Author: Thomas Howie

Global Perspectives 2017

7th November 2017 by Thomas Howie

New Resources for New Programmes

Outcome

The ninth Global Perspectives conference took place on 1-3 November 2017 in Mexico City and brought together an international audience of about 80 participants from national and international civil society organisations (CSOs), governments and business. The conference offered a platform for exploring new approaches to conducting and funding civil society activities. Presentations, panel discussions, work sessions and peer-to-peer exchange offered an effective platform for open exchange, high-quality conversations and intense networking.

The conference quickly reached consensus that only transformational change will enable civil society to address the significant challenges that lie ahead. Key aspects of the required transformation are:

  • Development and service delivery programmes need to be shaped and owned by the people who are supposed to benefit. This means that a significant power shift is required away from CSOs and their donors towards the people and communities in the Global South.
  • Digitisation allows supporters to transfer their donation directly to the organisation they want to support. Thus the intermediary role of many CSOs is being disrupted. In order to remain relevant CSOs have to present a much wider and deeper range of activities to their supporters.
  • Campaigning organisations need to shift their focus away from individual actors (campaigners in rubber dinghies) towards the citizens and communities that support their mission.
  • Today’s activists find each other and organise their activities on open platforms and no longer in closed organisations. CSOs need to turn themselves into platforms, accepting a loss of control and decision making power.
  • New forms of volunteerism and digital activism are emerging. They are the basis on which CSOs have to engage with the next generation of supporters.
  • Today’s social entrepreneurs base their activities on concrete and measurable demand rather than assumed needs. Many consider grants as a paternalistic means of support. CSOs need to learn from them how to explore what the people they want to support really need.
  • New technologies and approaches such as Blockchain and big data will reshape the civil society sector. CSOs should embrace and explore new technologies and optimally position themselves for their use to advance their mission.

Participants predominantly rated the conference as “very good”. They especially enjoyed the networking, the workshop sessions and the facilitation. They further recommended to include a more diverse group of participants and to have a session taking place outside the conference venue.

The next Global Perspectives conference will take place in Berlin, Germany on 31 October – 2 November. Please save the date – we look forward to hosting you there!

Communications Manager

International Civil Society Centre

International Civic Forum 2017 – Communiqué

13th September 2017 by Thomas Howie

On 11 – 12 September 67 representatives from civil society, government, business, media and philanthropy came together at the International Civic Forum in Washington D.C. to explore how they can cooperate to promote civic freedoms and stand up together when these are violated.

Today the vast majority of the world’s population live in countries where citizens’ rights to organise and speak out and contribute to shaping their societies are respected, protected and fulfilled. Around the world human rights, social, and environmental activists and journalists face defamation campaigns labelling them as foreign agents, physical and legal threats against themselves and their families, persecution, imprisonment and even death. Civil Society Organisations are targeted through freezing of bank accounts, targeted break-ins, revoked licenses, and office closures.

Governments and even businesses often silence voices of dissent under the guise of national security or economic prosperity while decisions about what constitutes a “risk” to national security or the economy are shrouded in mystery rather than rooted in transparency and rule of law. This is a fundamental breach of citizens’ rights and democratic values.

Restrictions on civic freedoms not only interfere in the ability of the civil society sector to fulfil its role, it also limits the ability of media to create public awareness and protect public interest against malpractice and partiality. Private philanthropy cannot advance the public good if there is no space to engage citizens on their needs and expectations. Responsible business also has a role to play, as it needs the rule of law and open governance to thrive. Governments cannot legitimately represent their citizens if citizens are not free to express themselves; autocratic government increases the risk of internal conflict.

In the interest of sustainable development and just and open societies we – representatives from different sectors from around the world – commit to respecting, protecting and strengthening civic freedoms based on the principles embedded in the Civic Charter – The Global Framework for People’s Participation:

  • On the eve of the 72nd session of the United Nations General Assembly, we call on world leaders to explicitly affirm and support citizens’ rights to participate in shaping their societies. Without citizen participation we will not achieve the Sustainable Development Goals nor will we secure international peace and stability.
  • We call on all governments, companies, civil society organisations and citizens to join us in signing the Civic Charter and to commit to uphold, protect, and promote its principles.
  • We encourage our fellow leaders from civil society, government, business, and philanthropy to join us in cross-sector alliances in support of civic space and to endorse and support the initiatives launched at the 2017 International Civic Forum.

Only together we can ensure that citizens’ rights are upheld and free and just societies prosper.

Communications Manager

International Civil Society Centre

We condemn attack on civic rights in Hong Kong

18th August 2017 by Thomas Howie

On Thursday, pro-democracy activist and Civic Charter supporter Joshua Wong, 20, was sentenced to six months in prison for his role in the student-led pro-democracy movement in Hong Kong. The Appeals court also handed custodial sentences to Alex Chow, 26, for seven months and Nathan Law, 24, for eight months. Prosecutors sought to make an example of the trio after they pursued harsher sentencing following their original non-custodial sentences last year.

Burkhard Gnärig, Executive Director of the International Civil Society Centre, said:

“This abhorrent and politically-motivated move from Hong Kong authorities is a direct attack on freedom of expression and right to peaceful protest. The aim of the authorities is clearly to deter people from exercising their basic civic rights. We strongly protest against the oppression of civic rights in Hong Kong.

Joshua has been a vocal and active leader in defending civic participation. Now the international community must respond by speaking up for civic rights in Hong Kong.”

In his statement on the Civic Charter Joshua Wong points out:

“Though we may come from different backgrounds and cultures, and have different systems and histories, we believe in the same universal principles of human freedom.”

It is for this reason that Civil Society Organisations around the world are standing in solidarity with Joshua, Alex and Nathan, and call for their sentence to be overturned.

Communications Manager

International Civil Society Centre

Activists’ detention in Turkey shows global leaders are stamping on citizen rights

6th July 2017 by Thomas Howie

Activist and Civic Charter supporter Özlem Dalkıran and Idil Eser, Director of Amnesty International Turkey, were arrested yesterday during a digital security and information management workshop in Büyükada, Istanbul. The pair were detained along with seven other activists and two trainers*. Thus far the arrested have had only minimum access to legal advice and assistance.

These detentions follow the recent arrest of the Amnesty International Chair, Taner Kiliç, as well as other detentions of human rights activists and journalists over previous months.

Burkhard Gnärig, Executive Director of the International Civil Society Centre, said:

“This is yet another example of the intolerable context in which civil society activists in Turkey are forced to operate. It adds to an already toxic environment and perpetuates a climate of fear for civil society activists, such as Özlem Dalkıran and Idil Eser.

“Özlem is doing vital work to defend citizens’ rights in Turkey. Her rights to freedom of expression and association should be inalienable rights of all people, as laid out in the Civic Charter. The Civic Charter is a global framework for people’s participation and should be respected by all governments and authorities.

“As the G20 gathers in Hamburg, Germany civil society organisations demand that our global leaders listen to the views and voices of civil society and act to protect citizen rights. Indeed, in many G20 countries, such as Saudi Arabia, India and Russia, governments are actively stomping on civil society in order to silence critical voices. Failure by global leaders to take action, results in the kind of indiscriminate arrests we have seen in Turkey – that is unacceptable.”

*Notes: a full list of those detained and further information can be found, here:
https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2017/07/director-of-amnesty-international-turkey-mustbe-released-from-incommunicado-detention/

Communications Manager

International Civil Society Centre

PM Turnbull: Civil society must be represented at the G20

29th March 2017 by Thomas Howie

Dear Prime Minister Turnbull,

We write to you as leaders of Australian civil society, appointed by the Australian Government to form the Civil 20 Secretariat during Australia’s G20 presidency in 2014. As you prepare to represent Australia in Hamburg, we wish to alert you to the dire reality facing civil society actors in many G20 member states and ask you to raise the issue of the shrinking space for civil society at the upcoming G20 Summit.

According to the CIVICUS Monitor more than 100 countries actively limit the space for, and in many cases violently repress, civil society. Peaceful and democratic civil society organisations – from grassroots movements to large international NGOs– and their staff face undue vilification, threats, arrests, frozen bank accounts, revoked licenses, blocked websites, coerced registrations with government bodies, and the closure of their offices. In many countries today, civil society activists fear for their lives, with many disappearing or murdered at the hands of government or government-supported forces.

Australia has a long and proud history of promoting the important role of strong and robust civil society in advancing social and economic development and securing human rights and social accountability around the world. Through its aid program, Australia has supported transformative civil society strengthening efforts in many developing countries and through ongoing bilateral human rights dialogues, Australian leaders have been steadfast in expressing concerns about the suppression of civil society in many of our neighbouring countries. As Australia continues its campaign for a seat on the United Nations Human Rights Council, we have no doubt that these issues will continue to be a high priority for your Government.

The G20 need a peaceful, organised, and protected civil society to help achieve the goals established through the Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Agreement. The active engagement of people in all societies contributes to alleviating poverty, protecting the environment, achieving gender equality and countering the dangers of extremism and violence by working with the marginalised and disenfranchised. Repressing civil society creates an unstable economic and political environment and obstructs the transition towards a just, equitable, and sustainable world.

During the past year, civil society organisations from around the world have come together to create a Civic Charter, which clearly articulates the globally established obligations of states to secure civic rights for all people. We hope to see Australia and all other governments around the world acknowledge and fully implement the Civic Charter. As an important step in doing so, we ask you to implore your fellow G20 leaders to ensure that the issue of civil society participation features prominently on the G20 Agenda.

We would welcome the opportunity to meet with you or to provide further information on this important issue in advance of the Summit. Please don’t hesitate to contact Dermot O’Gorman: 0438 222 114 or dogorman@wwf.org.au to discuss.

Sincerely,

Dermot O’Gorman CEO
WWF-Australia

Marc Purcell CEO
Australian Council for International Development

Dr Cassandra Goldie CEO
Australian Council of Social Service

Tim Costello Chief Advocate
World Vision Australia

His Honour Judge Rauf Soulio
District Court of South Australia

Helen Szoke CEO
Oxfam Australia

Rev. Tara Curlewis Minister
Uniting Church of Australia

Sally Sinclair CEO
National Employment Services Association

Janelle Weissman Executive Director
UN Women National Committee Australia

Colonel Kelvin Alley
The Salvation Army

Greg Thompson Executive Director International
Transparency International Australia

Communications Manager

International Civil Society Centre

Angela Merkel: Put Civil Society on G20 Agenda

2nd March 2017 by Thomas Howie

Dear Chancellor Dr. Angela Merkel,

As you prepare for the G20 Summit under your presidency, we urgently want to alert you to the dire reality of many civil society actors in the G20 member states and ask you to place this concern at the heart of the G20 Summit agenda.

According to the CIVICUS Monitor all G20 member states, except for Germany, narrow the space for civil society or even repress civil society violently. Peaceful and democratic civil society organisations – from grassroots movements to large international civil society organisations – and their staff face undue vilification, threats, arrests, frozen bank accounts, revoked licenses, blocked websites, coerced registrations with government bodies, and the closure of their offices. Civil society activists have to fear for their lives, with many disappearing and becoming victims of murder.

The perpetuation of this negative trend for civil society actors over the last years causes serious concern for civil society, enlightened governments, farsighted business, philanthropy and the media. As the global community is confronted with persistent poverty, growing inequality, violent extremism, and climate change, we are in dire need of the active engagement of civil society.

The G20 countries are dependent on peaceful organized civil society if they want to tackle the challenges you laid out and address the priorities you set out for this year’s G20 agenda: Organised Civil society plays an important role in communicating the needs of the people to the government and thus ensuring the usefulness and sustainability of political and economic measures. Civil society actors expose corruption and human rights violations and hold the state accountable – all of which are prerequisites for a just and peaceful society. Moreover, the active engagement of people in their societies contributes to alleviating poverty, protecting the environment, achieving gender equality and countering the dangers of radicalisation and violence by working with the marginalised and disenfranchised. Repressing democratic civil society makes for an unstable economic and political environment; and without the active and unrestrained engagement of
people around the globe, the transition towards a just, equitable, and sustainable world as laid down in the 2030 Agenda and the Paris Agreement will not be possible.

During the past year, the International Civil Society Centre facilitated a global civil society process which created a Civic Charter. The Civic Charter contains national governments’ obligations to secure civic rights for all people, as enshrined in UN conventions and international law. We expect all governments worldwide to fully implement the Civic Charter.

As the host of this year’s G20 Summit, we ask you to remain true to the respect we know you hold for civil society: please make sure that the topic “Civil Society Participation” features prominently on the G20 Agenda and implore your fellow G20 leaders to guarantee all people the right to fully participate in shaping their societies.

Sincerely,

International Civil Society Centre – Burkhard Gnärig, Executive Director
________________________________
Heinrich Böll Stiftung – Barbara Unmüßig, President
______________________________
ADRA – Jonathan Duffy, President
__________________________________
ActionAid – Adriano Campolina, CEO
__________________________________
Care – Wolfgang Jamann, Secretary General/CEO
________________________________
BRAC – Sir Fazle Hasan Abed, Chairperson
_________________________________
Caritas – Michel Roy, Secretary General
________________________________
ChildFund Alliance – Meg Gardinier, Secretary General
________________________________
HelpAge Interational – Justin Derbyshire, Interim CEO
________________________________
IPPF – Tewodros Melesse, Director-General
________________________________
Islamic Relief – Naser Haghamed, CEO
________________________________
SOS Children’s Villages International – Norbert Meder, CEO
______________________________
Transparency International – Cobus de Swardt, Managing Director
________________________________
Terre des Hommes – Ignacio Packer, Secretary General
____________________________
VSO – Philip Goodwin, CEO
____________________________
World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts – Anita Tiessen, CEO
______________________________
World Vision – Kevin Jenkins, President/CEO
______________________________
World YWCA – Malayah Harper, General Secretary

Communications Manager

International Civil Society Centre