). The strategy was wrapped with the fight for family values, God and honor.

  In the recent elections, President-elect Lula had to unite forces with several parties, in what he called the Alliance for Democracy, to win votes against the extreme right. Bolsonaro resisted admitting defeat at the polls. As a result, thousands of Bolsonaro supporters blocked roads, causing chaos and violence in the country. They didn’t allow hospitals and markets to be supplied. After negotiating with his base of supporters, Bolsonaro finally admitted defeat and called for the violence to end. However, there is still a chance for a coup to take place since Bolsonaro is supported by the Army.

  Looking ahead to 2023, Brazilian Congress has challenging prospects with a large number of legislators allied with the Center-right. However, democracy and its mechanisms will enable civil society to keep up the pressure to respect the Constitution and support Brazilians facing deprivation. Brazil has returned to the UN Hunger Map after being cited an example of combating malnutrition in the world.

  Our request to the international community is to consider investments in support of democracy and accountable governance. Recently, the Norwegian government reinvested in the Amazon Preservation Fund. Support will be needed through development cooperation to overcome the turmoil in democracy in the past few years. Brazil’s take over by the extreme right should not be seen as an isolated event.

  Finally, we need to engage new generations of voters on the value of democracy as a complex process that demands debate and patience beyond the instantaneous or immediate gratification of social networks. On the other hand, we need to see transparency and fighting corruption as an agenda that belongs to all sides to prevent it from becoming hostage again to a demagogue who was able to undermine secular values, freedom of expression and even life by delaying the acquisition of vaccines.

  We must reinforce critical thinking and appreciation for democratic values ​​to make them so strong that no algorithm or fake news can overcome generational struggles for freedom.

• What constituents say about CIVICUS

  By Marina Cherbonnier, CIVICUS Membership Engagement Specialist

  Spanish | French

  Early 2018, we asked CIVICUS constituents to tell us about how they perceive CIVICUS’ work - what’s successful and what can be improved. We received 442 insightful responses from members and non-members.

  It is clear that CIVICUS constituents value the work we are doing as an Alliance: CIVICUS’ power in connecting people, spurring collective action, creating avenues for Civil Society to be heard by other stakeholders etc. At the same time, they want more of it. They want members to truly drive CIVICUS as a member-based organisation, more diversity and inclusion and leveraging the work of the global alliance for more synergy and action on national and regional level.

  Check the infographic below to see the Top 10 members’ asksto improve CIVICUS work and the Top 10 of what members see as CIVICUS’ success!

  The CIVICUS Secretariat has been working on strengthening CIVICUS messaging on what it does, why, and how to get involved as a member. Stay tuned in the coming weeks! We are having further discussions with respondents, members and staff to define the action points that will meet members’ needs in 2019.  

  Feel free to share your reactions and thoughts on the infographic’s key findings, by writing to .

  Also, we take CIVICUS’ commitment to transparency, accountability, and continuous improvement very seriously. We count on CIVICUS members, allies and supporters to reach out to us whenever they have questions or concerns about the alliance’s work and activities. Do you think we are accountable? If not, go ahead and hold us to account via our new online feedback mechanism, which was just launched in July 2018. You can find more information in this blog post on how our new feedback channel will help to implement CIVICUS’ Accountability Framework.

  

• What Constituents Say about CIVICUS in 2019!

  By Marina Cherbonnier, CIVICUS member engagement specialist

  

  Each year, CIVICUS Constituents are asked what they think about CIVICUS - a global alliance of over 8000 organisations, movements and individuals. It is our vision at CIVICUS to create a community of informed, inspired, committed citizens engaged in confronting the challenges facing humanity. CIVICUS’ constituents are front and centre to this vision, so it is very important as we work together every year that we identify our successes, what can be improved and new ideas. This strengthens our work as an Alliance and helps us to be of greater impact and relevance.

  Thank you to the 736 respondents who took the time to contribute their feedback, and if you have not done so, do not hesitate to use the CIVICUS feedback form to get in touch at any time during the year!

  What we heard

  The number of responses to the survey increased significantly - 60% increase compared to 2018 - but so did the number of members also. The Net Promoter Score (NPS) remained average (42), similar to the 2018 feedback. An NPS is graded on an index of -100 to 100 and captures respondents’ satisfaction about a specific matter or an organisation overall. This score could be partly due to the number of respondents who were still new members and therefore not able to provide a strong opinion about the alliance, as mentioned by some of them. The NPS from Spanish-speaking members dropped significantly and they expressed they do not feel close enough to what is happening with CIVICUS.

  We also received a lot of positive feedback, particularly on who we are as a CIVICUS Alliance, the vision, the added value of it and the efforts to be member-led, inclusive, and accountable. The work around youth, advocacy, capacity development and support on funding and fundraising was also applauded. It is worth noting that it did not include direct funding only but also capacity development (e.g workshops) and networking as a means to help them boost their resource mobilisation. Finally, a lot of emphasis was made on CIVICUS being a great place to learn and better understand civil society and innovative ways to act, thanks to all the research, information and communications activities.

  At the same time, and similarly to the previous year, what CIVICUS seems to be doing well is also what we need to improve on. Members have asked:

  • To walk the talk as civil society in tackling the issues of competition and power dynamics within the sector.
  • For more grassroot and decentralised outreach and workthrough regional and country chapters.
  • To boost members engagement and the member-led governance of CIVICUS, with the need to broaden members engagement opportunities as well as making these opportunities more explicit and inclusive.
  • To increase youth engagement, including stronger leadership and engagement of young members in CIVICUS programs and activities.
  • For better fundraising support, particularly through stronger feedback to unsuccessful applicants and capacity building.
  • For a series of specific causes for advocacy and capacity development needs as well as more information services and space for storytelling.

  All this feedback will input into the on-going mid-term strategic review of CIVICUSand thus contribute to assessing the way forward on a strategic and programmatic level. The different thematic inputs will be shared with CIVICUS staff members based on their areas of expertise for more thorough consideration and integration in their work where possible. Indeed, one of the major limitations is that a number of members’ suggestions are mentioned once in the survey responses and we thus need to understand if they respond to a collective need or single demand. If the latter, we will assess to what extent we can respond to these and how we can prioritise them. This will be thoroughly discussed by voting members, including the board, and the CIVICUS secretariat, at the Annual General Meeting (AGM) in November and over the coming months.

  8 ways CIVICUS Constituents’ feedback led to action in 2019!

  To respond to the key members asks and praises shared through the 2018 Annual Constituency Survey, the CIVICUS secretariat used the input to inform the annual strategy and took the following concrete actions:

  1. The secretariat has been thriving to build a true member-led organisational culture amongst   staff and the alliance. It also focused on connecting members better as a community through collective action (e.g. through the International Civil Society Week, Democracy Dialogues and consultancies, engagement around the Human Rights Council, signed statements, the youth initiatives etc). This entailed increasing the ability for members to fully get involvedand stay updated about CIVICUS activities through more open calls for action. We are thrilled to see the feeling of being part of a family of like-minded people working for a better world on a global, regional and national level only getting stronger!
  2. A new dedicated stream of work was designed and a coordinator recruited to ensure stronger diversity and inclusion practices within CIVICUS and  wider civil society, and ultimately that no one is left behind and that everyone is given the space and capacity to take part.
  3. The CIVICUS Communications strategy and practices were revised to refocus the perspectives around CIVICUS as a global alliance while keeping up with providing fresh information on the role of civil society all around the world and how to engage better as civil society.
  4. While AGNA – the Affinity Group of National Associations - and the DataShift programme (for instance) are keeping up with building mutual learning, a new consultant was hired to explore ways to provide more opportunities to strengthen civil society capacities including through mentorship, as well as bringing more value to the numerous CIVICUS toolkits available online. The team aims to build capacity development programmes – and keep doing so in a participatory manner - around specific member engagement opportunities, in order to boost our impact as an alliance of members (e.g. in advocacy, public speaking, communications, digital security, human rights, community engagement, leadership, strategic thinking etc)
  5. The team has been striving to enhance impactful advocacy for ordinary citizens and keeping up with creating avenues for members to be part of key strategic discussions, by building synergy and inclusivity among members, especially through the CIVICUS @ the UN workstream.
  6. Along the design and implementation of a new membership policy, the team reassessed membership conditions and verification processes to make them both more inclusive and yet stronger to ensure the credibility of the alliance
  7. While CIVICUS staff was recognised by members for being inspiring, transparent, warm and knowledgeable, the team yet focused on building strongerfeedback mechanisms and loops (check the annual constituency survey process, for instance) to strengthen two-way communications with members. More is yet to come to not only boost two-way secretariat to members communications but also members-to-members communications, which will be key in the upcoming year!
  8. Boosting action on national and regional levels and creating more networking abilities and opportunities between members and partners are landmarks for the second phase of the strategic plan 2017-2022, starting now!
• What does accountability mean to youth-led initiatives?

  For the past three months, CIVICUS’ Resilient Roots project and Youth Action team have engaged youth-led initiatives to explore how they understand and practice accountability to their constituencies, i.e. the communities they serve and support.

  Youth leaders from 16 countries, focusing on various issues ranging from critical service provision and women empowerment to citizen engagement and human rights activism, attended these conversations. Despite different contexts, their definitions and experiences were similar. We documented some of these experiences and facilitated practical learning sessions to help them further strengthen their accountability approaches. This is an account of some of the core themes we learned from how they practise constituent accountability.

  Access the full report and read their recommendations here.

   

    

  We also spoke to youth leaders from India and South Africa about how they have been practicing accountability to their constituents. They have each done this by highlighting one of the three dimensions of constituent accountability: giving account (sharing information about who they are and what they do); taking account (continuously listening to and acting on feedback from their constituents); being held to account (including the role of constituents in organisational decision making).

• What if ‘bottom-up’ wasn’t the answer?

  By Marina Cherbonnier, CIVICUS membership engagement specialist

  As I was walking around the stands, agoras and meet-ups of the very interactive and lively first edition of the Paris Peace Forum, I couldn’t help but keep stumbling across the by-now well-known expression ‘bottom-up approach’, used as a way to build a fair and better world.

  The forum covered a range of extremely insightful topics such as digital peace and cyber security, global solidarity - on malnutrition for instance - and issues of the environment and governance – not only in the public sector but also in the business world. 

  Discussions focused heavily on issues of global governance, and the phrase ‘bottom-up’ kept resonating like a fatalist acceptance of a system based on enduring inequality, where a tiny elite is and always will be at a higher level than others. As I listened, the question recurred: isn't that a fundamental issue if we are to build fair and equitable governance? How do we take on power when we genuinely believe that some people are above others?

• Why do we need to #RewriteHerStory?

  Female leaders in 2018 top films were 4 times more likely to be shown in revealing clothing. Did you notice? This is one of the striking findings of Plan International’s “Rewrite Her Story” research.

  

  This new report is the second phase of a research project looking at female leadership. It focuses on the role of media in shaping girls’ and young women’s ambitions and aspirations to leadership and includes an analysis of 56 top-grossing films in 2018 across 20 countries.

  The results resonate with our diverse experiences from across the world. We are a group of youth advocates advising Plan International on the Girls Get Equal campaign.

  In Malawi, for example, most of the award-winning movies are directed by men, and most are about the plight of women. We see sad movies sensationalising women’s poor plight, and even female directors perpetuating stereotypes such as the cheating man with a sad stay-at-home wife waiting for his return. There is no space for the reframing of storytelling of women and girls.

  In Bangladesh’s cinema industry, only one superhero movie featured a female protagonist. A similar picture is painted in Hollywood with only two blockbuster superhero movies featuring female protagonists in 2018.

  If so few women are in these powerful roles, then how can girls perceive women as equally powerful as men? To young people, power in superhero movies is defined in “making the impossible possible”, with simple mechanics like shooting lasers out of one’s eyes. Women who are not superheroes will never shoot lasers out of their eyes – or feel they can tackle the impossible. This perception is internalized while growing up.

  In Germany, decisionmakers in media tend to duck away from their responsibility to tackle gender inequality through ensuring equal gender representation. In Sudan, women with light skin tones, in passive roles, wearing a lot of makeup while serving as a background decoration are the preferred way to see women on screen.

  These are just a few examples from the countries where we are from. In all of these countries and many others, it is clear that media is often the creator of public opinion, and is a great vehicle to influence gender roles. However, this relationship is often not recognized as a responsibility by stakeholders. How does this gap emerge? If a problem arises and the solution is at your hands, why not act?

  Power-holders still attribute the responsibility to society and the consuming public itself. It is said that there is simply no demand for films with strong women but this is not true. The ‘Rewrite Her Story’ report shows that girls would love to see these inspirational characters. . We cannot expect change from consumers alone, it’s time to request it directly from the content creators.

  Apart from finally acknowledging the responsibility of all involved in the film industry and creation of media content, certain inclusion targets need to be set. As Justin Trudeau recognised: “Diversity is a fact, inclusion is a choice”.

  For the media landscape to perform an overall change, governmental involvement and collaborations with media stakeholders is required. Policies and legislation need to ban the constant reinforcement of gender stereotypes and make sure that the stories of the millions of women and girls of the world are being told.

  Girls and young women need to be supported to create content and we need more women in media production roles. Let’s have more women superheroes and leaders and less obvious, stereotypical female characters. Media can be a very effective tool by intentionally breaking the stereotypes that diminish girls until it woman leaders and influencers are a realistic image for each and every girl.

  Women and girls around the globe are heroes who drive solutions, and we need to show this in media and entertainment.

  This Day of the Girl we are coming together in Stockholm for the annual Girls Get Equal Live summit where we will meet with decision-makers in the media and share these recommendations. We hope you tune in online and tell us how you want to #RewriteHerStory.

  
  By

  Kim from Germany, Memory and Matilda from Malawi, Razan from Sudan and Sifat from Bangladesh.

• Why don’t we get a say at the UN?

  By Caroline Vernaillen, Democracy International

  When it comes to global issues, citizens have to trust that their governments will do their bidding. But what if our governments, willingly or accidentally, overlook an issue that is important to us? As citizens, our options to take influence on the global stage are limited. Together with Democracy Without Borders, we at Democracy International are launching an initiative to help remedy that. We need a World Citizens’ Initiative, a tool that allows citizens to table something at the UN General Assembly if they can gather enough support. I had the honor of presenting our idea at the CIVICUS International Civil Society Week in Belgrade, Serbia.

  In the past months, young people all over the world have been cutting school to protest against global warming. Week after week, they implore their political leaders take urgent action on climate change. But the overall political response has been indifference at best. In Belgium, the country I’m from, the Flemish Minister for Environment in an unheard-of outburst of vitriol, alleged that the protests were an “orchestrated conspiracy” against her. She has had to step back for proffering that lie, but what hasn’t been rectified is her insistence that Belgium is doing everything it can to prevent global warming. And this seems to be the fate of climate marches in many places: citizens are turning out in huge numbers to urge their governments to act, but governments insist they can’t do more.

  The appropriate arena to deal with an issue of the magnitude of climate change would be the United Nations (UN). The institution was built to collectively deal with global issues and is the most important hub of international politics. But here’s the thing: at the UN we are represented by our governments.

  Now, I may agree with 90% of what my government works towards at the UN, but if climate change happens to fall under the 10% where I feel that I’m not represented. Going on the growing crowds at demonstrations everywhere, I’m probably not the only one. The UN at least is aware of this issue and has made efforts to include civil society in some of its deliberations, but individual citizens remain markedly voiceless at the UN.

  With a World Citizens’ Initiative, a tool that would allow individuals who’ve gathered enough support to table a proposal at the UN General Assembly, citizens would be allowed to complement member states’ proposals with issues that they feel are missing. This is not a radical idea – instruments like this exist in numerous countries and even in other trans-national institutions. Since the entry-into-force of the Lisbon Treaty in 2012, EU citizens have the possibility to propose legislation to the EU Commission through the European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI). If a group of citizens manages to gather one million signatures in at least seven EU member states, the Commission has to respond to their proposal. Now, the ECI is far from perfect: it’s not well-known, very few initiatives succeed and those that do often don’t see concrete follow-up. But it’s a start and it has proven to be a useful tool for civil society and citizens alike to put their issues on the EU’s agenda.

  CIVICUS’ International Civil Society Week was the perfect place to pitch our idea for the first time and the response we received was incredibly encouraging. So many people came up to us to tell they liked the idea of a mechanism like this one, that it could be useful for their work. And this is exactly what we hope for: the introduction of a democratic tool that empowers citizens and civil society alike and includes them as important stakeholders in global decision-making.

  So, we’re gearing up to launch a campaign for a UN World Citizens’ Initiative. We’ve asked two legal experts to look into the technicalities of the tool and we’ve started building a broad, global coalition of civil society organizations who support this idea. But, much like anything else in this world, we can’t do this alone, so if this sounds interesting to you, we need you: Go to our website, sign up for our updates, write us, join us!

• Why we need more women leaders in civil society worldwide

  By Helene Wolf, Chair, FAIR SHARE of Women Leaders

  Half of the delegates at CIVICUS’ International Civil Society Week (April, Belgrade) were women. This is a great achievement and shows the major role women play in civil society as activists, staff members and changemakers. At a time when we are witnessing a backlash against women’s rights and women are disproportionately more affected by climate change, inequality, violent conflict and poverty, civil society at large stands in solidarity with women around the world.

  Yet, the majority of civil society organisations (CSOs) are led by men. Based on the first FAIR SHARE Monitor we researched and published this year, we now know that most international CSOs have a significant gap of women leaders in comparison to the number of women on their staff.

  Most CSOs include gender issues in their programming and advocacy but a talented woman working in a CSO is less likely to take on a leadership position than a man. We advocate for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), where gender equality is featured prominently (SDG 5) but do not address our internal barriers for women to fulfil their leadership potential. Altogether, it means that many CSOs do not yet live up to the demands and standards we expect from governments and companies within our own organisations. This puts our credibility and ultimately our impact on women’s and girls’ rights at risk.

  That is why we did not only collect the data on women leadership but also asked CSOs to sign a commitment to achieve a FAIR SHARE of women leaders within their organisations by 2030 at the latest. CIVICUS has been one of the first signatories. We are now calling on all CSOs, small and large, from the Global South and North, whether they explicitly work on gender issues or not, to join the pledge to achieve a FAIR SHARE of Women Leaders by 2030. 

  Watch Kumi Naidoo, Amnesty International, speak about why he committed to a FAIR SHARE.

  Did you know that on average 70% of employees at NGOs are women, but 70% of the leaders are men?
  
  We must change this if we're committed to equality. Today @Amnesty have joined a new campaign by @fair_wl: #FairShare.
  
  I call on all my peers in the NGO world to join. #IWD2019 pic.twitter.com/Ql34dXtyT2

  — Kumi Naidoo (@kuminaidoo) March 7, 2019

  We know this is a big task and that CSOs work in very different contexts that may support or block women from taking on leadership positions. We know that different organisational set-ups and working environments call for different measures to increase internal gender equality. We also know that we need to increase the number of women, cisgender, transgender, intergender people from all ages, nationalities as well as social and economic backgrounds. That is why we want to create a global movement around the objective of FAIR SHARE that learns and works together to take on this large challenge.

  We will not only monitor progress but want to develop a community together with the committed organisations that designs and drives the necessary changes together. This community has to be based on the principles of inclusivity, intersectionality and solidarity. As a newly founded organisation, we aim to put the principles and values of feminist leadership into action because we believe in the power of cooperation, dialogue and transformative change. To achieve this, we need as many different voices, experiences and perspectives in the room as possible and we invite all CIVICUS members to become part of this conversation.

  To join FAIR SHARE, all CSOs are invited to sign our letter of commitment and submit their data on women leadership. As our community grows, we want to develop national FAIR SHARE Monitors and are looking for partners to develop the appropriate concepts and implementation. Please contact us at with any questions, ideas or to become part of the FAIR SHARE movement.

  Helene Wolf is the Chair and Co-Founder of FAIR SHARE of Women Leaders e.V. Before starting FAIR SHARE she served as Deputy Executive Director of the International Civil Society Centre for eight years. She has two sons and lives in Berlin, Germany.

• With mentoring and incentives, CSOs venture into raising key resources and support at home

  FRENCH

  By Yessenia Soto, Community Engagement Officer on Civil Society Resourcing, CIVICUS

  

  The Change the Game Academy provides classroom training on local fundraising to CSOs.

  It’s something that many in the development and civil society sector have been painfully aware of for several years now. But the reality is hitting home harder than ever.

  Official Development Assistance (ODA) – government aid designed primarily to promote the economic development and welfare of developing countries – is steadily decreasing. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development recently announced that ODA fell almost 3% from 2017, with even larger reductions for developing countries. As foreign aid has long been a significant source of funding for southern CSOs, this news reminds us that civil society can’t rely on it in the long term, so, those who haven’t started diversifying their resource base, should do it now.

  “There will be an end to foreign funding, at least as we now know it,” said Robert Wiggers, manager of programs and policy development at the Dutch Wilde Ganzen Foundation (WGF), during one of several panels about the financial sustainability of civil society held at the International Civil Society Week convened in Serbia from April 8-12. At ICSW, various organizations shared why and, most importantly, how CSOs can leverage more support, money and other resources in their own countries and communities to face financial pressures and gradually lessen dependence on ODA and other foreign aid.

  “This is more than a funding alternative, highlighted Wiggers. “CSOs that mobilise their own resources locally get closer to their communities and the people they serve, gain independence from donors, have more control of their own development and feel even more empowered to hold their governments accountable.”

  There is a wide consensus about the power of local resources to boost the financial sustainability, legitimacy, ownership and independence of CSOs. Even in a world with endless supplies of international assistance, weaning civil society off it should be the goal. But how can a small community organisation or one that has always relied on foreign aid start fundraising “at home” and on their own?

  Agencies, associations, and foundations like the WGF are providing special training, mentoring sessions, online learning platforms, campaigning support and even dedicated grants to prepare CSOs for this journey. And the results are encouraging.

  For example, the WGF partnered with the Smile Foundation from India, the Kenya Development Foundation and Brazil’s CESE, to create the Change the Game Academy, an innovative blended-learning program specially designed for civil society organisations that provides both online and classroom training on local fundraising, lobby and advocacy to hold governments and duty bearers accountable through civic participation.

  The classroom training is delivered in a total of six months by local certified trainers. It includes individual coaching sessions to implement a fundraising plan and uses materials adapted to country contexts. The online platform contains 11 interactive modules of e-learning available in four languages, plus 40 toolkits and 88 inspiring success stories, all freely accessible and free of charge.  

  More than 800 small NGOs and community based organisations have been trained through the Change the Game Academy in fourteen low- and middle-income countries. They intend to implement this initiative in four more countries this year.

  In the Balkans, there is a similar initiative called the Sustainability Academy, created by the SIGN Network, a group of indigenous grantmakers who support the sustainable development of local communities and civil society. This academy focuses mostly on CSOs at a grassroots level, which have an annual budget of less than 10,000 euros, on average.

  Their training program covers strategic planning, financial sustainability, networking, local fundraising techniques and campaign development, and is delivered in three modules over six months. At the end of the third module, the organisations receive small technical grants to implement their fundraising campaigns for four to six months. When the campaign is over and they meet their goal, the SIGN Network provides 100% matching grants.

  “We have had very successful examples where, through our training and accompaniment, small organisations managed to fundraise even half of their annual budget and developed relationships with many local donors,” said Biljana Dakic, director of the Trag Foundation, a SIGN network member. “And most of them consolidated their causes and work in their communities, which brings invaluable support.”

  Since 2014, the Sustainability Academy has supported over 100 CSOs in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia and Montenegro.

  CISU - Civil Society in Development, an association of Danish CSOs with members engaged in development work in Asia, Africa and Latin America, is also providing knowledge, training tools and assistance for local resource mobilisation in these regions. Additionally, they offer a co-funding modality through which the local CSOs can access 4-year grants if they leverage a small percentage of the total grant, explained Souad Bourrid, advisor at CISU.

  Together, these opportunities have been key to reducing the initial resistance and fear that keep some organisations from exploring and testing new resourcing avenues.

  “Many organisations still think that the only way to get funds is applying for donor grants. So, when we approach them about leveraging local support, they are skeptic and don’t believe is possible. But those who receive the training and try it, see how many more doors open to them and end up very thankful for the push,” emphasized Bourrid.

  Besides strengthening skills, many civil society networks and coalitions (including CIVICUS) around the world are also advocating the need to create or improve other crucial conditions for facilitating the mobilisation of domestic resources for civil society, including legal frameworks and incentives for local philanthropy, establishing alliances with the public and private sector, and promoting policies to support the financial sustainability of CSOs.