Andrew%20Firmin.%20Civicus

CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation Civil society assessments as part of governance assessments

www.civicus.org

The CIVICUS CSI • Action-oriented participatory research – Civil society self-assessment – Locally generated and owned knowledge – Gathering views of the public (45,000+), CSOs (4,500+) and external stakeholders (1,200+) – A picture of strengths, weaknesses, constraints for civil society – Research informs recommendations www.civicus.org

Key findings, 2008-2011 • • • • •

Civil society space is volatile and contested Human resources are stretched Networks are a strength Social impact strong, policy impact less so CSOs do not adequately model their values and are seen as distant • Participation in organisations is low www.civicus.org

Future assessments – key principles • • • • • • •

More adaptable, more flexible Locally owned Locally relevant Demand driven Context specific More frequent – collect data over time Civil society self-owned www.civicus.org

Civil society and governance assessments • Civil society has a right to assess itself.

• How do we respect principles of civil society ownership?

• How do we use civil society generated evidence in strengthening social accountability?

• How do we use this to promote a more enabling environment for civil society? www.civicus.org