CIVICUS World Assembly

As a part of CIVICUS Assembly, a one day workshop on Civil Society assessments was held in Montreal on September 9, 2011. Over the years, several approaches to civil society assessments have been in practice; CIVICUS sponsored Civil Society Index began in 1998 (when Dr Rajesh Tandon was the Chair of the Board of CIVICUS). The workshop brought together practitioners of various assessments from around the world to share their experiences.
While chairing the inaugural panel of this workshop, Dr Rajesh Tandon (President PRIA, India) made several reflections on this theme. He emphasized the need for a greater attention to measuring active citizenship in its myriad manifestations. Most such assessments focus on organisations of civil society, but increasing actions in civil society are coming from active citizens.

As the studies from CITIZENSHIP DRC have shown, citizenship has both a vertical dimension (vis-à-vis the state) and a horizontal dimension (vis-à-vis fellow citizens).

In addition, such assessments need to be situated in the perspectives of Participatory Research so that knowledge so generated takes into account the agency of the actors themselves, and the very process of assessment contributes towards the mobilization and reflections within civil society. This will ensure both the authenticity and relevance of civil society assessments in future.Click here to read a report on Civil Society Assessments: A Meta-analytical Synopsis by S. WojciechSokolowski of John Hopkins University.

Opening Plenary of CIVICUS World Assembly in Montreal September 10, 2011

The Opening Plenary of CIVICUS the programme schedule to CIVICUSwas a sharing of reflections from former Chairs and CEOs. Dr Rajesh Tandon is one of the founders of CIVICUS, and spoke first. He described the process of consultations thatbegan nearly 20 years ago (in October 1991), where inclusion and identity issues were most hotly debated. Should foundations be a member of CIVICUS? Yes, it was agreed. The name of this new entity itself was World Alliance of Citizen Participation---it was then recognized that citizen participation was key element of civil society, and that an alliance was indeed needed to be built.
Hence, it is important to recall that in 1993, when CIVICUS was founded, it was not to create an International Association of CSOs, but a World Alliance of Citizen Participation.

That historical decision is even more relevant in today’s context when citizens—mostly young ones – are demonstrating on the streets of Chile, Senegal, New York, London, Athens, Tunisia, Egypt, India, Thailand – everywhere and anywhere in the world.

The framing study that defined the initial identity and programmes of CIVICUS was entitled “Citizens: Strengthening Global Civil Society” (co-authored by Dr Rajesh Tandon). It was presented at the first World Assembly of CIVICUS held in January 1995 at Mexico city. Even then, there was a serious economic crisis, as we experience now. CIVICUS has to become the voice of all those citizens who are demanding that democracy works for all, not just a few. Citizens’ voices must be amplified for justice for all.

Democratic space for deliberations, contestations and listening must be expanded to include all those which have been hitherto marginalized. This is the mandate of CIVICUS in 2011—to reassert citizens’ voices and to reoccupy the democratic space for civil society. The buzz session onDevising Practice-Based Principles for Civil Society Engagement with Multilateral Bodies: An Open Dialogue, was heldto discuss about theinclusion of the missing voices of civil society in informing the decisions and policies of multilateral bodies such as the United Nations, the World Trade Organisation, the G8 and G20 which is critical for the democratisation of global governance.

The idea of the eight practice-based principles was developed among the civil society actors that participated in theForum for Democratic Global Governance (FIM) Forums held in November 2009.

These eight practice-based principles were presented to participants so that constructive comments could be gathered and complied for improvement in the evolving document that has been based on their own experience. .

Dr. Rajesh Tandon was one of the presenters of this session and he was accompanied by Heather MacKenzie (FIM) and Phiroshaw Camay (CORE, South) as co presenters

Day 2, September 11:Citizen participation models and public governance: Five case studies (local and international)

This workshop was presented by comparing models of citizen consultation and participation implemented at the local, national and international level, with examples drawn from Montreal, Malaysia, India and Porto Alegre,Brazil. At the local level,Tables de quartier, a Montreal-based coalition, presented the cooperation models that they used in various neighbourhoods across the city. While at the municipal level, Office de consultation publique de Montréal,outlined the consultation work that they have been doing with citizens for almost ten years.

At the national perspective, the Brazilian OrganisationCidade, described the citizen participation training that they run in Porto Alegre, and Partiipatory Research in Asia (PRIA) introduced“Panchayats”, or models of direct government that are currently operating in more than 265,000 towns and villages across India and that are involved in the governance strategy of the national government.

For the international perspective, the Third World Network discussed their “boomerang” approach, a model that helps civil society in Malaysia to increase its influence among national Malaysian authorities through a sustained presence and international actions addressing governance issues.

The workshop enabled participants to come together and compare best practices and identify common themes, as well as draw lessons about which contexts most encourage citizen participation and help participants to compare these practices with their own.

Day 3, September 12: Engagement workshop on Civil Society at Crossroads

The workshop on the Crossroads Initiative on September 12 was extremely popular with nearly 60 participants crowded in the small meeting room. The initial remarks were made by Rajesh Tandon (convener of the Initiative) to define the roots of the initiative and its purposes. He specially focused on the issue of grassroots, informal and under-organised arena of citizen actions spreading around the world—from Chile, Senegal, Egypt, Tunisia, India, and Thailand.

The initiative intended to understand these stories, and examine the nature of relationship with the more formally organized NGOs. CristienTemmink (of PSO the Netherlands) emphasized the need for understanding in grassroots citizen actions in Europe—Greece, Spain, Italy, as well as the associations at community level in the Netherlands.
In extending the same line of argument, Brian Pratt (of INTRAC UK) mentioned that the current economic crisis in western societies had raised questions about the viability and sustainability of the economic development model itself. The rate of GDP growth in Asia and emerging markets is far better than in Europe and North America. Hence, the old divides of north-south do not make much sense today; most countries have entered a post-aid era, and there is a need to examine the developments in civil societyin post-aid contexts.

Therefore, this initiative could help to reconnect with grassroots movements in the north, and begin to understand the underlying forces for citizens’ actions. James Taylor (CDRA, South Africa) moved the conversation forward by inviting the participants to share their own stories from our own contexts in several small groups. His narration of South African context implied that the disconnect is much wider than just civil society; that the society itself seems to be atcrossroads. Citizens’ impulses and energies are driving civil society, not formal organisations.
The buzz in the five small groups was phenomenal; participants got engaged, and narrated their stories; time was running out; brief reports in the end by the five facilitators began with Dave Brown (Harvard, USA).

For the international perspective, the Third World Network discussed their “boomerang” approach, a model that helps civil society in Malaysia to increase its influence among national Malaysian authorities through a sustained presence and international actions addressing governance issues. The workshop enabled participants to come together and compare best practices and identify common themes, as well as draw lessons about which contexts most encourage citizen participation and help participants to compare these practices with their own.