Featured Post – The International Civil Society Centre

Call for Solidarity Playbook Case Studies

18th June 2020 by Eva Gondorová

The Solidarity Action Network (SANE) is looking for case studies to include in its Solidarity Playbook, to be published later this year. We are looking for examples of strategies and resilience mechanisms of international civil society organisations (ICSOs) and coalition responses to civic space restrictions that demonstrate how solidarity can work in practice. These strategies and responses may have come as a result of an undue threat or attack, equally they relate to the operating environment, for example a new law making it harder for CSOs to operate.

Continue reading if you are interested to learn more or have an example to share.

Solidarity Action Network and Solidarity Playbook

The Solidarity Action Network (SANE) brings together international civil society organisations (ICSOs) and their local partners to support each other when faced with undue threats and challenges to their operations or civic space restrictions more broadly. The network collects and shares knowledge and best practices, inspires collaborative actions and explores new solidarity mechanisms beyond public statements of solidarity.  

The Solidarity Playbook is an integral part of the Solidarity Action Network. It collects case studies and best practices to help other civil society organisations respond to undue scrutiny and challenges, and to enable learning on how to act in solidarity with civil society actors, particularly local partners. A set of six initial Solidarity Playbook case studies has already been published and we would like your help in building this collection.

Show solidarity – share your case study with peers!

We are looking for more examples that capture best practices on:

1) Strategies and resilience mechanisms of ICSOs

We want to hear about strategies and resilience mechanisms of different ICSOs developed to respond to undue scrutiny and attacks such as legal restrictions, bureaucratic clampdowns, financial constraints, media and misinformation/disinformation attacks or digital and cybersecurity risks. We are particularly interested in learning from ICSOs which might not be an obvious target but have had to adapt their strategies due to the consequences of civic space restrictions.

2) Coalition responses to civic space restrictions that demonstrate how solidarity can work in practice

We want to look at coalition responses at different levels (local/national/regional/global level) and map how civil society organisations support each other, show solidarity and respond to threats and challenges with a unified voice. We are particularly interested in looking at connectivity between these levels, coalitions uniting different kinds of civil society organisations and cross-sector collaborations.

Got a question?

Then get in touch with Project Manager Eva Gondorová.

Think you might have a case study to share?

Then let us know what your case study is about by answering the questions below. Brief answers to all questions – also not required ones – would be very helpful for us to get a better idea of your case. After submitting this form, we will get in touch with you.

Case Study Submission Form

Eva Gondorová

Project Manager

International Civil Society Centre

Eva coordinates the project Solidarity Action Network (SANE) which aims at strengthening resilience of and solidarity among civil society actors.

COVID-19 Resources for Civil Society #11

17th June 2020 by Robert Vysoudil

This page is part of a series of COVID-19 resource pages that we are creating to help civil society actors.

Click here to view all available pages.

Click here for our latest events news.

On this page, you will find links to readings, podcasts and videos related to the latest COVID-19 news and analysis. If you have a recommendation or a suggestion, let us know. Many thanks to our volunteer researcher Ineke Stemmet.

The sections are:

Staying up-to-date: Links to sites that will keep you abreast of important developments related to our sector and the latest news.

Strategic: We look at the impact and responses to COVID-19 in a general and intersectional way (i.e. impacts on human rights, climate change, etc).

Policy: Civil society’s policies that respond to challenges posed by COVID-19.

Operational: A list of what your organisation can do now to navigate these unprecedented times.

1. Staying up-to-Date

Controlling COVID-19 will carry a devastating economic cost for developing countries (The Conversation)
Isolation measures threaten the food security of millions of people. This means that even if the epidemic is successfully managed at the health level, the impact on economies – and people – will be devastating.
COVID-19 is deadlier for black Brazilians, a legacy of structural racism that dates back to slavery (The Conversation)
In Brazil, black COVID-19 patients are dying at higher rates than white patients. Worse housing quality, working conditions and health care help to explain the pandemic’s racially disparate toll.
COVID-19’s Impact on Nonprofits’ Revenues, Digitization, and Mergers (Stanford Social Innovation Review)
Interactive charts show how hundreds of nonprofits face dramatic changes in their operations and plans as the pandemic continues to upend life around the world.
Global Economic Prospects Report, June 2020 edition (World Bank)
Lasting Scars of the COVID-19 Pandemic: Relevant chapters of the World Bank Group’s latest forecasts for the global economy.
Government responses to COVID-19 are exacerbating gender-based violence (Open Global Rights)
Government-mandated lockdowns are trapping millions of women and girls with their abusers, isolating them from support networks.
How to talk about COVID-19: insights from the British public (Bond)
How should international NGOs connect with the current public mindset? New research from the Development Engagement Lab (DEL) sheds light on the British public’s receptivity to development cooperation in the context of the global coronavirus pandemic.
Local professionals step in to fill delivery gap amid questions over resources (Devex)
Travel restrictions are enhancing the role of local aid workers, but many say they are still not receiving the support they need, according to Devex’s latest survey.
Northern-founded NGOs: the time has come to face existential funding challenges (5 Oaks Consulting, guest blog)
The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated underlying fundamentals challenging the financial stability of seven Northern-founded INGO families.
The political economy of the fight against COVID-19 in Africa (Democracy in Africa)
In spite of the lack of evidence of rapid spread, African governments have been accused of copy/pasting strategies used in the global north, creating a double burden of economic and political crisis. This paper reviews how African countries are responding to the pandemic, and reflects on the opportunities/threats the virus represents for policy and practice.
What are citizens saying during the COVID-19 crisis? (Inter-American Development Bank)
IDB’s tool shows the perceptions and concerns expressed online by citizens of Latin America and the Caribbean on the COVID-19 pandemic. This data enables better listening and understanding of various categories of information related to civic needs, related to dignity, trust, security and visibility.

2. Strategic

Biodiversity and Climate Change

Dispatch From 2030: What a Global Pandemic Taught Us About Tackling Climate Change (Stanford Social Innovation Review)
A look back from 2030 reveals how ambitious industrial policies, high-quality data, and courageous leadership saved us from an affliction worse than COVID-19.

Civic Space and Human Rights

Aggravating circumstances: How coronavirus impacts human trafficking (Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime)
Poverty, lack of social or economic opportunity and limited labour protections are the main root causes and drivers that render people vulnerable or cause them to fall victim to human trafficking. This unprecedented crisis will likely exacerbate all of those factors and result in developments that must be noted by anti-human-trafficking communities and stakeholders.
Coronavirus and the right to online political participation (Open Global Rights)
Making access to the internet a human right can address inequalities in access to public discourse, especially where free speech is limited.
COVID-19 and the politics of the year of the nurse (The South African Institute of International Affairs)
The challenges critical medical personnel are currently facing all lead back to a central question of care. There are three main challenges these critical workers face: insufficient supply of necessary protective equipment on a global scale; growing hostility towards them; and difficulties with access to childcare.
Southern Africa: Persons with albinism especially vulnerable in the face of COVID-19 (Amnesty International )
This article argues that South African governments must ensure the protection and well-being of persons with albinism, who are increasingly vulnerable amid the COVID-19 crisis as lockdowns across the region hinder access to healthcare facilities and skin cancer clinics as well as vital sunscreen.
Will COVID-19 increase religious hostilities and discrimination? (Open Global Rights )
COVID-19 and its impacts may hit some religious minorities disproportionately hard, exacerbating economic inequalities, social hostilities and discrimination.

Data and Digital

Africa must unmute its mic as e-diplomacy takes root (Institute for Security Studies)
COVID-19 could make diplomacy more inclusive, but Africa’s weak internet connectivity means it might be left behind.
Supporting civil society during the COVID-19 pandemic: The potentials of online collaborations for social accountability (U4)
COVID-19 highlights the potentials of online collaborations for social accountability. There are new opportunities for civil society to embrace digital civic engagement as an anti-corruption initiative.

Economic

OECD Economic Outlook: The world economy on a tightrope (OECD)
COVID-19 has triggered the most severe economic recession in nearly a century and is causing enormous damage to people’s health, jobs and well-being. The Outlook focuses on two equally probable scenarios – one in which a second wave of infections, with renewed lock-downs, hits before the end of 2020, and one in which another major outbreak is avoided.

Education

Future shock: 25 Education trends post COVID-19 (Foresight for Development)
School closures carry high social and economic costs for people across communities, with a particularly severe for the most vulnerable and marginalised families. The resulting disruptions exacerbate already existing disparities within the education system but also in other aspects of their lives. This blog summarises 25 related trends from UNESCO analysis.

Food security

COVID-19 recovery is a chance to improve the African food system (The Conversation)
What we see happening as a result of actions to contain COVID-19 is like a global natural disaster. It’s also an opportunity for a different kind of recovery. Going back to “business as usual” investments in agriculture and food systems could reproduce those systems’ inequities. Instead, recovery efforts should be geared towards creating a better future.

Futures

COVID-19 scenarios for the humanitarian ecosystem: Opportunities to translate challenges into transformation (IARAN)
The global response to the pandemic is rapidly changing and there is a high degree of uncertainty. IARAN’s preliminary scenarios are focused on exploring the factors they think are most influential in driving social/political and economic changes rather than reflecting the current situation in any particular region.
COVID-19 Global Aftershocks: The Secondary Implications of COVID-19 across International Development and Humanitarian Sectors (InterAction)
A summary of some of the COVID-19 secondary impacts across the humanitarian and development sectors, including: children and youth, climate change, conflict, democracy, development assistance, education, food security, gender equality, global health, WASH and humanitarian assistance. Updated since its original publication on May 1, 2020.
Global poverty: coronavirus could drive it up for the first time since the 1990s (The Conversation)
75% of new COVID-19 cases detected each day are now in developing countries. Governments face juggling the health consequences with economic ones. Our research shows that the poverty impact of the crisis will soon be felt in three key ways. There is likely to be more poverty. It is likely to become more severe. And as a consequence, the location of global poverty will also change.
What a “Feminist” Approach to Fighting COVID-19 Might Have Achieved (Just Security)
Imagine how COVID-19 might play out differently with institutions informed by “feminist” principles of cooperation, human security, pragmatism, transparency, diversity, and inclusivity.

Gender Equality

COVID-19: “Who is Skilled and Who is Unskilled in this Pandemic Moment?” (Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom)
In this article, Cynthia Enloe realises that there are so many times in life when one finds one lacks the relevant skills to make sense of, and to grapple effectively with a pressing condition. That repeated realisation has made her think about skills – and what “counts” as a skill, and who gets to do the “counting.”
COVID-19: Making our Recovery Green and Feminist (Women’s International League for Peace & Freedom)
This article explores the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic on the environment and advises that the recovery from the pandemic should be feminist and green in nature.
Rape cases spike in South Sudan as girls and women left vulnerable during COVID-19 (Plan International)
A spate of rape cases in South Sudan has exposed the extreme risks girls and women have been left to face in COVID-19 pandemic, warns Plan International.

Humanitarian

This global pandemic could transform humanitarianism forever. Here’s how (The New Humanitarian)
As the crisis born of this global pandemic has evolved, some of the promises of deep transformation in a humanitarian aid sector that has long resisted reform have proven overly optimistic – at least so far. Here are 13 ways the pandemic may change the future of humanitarianism – and the forces of resistance that may get in the way.

Multilateralism and international cooperation

COVID-19 responses expose gaps in global governance (The South African Institute of International Affairs)
This report analyses the effectiveness of the WHO and explores the ways in which the pandemic has exposed not only how far the world is from effective and unified global governance, but also a crisis of confidence in the institutions expected to guide international action and cooperation.
Tackling COVID-19 as a Grand Challenge (Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society)
How does the COVID-19 crisis relate to other grand challenges and how should we deal with, such as climate change?

Pandemic Specific Consequences and Responses (economic, health & social impacts)

Epidemics and Social Observation: Why Africa Needs a Different Approach to COVID-19 (African Arguments)
In the absence of a vaccine, the main tool for control of COVID-19 is human behavioural change. Social scientists are not fully agreed on what determines behavioural change, but there is a broad consensus that individual agency is influenced by social factors. It matters what your family, friends and neighbours think.
Will Patents stop COVID drugs from saving lives? (From Poverty to Power)
The COVID-19 pandemic has sparked a global race of public- and private-led research to develop vaccines and treatments. Will patents hinder access to the products it generates? Comparison with HIV/AIDS indicated access problems may mainly affect middle-income countries facing higher prices. Low-income countries will likely receive drugs at discounted prices, and with governments and philanthropic donors covering the costs.
Youth or consequences: Put youth at the center of COVID-19 recovery (Brookings Institution)
This article argues that to head off the worst repercussions of this youth unemployment challenge in the wake of the coronavirus, we must act now, focusing on three critical issues, education, engagement and employment.

Politics & Governance

6 experts on how capitalism will emerge after COVID-19 (Fast Company)
We have an unprecedented opportunity to rein in capitalism’s excesses and reshape our democracy. Here’s how business leaders and experts from MIT, Harvard, and more would tackle the biggest problems. What’s been lost—and what could be gained—in the new world order?

3. Policy

Ensuring women’s representation in COVID-19 policymaking (Online event) (Devex)
This 1-hour virtual event discussed why there’s an urgent need to integrate women in COVID-19 policymaking and highlight some of the work that has already been done to advance their voices in not only the response to this pandemic, but also long-term recovery efforts.
It’s Not Just About Health: Four Lessons From Ebola for the COVID-19 Response in Conflict-Affected Countries (Peacelab.blog / Search for Common Ground)
Lessons from Search for Common Ground’s response to the Ebola and COVID-19 epidemics: Support civil society in violence prevention and trust-building measures, provide adequate training for security actors, and ensure the meaningful inclusion of local communities.
Mining industry profits from pandemic (The Ecologist)
More than 300 organisations from around the world have released an open-statement condemning the ways that the mining industry and numerous governments are taking advantage of the COVID-19 pandemic to manufacture new mining opportunities and enhance their damaged reputations.
NGOs call for continued support for transparency and accountability
This letter calls on providers of development assistance to continue to support transparency, accountability and open government during COVID-19 and the global economic crisis. The aim is to have it published in the media and to distribute widely through our online tools and networks once published. NGOs working on transparency, accountability and open government can sign here.
Strongest Together: An NGO Consortia View on Structural Issues in the Humanitarian Response to COVID-19 (White paper)
COVID-19 has aggravated previously deteriorating humanitarian conditions and increasingly complex operational environments for frontline responders, prompting new operational challenges to emerge. InterAction has partnered with nongovernmental organization (NGO) consortia in 13 countries globally to draft this Working Paper delineating these challenges.
With attacks against health workers on the rise, advocates call for action (Devex )
Attacks against health workers have increased under the strain of COVID-19, according to a cohort of medical and humanitarian organizations. In a joint declaration, they call for governments to do more than talk about it.

4. Operational

How telemedicine can provide a lifeline for health workers as well as patients (Devex)
Portraying Dr. Chibuzo Okonta of MSF on remote diagnosis and treatment of patients in conflict or Covid-19 situations: could it prove a key tool for ensuring the safety of health workers and providing patient care?

Robert Vysoudil

Communications Student Assistant

International Civil Society

#BlackLivesMatter to you? 3 steps you can take

12th June 2020 by Robert Vysoudil

1. Listen

Listen to people who experience racism. Follow Black and PoC influencers on social media. Being racist isn’t always intentional – reflect on yourself and acknowledge your unearned white privilege – it can get uncomfortable but don’t get defensive, instead, we should learn from our past mistakes.

2. Educate yourself

Why saying “All lives matter” is an inappropriate response to “Black lives matter”? Why can’t I use the N-word? What is white privilege? Actively look for answers on your own. Google these questions, read articles and books from Black authors, watch videos about systemic racism and listen to podcasts about colonialism and slavery.

3. Initiate change

Take action, go to protests if you can. Sign petitions, donate money, inquire your legislators, amplify Black voices and give them space. Be actively anti-racist – don’t overlook racist behaviour in your family, among your friends, at your work, in public transport – speak up. And be persistent.

Petitions initiated by Amnesty International:

Plan International’s guide:

How to be an anti-racist ally

Resource compilations:

A great number of resource compilations have been created in recent weeks, it will help you with all of the above-mentioned actions, including lists of organisations where you can donate:

Black Lives Matter

Robert Vysoudil

Communications Student Assistant

International Civil Society

Civil Society in the Corona Crisis

7th April 2020 by Wolfgang Jamann

One month of WHO-declared pandemic has meant one month of crisis mitigation for civil society leaders. Ensuring staff care and safety and maintaining the continuity of operations was and is a priority task for any leader these days. In addition, staying healthy, looking after family and friends, is more than an activity on the side. We are grateful for all the efforts that have been undertaken to stay as safe as possible in the sector.

Civil society organisations (CSOs), big and small, global and local, are ‘system-relevant’ – it matters to millions of people that we remain operational and support the most vulnerable and their environment. It comes as no surprise that the SDG principle to ‘Leave no one behind’ has become a unifying theme of solidarity in response to the Coronavirus around the world, mirroring what our organisations stand for.

For CSOs to remain operational in the future will mean refocusing on the potential and foreseeable impacts of the crisis in countries of the global South – a humanitarian, health and food security crisis yet in the making. If we have learned anything from past disasters – man-made or so-called ‘natural’: it is always the most marginalised, the poorest and the least protected who will bear the highest burden.

We cannot yet foresee whether direct or indirect consequences of Coronavirus will affect livelihoods most. For example, the indirect ones on the horizon might be much graver in the medium to long term – such as re-direction of aid flows towards domestic issues, dwindling global solidarity and growing nationalism, scarcity of economic resources, to name but a few.

Four weeks into the crisis and civil society leaders are strategising and planning for mid-term and longer-term implications. Information (and opinion) overload still need to be interpreted, but there are some valuable resources that are useful for thinking and planning ahead. The Centre has collected a number of pieces that will help navigate the immediate and longer-term future, and so have other civil society networks.

Already, numerous valuable advocacy initiatives are kicking in. They are occurring in order of urgency rather than priority, such as:

advocating for flexible use of resource towards donors,
addressing social consequences of the economic fallouts,
advocating for the upholding of Human Rights in times of crisis,
addressing the digital dimensions of surveillance vs case tracking,
campaigning for the protection of the most vulnerable.

And we hear encouraging statements from global leaders like WHO Executive Director Thedros Ghebreyesus, making sure that the poorer continents do not become testing grounds for the wealthier nations.

As more advocacy statements and initiatives are being rolled-out, we need to make sure that there is not a competition of concerns and mandates, but that we remain connected over the aims that we all share.

Further ahead is scenario planning. Futurists and foresighters are looking at weak and strong signals on post-Coronavirus situation. The most unlikely scenario will be “business as before”, once a vaccine or treatments are found. The biggest questions appear around so-called ‘systems changes’ – is the globalist, capitalist, financial and political system good enough in times of increasing global challenges? Where will our societies drift – back into nationalist and inward-looking behaviours, or forward towards global solidarity, interconnected actions and multilateral governance? And how will the current experience affect our dealing with ‘the other’ large global crisis around climate change?

Highly relevant to these future systems will be the role of organised civil society, whether it is around aid, social discourse, political decision-making or framing the narratives that hold our societies together. Civil society in the ‘sector’ (of development, social justice, environment and human rights) has undergone continuous transformations over the past decades, but it is challenged to keep pace with the current crisis, its responsibilities, and yes, the opportunities that come with it. We should not let others define the future of the values and systems that matter for civil society around the world.

Our most significant contribution to overcoming this crisis will be working in collaboration, focusing on the solidarity and empathy. Our humanistic values that bind us and the societies we work in demand that we are forward-looking and strategic in our actions, irrespective of the high operational pressures out there. Putting people, unorganised and organised civil society at the centre of post-Coronavirus planning is the task we need to unite behind and show collective leadership.

COVID-19, COVID-19 Resources

Wolfgang Jamann

Executive Director

International Civil Society Centre

Dr. Wolfgang Jamann is Executive Director of the International Civil Society Centre. Until January 2018 he was Secretary General and CEO of CARE International (Geneva). Before that he led NGO Deutsche Welthungerhilfe and the Alliance 2015, a partnership of 7 European aid organisations. From 2004-2009 he was CEO & Board member of CARE Deutschland-Luxemburg and President of the CARE Foundation. Previously, he worked for World Vision International as a regional representative in East Africa (Kenya) & Head of Humanitarian Assistance at WV Germany. After his Ph.D. dissertation in 1990 he started his career in development work at the German Foundation for International Development, later for the UNDP in Zambia. As a researcher and academic, he has published books and articles on East & Southeast Asia contributing to international studies on complex humanitarian emergencies and conflict management.

COVID-19 Resources for Civil Society

30th March 2020 by Thomas Howie

This page is part of a series of COVID-19 resource pages that we are creating frequently to help civil society actors.

Click here to view all available pages.

Click here for our latest events news.

On this page, you will find links to readings, podcasts and videos related to the latest Coronavirus news and analysis. This selection is based on what the International Civil Society Centre and its staff find useful. If you have a recommendation or a suggestion, let us know.

There are three sections to this page:

Staying up-to-date: Links to sites that will keep you abreast of important developments related to our sector and the wider context

Strategic Analysis: We look at the impact and responses to Coronavirus in a general and intersectional way (i.e. impacts on human rights, climate change etc).

Operational and Leadership: A list of what your organisation can do now to navigate these unprecedented times

1. Staying up-to-Date

Devex articles, including how the COVID-19 outbreak is reshaping the global development sector
Overseas Development Institute blog series assessing the implications of the coronavirus outbreak – from the impact on the global economy to its effects on climate change, and people living in poverty

2. Strategic Analysis

Coronavirus Pandemic-Specific – Response Scenarios and Economic Impacts

The Economic Impact of COVID-19 in Low- and Middle-Income Countries (Center for Global Development).
Analysis of short and medium-term economic impacts and what should be being done right now by IMF to minimise the impact.
Will Africa’s economies buckle under the coronavirus? (Institue for Security Studies).
Africa has so far been relatively resilient concerning infections, but the opposite is true for economic effects.
Are pandemics increasing and what do they cost? and COVID-19 Virtual Summit (Singularity University) – Videos.
In the first video Robert Muggah shares insights into the spread and impact of pandemics, why they are becoming more common, and how cities can help minimise threats now and into the future. The second link presents all presentation and discussions from Singulairities virtual summit on COVID-19,
What Might Africa Teach the World? COVID-19 and Ebola Virus Disease Compared (African Arguments).
A look at the links between community mobilisation and epidemiologists in the case of Ebola and what that can teach us in the case of COVID-19.
Coronavirus vaccine: when will it be ready? (Guardian).
Human trials will begin imminently – but even if they go well and a cure is found, there are many barriers before global immunisation is feasible.

General Analysis

‘We can’t go back to normal’: how will coronavirus change the world? (Guardian).
Recommended. Some believe the pandemic is a once-in-a-generation chance to remake society and build a better future. Others fear it may only make existing injustices worse.
Neither A Black Swan Nor A Zombie Apocalypse: The Futures Of A World With The COVID-19 Coronavirus (Journal of Futures Studies).
Summary of why this pandemic was predictable and four main emerging scenarios.
The Coronavirus Pandemic and the New Normal, with Jamie Metzl (Singularity University) – Video, and After coronavirus the World Will Never Be the Same. But Maybe, It Can Be Better (Singularity Hub).
A useful overview of big picture trends and links to wider geopolitical issues, and a ‘new normal’ for 18 months at least until a vaccine is found.
Planning for the World After the Coronavirus Pandemic (World Politics Review).
Second-order effects and unpredictable interactions of the pandemic with other global issues are still unclear. International cooperation is needed for these, and the urgency of a public health emergency should not crowd out the need for slower-moving but still important priorities.
How the Pandemic Will End (The Atlantic).
Recommended – US-focused but clear global relevance and endgame scenarios. The U.S. may end up with the worst COVID-19 outbreak in the industrialized world. This is how it’s going to play out.
Six ways coronavirus will change our world (Exponential View).
Scientific collaboration, digital quarantines, genomic technologies, remote everything, self-sufficiency, and nativism.
16 Ways Coronavirus May Change the Way We Look at the World (Singularity Hub).
A list of 16 positive changes to the collective mindset this era of emergency may bring.
Yuval Noah Harari: the world after coronavirus (Financial Times).
We face two particularly important choices during this crisis which could change our lives for years to come: between totalitarian surveillance and citizen empowerment, and between nationalist isolation and global solidarity.
After this pandemic we can do better (Amnesty International).
David Griffiths, Director of the Office of the Secretary-General at Amnesty International, on what we can choose to differently as a result of coronavirus’ impacts throwing into sharp relief what our renewed priorities should be.

Intersectional Analysis

Biodiversity and Climate Change

‘Tip of the iceberg’: is our destruction of nature responsible for COVID-19? (Guardian).
Telling piece on the links between increasing habitat and biodiversity loss globally and the potential for further future mass pandemics.
COVID-19: a dress rehearsal for the climate emergency? (Forum For the Future).
Summary of what we can learn from the COVID-19 response that might allow us to be better equipped to address critical sustainability challenges.
COVID-19 – The Low-Carbon Crisis (Michael Liebreich).
Climate-positive shifts in societal behaviour, policy, technology and business processes during the crisis may sustain for lower carbon emissions in the longer term.

Cities and Urbanisation

Coronavirus threat looms large for low-income cities (International Institute for Environment and Development).
Weak infrastructure and lack of basic services mean urban settlements in low-income countries are highly vulnerable, and handwashing and isolation responses to the virus are not possible.

Civic Space and Human Rights

States should put human rights at the centre of all responses to COVID-19 (CIVICUS).
CIVICUS outlines the risks of governments using the crisis as a pretext to undermine the rule of law, attack human rights defenders and silencing political critics.
Human Rights Dimensions of COVID-19 Response (Human Rights Watch).
A comprehensive summary of human rights concerns posed by the coronavirus outbreak, drawing on examples of government responses to date, and recommends ways governments and other actors can respect human rights in their response.
Coronavirus and Civic Space Preserving Human Rights During a Pandemic (International Center for Not-For-Profit Law).
The article discusses how international law provides a framework to uphold human rights during crisis response.
Do We Have to Give Up Some Personal Freedoms to Beat Coronavirus? (Singularity Hub).
An open but less competent government is likely to perform poorly in a public health crisis, as is a competent but closed government. We need open societies to combat the virus.

Data and Digital

The rise of the bio-surveillance state (New Statesman America).
States can only achieve two out of three in the ‘coronavirus trilemma’ of limiting deaths, gradually lifting lockdowns, or upholding cherished civil liberties, and bio-surveillance may outlive the immediate crisis, even in liberal states with strong pluralist institutions.
As Coronavirus Surveillance Escalates, Personal Privacy Plummets (New York Times).
Mass digital surveillance to track entire populations to combat the pandemic now could open the doors to more invasive forms of government snooping later.
Checking our instincts: We need to remain evidence-based and standards-driven in times of crisis (Data governance).
Five evidence-based and standards-driven rules to guide responsible data governance and data use in times of crisis.
How Civic Technology Can Help Stop a Pandemic (Foreign Affairs).
Taiwan’s fusion of technology, activism, and civic participation as a solution.

Gender Equality

Unchecked corporate power paved the way for COVID-19, and globally, women are at the frontlines (Cambridge Core Blog).
The pandemic puts a spotlight on the urgency of questioning, challenging and resisting underlying discriminatory systems which disproportionately affect women.
Coronavirus: Five ways virus upheaval is hitting women in Asia (BBC).
Across Asia, women are being disproportionately affected by the significant social impacts of the virus, here are five ways in which this is happening.
The Coronavirus Is a Disaster for Feminism (The Atlantic).
This and past pandemics affect men and women differently.

Global China

How Will COVID-19 Impact China’s Belt & Road Initiative? (The China Africa Project) – Podcast.
COVID-19 is the single greatest challenge to China’s Belt and Road Initiative since its launch in 2013, as its interconnectedness once widely regarded as a huge opportunity is might now be seen as the potentially dangerous liability of dependence on China.
Is China a Safe Haven? (Matthews Asia).
China may become the global economic and financial haven, as consumer demand is healthy (buffered by deep household savings) and it has domestic COVID-19 infections under control.

Multilateralism and international cooperation

What COVID-19 means for international cooperation (Brookings).
The pandemic could strengthen nationalism and isolationism and accelerate the retreat from globalisation, or spur a new wave of international cooperation like after World War II.
The Coronavirus Could Reshape Global Order (Foreign Affairs).
China Is manoeuvering for international leadership as the United States falters.

Populism and Authoritarianism

How the Coronavirus Revealed Authoritarianism’s Fatal Flaw (The Atlantic).
China’s use of surveillance and censorship makes it harder for Xi Jinping to know what’s going on in his own country.
Coronavirus could be used by authoritarian leaders as excuse to undermine democracy, experts warn (The Independent).
Worries coronavirus could reshape politics by eroding democracy in some countries.
How European populists are using coronavirus as a political tool (Aljazeera).
Refugees, aid workers placed under quarantine in Italy as far-right leaders across Europe call for tighter borders.

3. Operational and Leadership Advice

General

Coronavirus strategy for NGOs (Associates for Change).
A suggested 4-point strategy you may want to consider for the current outbreak.
Resources for INGOs (BOND).
Useful resources, especially for those based in the UK, but some useful regardless

Remote working

COVID-19 Resources

Thomas Howie

Communications Manager

International Civil Society Centre

Thomas joined the Centre in June 2017 as the Communications Coordinator. He is responsible for developing and implementing the Centre’s global communication strategy, as well as the Disrupt & Innovate platform – a place for civil society professionals and activists to discuss current innovations and future trends in the civil society sector. Prior to the Centre, Thomas worked for 5 years in the European Parliament firstly as the Digital and Social Media Coordinator for the Socialists and Democrats Group in the European Parliament, and then, after the 2014 European elections, for Jude Kirton-Darling and Paul Brannen as Head of Communications, where he worked on issues such as the EU-US trade deal, issues around Brexit and as a specialist on the Petitions Committee. Thomas graduated from Bristol University with BSci in Geographical Sciences and holds an MA in Peace Studies from the University of Bradford, where he completed research into the role of civil society in the post war peace settlement in northern Uganda.

Why ICSOs need to make more sense of the city in our urban century

3rd February 2020 by Aline Rahbany

Urban - International Civil Society Centre

Aline Rahbany, Director for Urban Programming at World Vision International, explains that in this “urban century” it is paramount for international civil society organisations to rise to the complex and interconnected challenges presented by cities in order to improve people’s lives. She suggests several different ways for ICSOs to do “things differently” in order to meet this challenge. Aline will be out or networking event at the World Urban Forum on 10 February, please join her and us if you are there.

Be part of our Innovation Report 2020 on ‘Civil Society Innovation and Urban Inclusion’

We are living in an urban century

Around us, people are continuously moving to cities, towns and other rapidly urbanising areas. Due to innovation in technology and infrastructure, the world is connected in a way as never before. Cities are providing opportunities for improved wellbeing, happiness and productivity. But not everyone is entitled or able to access these opportunities. Inequality is on the rise. The face of poverty has changed. Urban residents and communities are grappling with increased fragility. Violence, wars and conflicts are increasingly occurring in cities. For the first time in history, a stand-alone goal exists to make “cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable” – livable for all. While this commitment should be celebrated, fundamentally the international community continues to fail at producing cities that serve everyone equally.

Making sense of the city

Like other international civil society organisations (ICSOs), World Vision has been investing in alleviating poverty and responding to emerging disasters and crises, mostly in rural, stable communities. Over the past 10 years, as an organisation, we have been forced to direct our attention to understanding the new trends of poverty and humanitarian crises, not least because children are the first casualties. Urban contexts are complex and challenging: there are multiple layers of governance; inequity can be seen with informality and extreme poverty present at very close proximity to high-rise buildings and rich financial institutions; the number of key urban players and influencers is massive.

In such settings:

understanding context, needs and opportunities takes time and requires intentional engagement at the local level;
partnering is simply not optional, but absolutely essential for the effectiveness and survival of the organisation;
showing the impact of our interventions is not easy.

Over the past 10 years implementing urban programming, World Vision has learned that we need to be doing things differently. It takes a whole-organisation approach to comprehensively address the issues faced by the most vulnerable and marginalised groups in urban contexts. It is not only about innovation in programming, but also taking steps toward more structural, organisational change to increase agility, flexibility and responsiveness to a fast-changing environment.

We need to do things differently

The city provides opportunities to work differently. Population density means we can reach more people living in the same geographic area than with our rural interventions. Infrastructure and mobility allow for faster response. Functional markets present opportunities to boost the local economy. Cities often have financial resources that CSOs can tap into.

There is still, however, so much more to learn about working effectively in urban areas affected by poverty, violence, conflicts and fragility:

We need to invest more in integrated programming that empowers people. As CSOs, we are still used to developing sectoral interventions; but people do not see their wellbeing in such siloed terms.
We need to learn to navigate the complex layers of urban governance and work effectively with the formal and informal actors who influence the lives of the most vulnerable and marginalized groups. This means stepping out of our comfort zone to connect with actors we have never had relationships with before but who can deepen our impact in these contexts. We cannot let our organizational bureaucracy risk limiting our ability to maximise these critical partnership opportunities.
We need to look to the city as a system where challenges are interconnected and recognize that we simply cannot achieve our desired impact if we work alone. This means letting go of organisational egos and being transparent about the investment we are making and the change it is contributing to.
We need to revamp staff skillsets to ensure they are able to connect as meaningfully with the children in the public spaces we help rehabilitate as they can with the local mayor providing support from the local municipality, and the bank investing in the intervention. Versatility in local capacities is key.
Finally, we need to learn more about how to institutionalise our efforts, and how to support and capacitate municipalities and other local and citywide actors who will continue to be there after international organizations leave.

Join us!

I am very excited to be part of the upcoming World Urban Forum 10 Networking Event on “Civil Society Innovation and Urban Inclusion” where I will join peers from other CSOs to discuss how our organizations have been working differently to address the issues and needs of excluded groups in cities and other urban areas. Visit our website to find out more about World Vision’s work in cities.

Innovation Report 2020, Urban, World Urban Forum

Aline Rahbany

Director for Urban Programming

World Vision International

Aline Rahbany is the Director for Urban Programming at World Vision International, based out of Toronto, Canada. Aline currently holds a global portfolio at WVI, with previous roles with its offices in Lebanon and the Middle East and Eastern Europe regions. Aline has more than ten years’ experience in the international humanitarian and development field, working on research and learning, strategy development, program innovation and technical support in urban contexts, including fragile cities. Aline advocated on behalf of World Vision for the adoption of urban SDG11 and influenced the development of the New Urban Agenda to be inclusive of children and youth at Habitat 3. She is passionate about inclusive cities and advocating for groups who are “deliberately silenced or preferably unheard”.

Join us for urban innovation in 2020

23rd January 2020 by Vicky Tongue

Join us at the World Urban Forum in February

In 2020, we will ‘go urban’ with our Innovation Report. The Centre’s track record as a sector convenor and innovation accelerator places us perfectly to build a diverse group of innovators and thinkers. The aim is to gather and share your stories to benefit others in our 2020 Innovation Report. We kick off our 2020 Innovation Report discussions at a networking event at the World Urban Forum. If you are there, we welcome you to join us next month. Alternatively, get in touch to register your interest (bottom of page) in being part of the report.

About us as a sector convenor

As anyone who works in the civil society sector knows, finding time to collaborate with partners is difficult. Throw in the resources required to complete a shared project, then it does not matter how excellent your idea is, it is going to be a struggle to achieve your objectives. This is where the Centre’s expertise and experience as a sector convenor comes in.

We’re used to finding the right people and creating an environment for them to share insights and innovations. We play this role for a broad range of actors, from Board members and CEOs to innovation managers and global strategists. This year, we’re bringing our convening expertise to a new community of global urban leads. We want to help bring your innovations to benefit a wide civil society audience.

Innovation is the name of our game

Innovations can be game changers for civil society organisations. But what if they haven’t heard about the latest innovations of others, or don’t know how to apply them in the world?

Our aim is to highlight and explain how innovations can benefit the civil society sector and be used to tackle common challenges. In 2019, we looked at populism, and how civil society tools and tactics are evolving and innovating in response. We included a huge diversity of organisational missions, profiles and experiences from across our events and networks and around the world, highlighting universal practical tips and inspiring insights.

These diverse organisations and people may never have had the time or the resources to bring to a wide audience their stories of innovation. Yet the wealth of diverse experience generated a fantastic resource for the civil society sector.

In 2020, we’re turning our attention to the complex landscape of working in cities, where there are many common challenges…

In 2016, a report we produced, ‘Exploring the Future’,highlighted that for international CSOs, working on urban issues or at the city level was not as big a priority or area of expertise, as poverty alleviation experience in rural settings or national-level focused advocacy.

Arguably, not much has visibly changed since then in terms of focus or resourcing. However, urban settings and actors are central to the changing nature and locales of poverty and inequality. They also hold the key to solving the climate crisis. The speed and complexity of change in urban contexts is faster than ICSOs can currently keep up with. The interplay with other trends is also multi-directional and unpredictable, requiring greater agility and speed to shift operational modes.

Urban contexts pose additional complexities requiring ICSOs to innovate, including:

Multiple levels, powerful actors and competing agendas requiring simultaneous engagement and multi-stakeholder approaches, from community mobilisation to city-wide sector, market, policy and institutional capacity-building;
Several different roles may be necessary: community mobiliser, programme broker, strategic facilitator and convenor, service providers, and/or institutional capacity builder;
Proximity to resources and services does not necessarily mean access for urban poor residents to structures and spaces, due to informality and marginalisation of some groups;
Proactive city administrations may outpace national governments, more quickly adopting climate positive policies, or emerging technologies (including for social control).

Urban Innovation Report 2020 image — Urban Innovation Report 2020

Our 2020 Innovation Report will collate and contrast roles and approaches to co-produce new insights, provide a common learning agenda, and communicate effectively to wider audiences about the important urban impacts these organisations are achieving

Join the Centre and our partners at the World Urban Forum (WUF) on 10 February!

Where better than the world’s foremost meeting of leaders shaping the agenda of our urban future, to begin our journey to develop our 2020 Innovation Report, build our community of civil society collaborators and supporters for this project, and shape plans for our future sector convening.

If you’re coming to WUF10 in Abu Dhabi next month, get in touch and come to our networking event with Habitat for Humanity, World Vision and Slum Dwellers International. Or if you can’t, but still keen to join this journey, get in touch anyway!

JOIN US on 10 February 2020

Innovation Report, Innovation Report 2020, World Urban Forum

Vicky Tongue

Programme Manager

International Civil Society Centre

Vicky Tongue is the International Civil Society Centre’s Programme Manager, co-ordinating core initiatives on horizon scanning, innovation and peer convening for CEOs and Global Heads of Division. Vicky has 15 years’ senior programme management with several leading UK-based ISCOs, including Marie Stopes International, Article 19, CAFOD, ODI and Save the Children.

New – 2020 events and programme flyer, find out what’s on and what we are doing

18th December 2019 by Thomas Howie

nternational Civil Society Centre - Events

Welcome to our 2020 flyer. You can download or view the flyer below to find out about what we plan to do this year and how you can get involved.

Download 2020 Flyer (PDF)

Programme Flyer

Thomas Howie

Communications Manager

International Civil Society Centre

Your invitation to make a difference – Global Perspectives 2019

30th September 2019 by Wolfgang Jamann

Event Website

Millions of people have been on the streets in the past months, and civil society is showing its teeth towards climate crisis deniers and slow political actors.

Moreover, thousands were in the halls of the UN General assembly last week, pushing for climate and social justice and advocating for an acceleration of the 17 sustainable development goals (SDGs) that the international community agreed upon four years ago.

Key aims – the 2-degree global warming cap, and the eradication of poverty, hunger and injustice, seem currently too far away from being realised. So there is an obvious and urgent need to increase collaboration, achieve (and to demonstrate) better impact and intensify social work.

At the same time, liberal ideas and actors experience grave pushbacks – both through authoritarian regimes and anti-liberal forces in many societies. The amount of hatred and opposition, which young civil society activists like Greta Thunberg receive these days, is unbearable and yet is just the tip of what seems to be happening around the world: an erosion of global values of solidarity and humanity, and growing confrontations between adverse worldviews.

Being part of a demonstration against inertia around the climate crisis, or enjoying the company of well-meaning globalists at the SDG and climate summits in New York gives us hope and spirit. However, it should not distract us from the antagonised world around us, which needs stronger engagement by and with civil society actors.

At the end of October, about a hundred representatives of civil society will gather in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia to share and discuss strategies of citizens’ engagement, achieve better impact through collaborations, and fight against the pushback on liberal values.

For a civil society organisation, being legitimate means dealing with questions and doubts, addressing flaws, and renewing societal contracts between social and environmental justice actors and with many other parts of society, especially the people they are serving. Hence, the participants of the International Civil Society Centre’s Global Perspectives conference will be a diverse mix of global and national actors, activist and service deliverers, academia, advocates, and supporters. The perspectives are global, but the actions always contextual. Being in Ethiopia, a country that has made remarkable steps towards embracing civic rights and liberal policies will give participants an inspirational setting for a meeting that will make a difference.

We are looking forward to seeing you there.