February 2008
Contact Us
Dear friends of the Civil Society Index,
We are happy to share with you updates of the past six months from the CSI around the world, which can be condensed into two words: ‘consolidation’ and ‘growth’.
With the launch of the Global Survey of the State of Civil Society: Comparative Perspectives (Volume 2), the new online indicator database as well as emerging signs of impact the project has stimulated, the impression is that that the knowledge generated has started to take a life of its own. Civil society practitioners and researchers have shown interest and started to draw on the resource and momentum that the CSI has generated particularly in some countries - as can be gleaned from the news shared by our partners in Ukraine.
Our growth can also be seen in other areas. The CSI team has grown with the addition of three new staff members, new community partnerships with six coordinating organizations in African countries, and the launch of a Global Call for new partners to implement the CSI for the period 2008-2009. With new growth comes the responsibility of fulfilling expectations and consolidating our lessons learnt from the past phase. This responsibility extends to the revision of our methodology and drawing on new ideas on partnerships for the sustainability of the project as a tool and resource for civil society strengthening. We wish you an enjoyable read and look forward to hearing your impressions and feedback!
With best wishes,
Janine Schall-Emden
CSI Programme Manager
CIVICUS CSI Updates August 2007- February 2008
The 2003-2007 CSI implementation phase is being finalized. To date we have published 46 Country Reports on the CSI website, where all the CSI evaluation reports are also posted.
Highlights for the past seven months:
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The CSI Country Reports for Fiji, Jamaica, Nigeria and Orissa (India) is now available on the CIVICUS website (see www.civicus.org). Guatemala and Mozambique CSI Country Reports will be published in the coming months.
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From 28-31 January 2008, the CSI team held a training workshop for the new 6 African National Coordinating Organizations (NCOs) in partnership with UNDP. The new countries that will implement the CSI in 2008 are Botswana, Guinea, Kenya, Rwanda, Senegal and Tanzania.
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A new CSI website was launched towards the end of 2007.
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CSI welcomed three new members to its team: Amy Bartlett, Federico Silva, and Sue Le-Ba.
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The Global Survey of the State of Civil Society: Comparative Perspectives (Volume 2) book was launched in Johannesburg on 26 February 2008, from 12:00-14:00, at the South African Human Rights Commission.
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New CSI Online Database: CSI has developed a searchable online database that allows users to browse through indicators and country data in each of the countries that have completed the project.
Look out for:
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The deadline for the open call for the new CSI partners is 31st March 2008.
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The CSI team will present a workshop at the ISTR (International Society for Third Sector Research) 8th International Conference in Barcelona from 9 -12 July 2008.
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The methodology revision process of the CSI research methodology is underway. We expect to have a new toolkit in place by the end of May 2008!
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Preparations for the redesign of the CSI research methodology have begun. We expect to have a new toolkit in place by the end of May 2008!
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CSI welcomes you to the ‘CSI for Action’ workshop at the World Assembly, 18-21 June 2008. The workshops will be presented by the CSI team and NCOs from Fiji, Vietnam, Macedonia, Ukraine, Uganda, Mozambique. The ‘CSI for Action’ workshop will focus on civil society working on strengthening itself and on cross–sectoral engagement with the government, market, and media. Employing a participatory approach, the engagement workshop will utilize the wealth of experience of former and current partners as well as CSI staff to engage with potential new partners at the forum.
Civil Society Index (CSI) New Staff Biographies
Amy Bartlett: Programme Officer
Amy is a Canadian and has been working with CIVICUS since September 2007. She brings to the team a varied educational and legal background most recently having completed her Masters of Law (LL.M.) in international law and conflict prevention at Dalhousie University in 2005. She has worked in several countries, including Peru and Austria, and has professional experience working at both the grassroots level as well as the UN.
Federico Silva: Programme Officer
Federico is an Italian who joined CIVICUS in September 2007. He is going to defend his PhD in February 2008 at the European University Institute on the assessment of NGOs' policy impact. He holds a Master (Msc) from the Department of Government of the London School of Economics. He is the author of several chapters on the politics of global movements and has contributed to various Global Civil Society Yearbooks. Prior to joining CIVICUS he has worked for the Italian NGO Lunaria and as a consultant for the Italian Ministry of Finance.
Sue Le-Ba: Research Fellow
Sue is a Canadian of Vietnamese origin. She holds an Hon. BA in Political Science from the University of Toronto and a MSc in Social Policy (Research) from the London School of Economics. Prior to joining CIVICUS, Sue worked as a Research and Policy Analyst for World Education Service in Toronto exploring policies and issues on international migration and education. She previously worked in Johannesburg as a CUSO Co-operant/Information Officer with World Education, Inc. She has over five years of experience in community development, social research, program administration and advocacy in the health and education sectors. Sue joined CIVICUS in November 2007 as an Aga Khan Foundation of Canada Research Fellow.
“CSI has Impressive Follow up in Putting Civil Society on the Agenda of Regional Development and Political Change in Ukraine”
Svitlana Kuts
CIVICUS Civil Society Index has been recognized as an important tool for drafting a strategy of civil society development in Ukraine. Ukrainian government invited the CSI team to work on the document “Concept of Government’s Support Developing Civil Society in Ukraine”, which was adopted by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine on November 21, 2007.
This Regulatory Act has become the first ever document to provide guidelines for government on how to cooperate with civil society. These guidelines include:
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To improve the legislation on civil society, activity of CSOs and citizens’ access to information
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To develop and realize effective mechanism of government and civil society communication
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To create productive environment for civil society organizations capacity
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To develop civil society culture, which includes active and knowledgeable citizens, their participation in the formation and realization of public policy
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To support volunteering, philanthropy and charitable activities
At the moment the CSI team is involved in developing the action plan to realize the concept into practice.
Svitlana Kuts
National CSI Expert,
Ukraine
CSI African Implementation Workshop January 28- 31, 2008
Amy Bartlett
During the week of Jan 28th to February 1, 2008, the hills of Johannesburg were alive with the sounds of CSI training workshops. Six new African countries, sponsored by the UNDP, went through the rigorous training program, and are now well-equipped and preparing to implement the CSI in Botswana, Tanzania, Guinea, Senegal, Kenya and Rwanda. The workshop for these new inductees was given in English with French interpretation. This provided its own set of challenges, but also its own set of opportunities for camaraderie and team-building, and by the end of the week the language barrier was reduced to a mere speed bump.
During the workshop sessions themselves, the toolkit was given its fair share of attention, and participants grappled with many of the issues surrounding the Community Sample Surveys, for example, as well as navigating through the Indicator Scoring exercise. And as expected, there was some ongoing and lively debate about the perpetual question of how to define civil society. Participants were given several opportunities to reflect on their roles and responsibilities, the work they have done thus far to prepare for the CSI implementation, as well as the work they have left to do. They were also invited to start making concrete work plans with deliverables to get the implementation under way. Since these new CSI partners have only one year to implement the project, the reflection and planning activities were key during the training sessions.
Outside of the workshop, the new CSI partners also had a couple of opportunities to take advantage of being in Johannesburg by taking in a theatre performance at the Market Theatre, visiting the CIVICUS House in Newtown, and enjoying dinner in Melville. Some of the participants even found the time to do a little shopping!
All in all, the CSI training week was busy and jam-packed with important information and training sessions, but also proved a valuable opportunity to form friendships and partnerships, and to develop what will be an ongoing and exciting collaboration between CIVICUS and civil society in the various new countries with whom we will be partnered. The foundations have been established for a productive and strong partnership, and CIVICUS would like to extend a big thanks to the participants for ensuring the training workshop was such a success!
Partner Profiles
Amy Bartlett
“What inspired you to get involved with civil society?”
Mr. Bakary Fofana, Conseil National des Organisations de la Societe Civile Guineenne (CNOSCG), www.actescitoyens.org, Guinea
(conversation translated from French)
I felt compelled to start working in this area due to the seeming inability of the State to resolve the various problems in our country relating to education, health and justice, for example. There was a disconnect between what the State was saying they would do and what they were doing, and this had dire consequences for everyday citizens of Guinea. In my opinion, the State should be there to provide for its people, to be useful. But I saw little of this in practice. I was lucky enough to study and gain a strong and confident voice, and I wanted to use my voice to advocate for my community and country. I derive a great deal of personal and professional satisfaction from my work: interacting and developing strategies with people who share my values and vision, and at the same time being able to do so with both independence and creativity.
Mr. Barasa Mang’eni, Peace and Development Network Trust (PeaceNet), www.peacenetkenya.org, Kenya
After finishing college, I had two options before me: to become a teacher or to become a priest. For me, this was a difficult choice, and I wanted to take my time before coming to a final decision. While trying to sort things out and understand my choices, I got in touch with a few civil society organizations and learned about the work they were doing. I also reflected on my own background growing up in the lower middle class in Kenya and seeing the work that civil society organizations would undertake with the poor in my community, and I respected that work. With these pieces of information, I decided to start volunteering with a civil society organization, and from there I was hooked. The kind of work I do has prompted me to reflect on several important questions, such as why our society is this way, and why people have to suffer in a free and independent state? Civil society has inspired me to continue advocating and supporting my community, and to strive for a better life for my country.
Call for Statements of Interest: Partner Organizations for the implementation of the CIVICUS Civil Society Index
[French version] [Spanish version]
The CIVICUS Civil Society Index (CSI) team is pleased to announce its open call for statements of interest to implement the CSI around the world:
If your organization’s work focuses on strengthening civil society in your country and is interested in implementing the CSI, please click here for the full application form, or let us know at index@civicus.org. Please note that amongst the selection criteria are a broad-based constituency at the national level as well as experience and background in both advocacy and research.
The selection process will end on the 31st of March and future partner organizations will be informed in late April 2008. Applications received after the 31st of March 2008 will not be considered. The project implementation shall start in May 2008 and span over 2008 to part of 2009. For more information, please click here.
Researchers, academics, stakeholders and all interested parties have a new tool to assist them in finding information related to the CSI project. The CSI has developed an online database that is searchable by dimension, sub-dimension, indicator, or even by country. Users may also view CSI data of individual countries pictorially through the country diamond. The CSI most recent phase 2003 - 2006 covered over 50 countries worldwide and is arguably the most encompassing picture of civil society ever produced.
The database allows users to create personal accounts to access and search the CSI data and diamond in all countries that have completed and published the CSI results.
Although the database utilizes the results published in the CSI country reports, it is not an exact replica of these country reports.
Taking the pulse of civil society worldwide – the CIVICUS Global Survey of the State of Civil Society, Vol.2: Comparative Perspectives, edited by V. Finn Heinrich and Lorenzo Fioramonti.
CIVICUS has published the second volume of the CIVICUS Global Survey of the State of Civil Society which provides a wide-ranging analysis of key issues facing civil society worldwide. Comprising 24 chapters by prominent researchers and civil society practitioners, the book draws on the information collected by the CIVICUS Civil Society Index project in more than 45 countries to explore issues such as civil society’s accountability, its relations to the state and corporate sector and its role in governance and development. It also includes regional overviews of the state of civil society in different continents. By bringing together a diversity of perspectives and themes, this book offers one of the most comprehensive and engaging analyses of civil society worldwide.
What others say about the CIVICUS Global Survey, Volume 2:
“Offers a timely and informative 360-degree view of the current state of citizen action around the world...A very valuable resource for policy-makers and practitioners interested in the critical issue of the role of civil society in governance and development." (Kemal Dervis, Head of UNDP)
“This rich survey is exemplary in the breadth of countries it covers and the depth in which it explores complex issues. It also takes on some challenging questions such as the links between civil society and violence. This will be an invaluable resource for activists, students and researchers.” (Jude Howell, Director, Centre for Civil Society, LSE)
This book presents, in one volume, a fascinating tour of the state of civil society in nations around the globe. (Voluntas Journal)
About Volume 1 of the Global Survey:
“This book presents, in one volume, a fascinating tour of the state of civil society in nations around the globe.” (Anthony Filipovitch, Urban & Regional Studies Institute, Minnesota State University)
The CIVICUS Global Survey can be ordered via the Kumarian Press website, Amazon and most other bookstores. For further information, on Volume 2 including a table of content click here and for Volume 1 click here.
We value your comments, feedback as
well as contributions.
You may contact index@civicus.org
CIVICUS House
24 Gwigwi Mrwebi (formerly Pim) Street, corner Quinn Street
Newtown, Johannesburg 2001
PO Box 933
Southdale
Johannesburg 21355
South Africa
Tel: +27 11 833 5959
Fax +27 11 833 7997
e-mail:
info@civicus.org
Website:
http://www.civicus.org