Media Centre

2009-01-16T07:57:00Z

CIVICUS' Media Centre is especially dedicated for media practitioners interested in covering civil society related issues.

Contained within are:

Tribute to CIVICUS member, Robin Rowland, Founder and Chair, Global Links Initiative

2009-05-22T07:37:53Z

Tribute to CIVICUS member, Robin Rowland, Founder and Chair, Global Links Initiative

The rhetoric of civil society centres around the collective. We stand united to amplify the voices of the marginalised and to create a better world. Though we are ultimately fighting for the rights of the individual, we know that our power is more forceful when we work together.

But because of this knowledge, our collective conscience often forgets the individual strength and sacrifice that forms and fuels our various struggles. It is integral that we remind ourselves that there are moments where we must acknowledge the individuals-- not as heroes or villians-- but as conscious people who have devoted their lives to a cause in solidarity with others. Read more...

Oxfam and Save The Children to blog from G20 summit

2009-03-28T07:23:21Z

Oxfam and Save The Children to blog from G20 summit
By Mathew Little, Third Sector Online

A coalition of non-governmental organisations, including Oxfam and Save the Children, has arranged for 50 bloggers from around the world to report live from the G20 summit in London next week. The bloggers include Kumi Naidoo, head of Global Call to Action Against Poverty, Chinese economics broadcaster Rui Chenggang, Nigerian blogger Sokari Ekine, and tax havens expert Richard Murphy. They were chosen by direct invitation and "nominations from the blogosphere", the coalition said. read more...

Questions for the G-20

2009-03-28T07:17:54Z

Questions for the G-20
By Ingrid Srinath, CIVICUS Secretary General

A particularly wise teacher once paraphrased Claude Levi-Strauss when he told my Economics class that figuring out answers was less important than asking the right questions. I can't help but remember his advice as we contemplate the G-20 meetings next week in London - the stated agendas and policy positions of each participating nation along with civil society's response to the assembly. read more...

CIVICUS reacts to US withdrawal from the Durban Review negotiations

2009-03-21T11:34:28Z

CIVICUS reacts to US withdrawal from the Durban Review negotiations
CIVICUS Press Release, 19 March 2009

CIVICUS, together with its members and partners around the world, is eagerly observing the first steps taken on the global stage by the new US administration. We were particularly encouraged by President Obama’s recent address to a Joint Session of the United States Congress, when he said: "In words and deeds, we are showing the world that a new era of engagement has begun. For we know that America cannot meet the threats of this century alone. We cannot shun the negotiating table, nor ignore the foes or forces that could do us harm. We are instead called to move forward with the sense of confidence and candour that serious times demand." read more...

CIVICUS celebrates Human Rights Day

2009-03-21T11:32:38Z

CIVICUS celebrates Human Rights Day

CIVICUS is celebrating Human Rights Day in South Africa on 26 March 2009 by hosting a networking meeting with its local members. The meeting will provide an opportunity for members to connect with each other and learn about how we are all working together to build a more just world. The event serves as a first step in improving CIVICUS’ engagement with its members around the world.

South Asia: poverty eradication paradigms

2009-03-16T08:54:30Z

South Asia: poverty eradication paradigms
By Irfan Mufti, GCAP Campaign Manager

Of the total world population of 6.11 billion, 1.35 billion live in the South Asian region. Estimates of the incidence of poverty vary widely in the region. South Asia has the highest incidence of poverty not only in terms of absolute numbers but also as a percentage of the population, compared to any other regional group of countries in the world. Thus, in South Asia, as much as 43 percent of the population lives in absolute poverty, compared to 14 percent in East Asia (excluding China), 24 percent in Latin America and 39 percent is sub-Saharan Africa. That places the number of poor, according to these estimates, between 440 million to 540 million. If it is taken at 40%, then nearly 360 million poor are living in the rural areas and 80 million in the urban areas. Urban poverty is, to a considerable extent, a spillover of the rural poverty. Read more...

The Politics of policing in India

2009-03-16T08:52:16Z

The Politics of policing in India
Maja Daruwala, Director, Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative

The police in India are a political tool of a highly politicised state. The present policing structure in India - after some 60 years of independence - remains much the same as the British left it. The colonialists created a police system that would best serve their vested interests by subjugating dissent and perpetuating their rule.Read more...

It takes 851,688 villages

2009-03-16T08:43:46Z

It takes 851,688 villages
By Ingrid Srinath, CIVICUS Secretary General

Much has been made of the economic growth of South Asia, and India in particular, this past decade. We have been repeatedly told of the millions being lifted out of poverty by GDP growth rates between 5 per cent and 8 per cent per year. Phrases like ‘begging bowl’ and ‘Hindu rate of growth’ gave way to ‘IT superpower’ and ‘nuclear arms race’. A monarchy was overthrown, as were military dictatorships. The news headlines listed growing numbers of billionaires, malls, mobile phones and supermodels. Proof positive, it might seem, of the liberating impact of open markets and untrammelled capitalist models. Read more...

Letter to the president of Kazakhstan

2009-03-16T08:49:34Z

Letter to the president of Kazakhstan
By Ingrid Srinath, CIVICUS Secretary General

I write as the Secretary General of CIVICUS: World Alliance For Citizen Participation, an international alliance of civil society with members and partners in over a hundred countries. We are greatly encouraged by the recent easing of restrictions in the media law and the changes in the election law to guarantee of representation of at least two political parties in the Parliament. It is heartening to note that civil society has been able to engage positively with government on issues of democratisation. In light of these and other positive developments, we look forward to constructive engagement with the Government of Kazakhstan on safeguarding the space for civil society and the exercise of constitutional freedoms to the ultimate benefit of the Kazakh people. Read more...