News – Page 5 – The International Civil Society Centre

Civilizáció (Civilisation): Coalition-building to fight back against government attacks on civil society in Hungary

22nd April 2020 by Eva Gondor

The Civilisation, a cross-sector coalition of Hungarian CSOs, came together to defend against government attacks on civil society.

Read the summary and find the full case study at the bottom of the page.

About the coalition

What launched the coalition?	Democratic backsliding, smear campaigns, and legislative reform concerning funding and registration of CSOs.
Who are the members?	Approximately 30 national CSOs form the inner circle of the network; they range across different sectors.
How does it work?	A part-time coordinator supports the work; regular in-person meetings occur; there are protocols on decision-making; email lists and info-sharing.

Coalition action

Outcomes	Members are now more resilient and better prepared for future threats; solidarity has been strengthend via the first cross-sector network in Hungary; they have conducted engagement with rural CSOs to try and undo the ‘chill factor’ of the government’s attacks.
Challenges	The coalition was established in reaction to restrictions, and worked well in resistance; but how do you maintain collaboration in ‘standby’ mode?
Lessons learned	How to cooperate, acknowledge different attitudes, approaches, appetites and agendas, and work with the diversity in a cross-sector coalition, as opposed to against it.

Get the case study

Background to our Pilot Solidarity Playbook Case Studies

This case study is one of six that reviews best practices, challenges, and lessons learned for both ICSO internal mechanisms and coalition responses to scrutiny and attacks. They show positive outcomes and new practices that were initially triggered by an undue threat or attack.

Written by Sarah Pugh and Deborah Doane, these case studies first appeared in an in-house study called “Solidarity in Times of Scrutiny” presented at the International Civic Forum in Addis Ababa in October 2019.

Thanks go to our case study partners for making their learnings available to a larger readership.

The presented case studies reflect the status of when they were first written up in October 2019. Naturally, the political situation as well as the organisations’ and coalitions’ learnings have since evolved and are constantly evolving.

Eva Gondor

Senior Project Manager

International Civil Society Centre

Eva leads on the Centre's civic space work - the Solidarity Action Network (SANE) aimed at strengthening resilience of and solidarity among civil society actors, and the International Civic Forum (ICF), our annual civic space platform to network and identify opportunities for collaboration. Prior to joining the Centre she worked at the Robert Bosch Stiftung (Foundation) in Stuttgart where she managed the foundation’s projects focusing on civil society and governance in Turkey, the Western Balkans, and North Africa.

Spaces for Change: From informal networks and collaboration to the Action Group for Free Civic Space in Nigeria

22nd April 2020 by Eva Gondor

The Action Group on Free Civic Space in Nigeria works to co-create a unified sector position and voice to defend civic space against security-induced restrictions.

Read the summary and find the full case study at the bottom of the page.

About the coalition

What launched the coalition?	Successive proposed Bills focused on restricting internet freedoms, NGO operations, terrorism financing and anti-money laundering measures.
Who are the members?	A cross-sector and cross-regional movement of 61 national organisations and ICSO country offices.
How does it work?	This started as an informal, loose network, but has now crystallised into a formal group with a coordinating team, regular meetings and online communications.

Coalition action

Outcomes	The coalition built solidarity to ensure that government regulations (framed around national security, anti-money laundering (AML) and countering terrorism financing (CFT)) do not shrink civic space. Within a short time, the coalition grew in strength in numbers, shared expertise and research and built capacity amongst individual activists/bloggers, and created good working relationships with national and international AML/CFT regulators.
Challenges	Creating a sense of common ownership for a sector-wide response; balancing inclusion with other considerations e.g. expertise.
Lessons learned	It is vital to create a sense of ownership and buy-in, by driving coordination with a ‘back-end’ team.

Get the case study

Background to our Pilot Solidarity Playbook Case Studies

Thanks go to our case study partners for making their learnings available to a larger readership.

Eva Gondor

Senior Project Manager

International Civil Society Centre

Vuka! – Building an international coalition to coordinate and enable civil society’s response to closing space

22nd April 2020 by Eva Gondor

With its Country Coordination Calls, Vuka!, a coalition of international, regional and national CSOs, manages country-level responses to closing space.

Read the summary and find the full case study at the bottom of the page.

About the coalition

What launched the coalition?	The recognised problem: how should international civil society respond to the global issue of closing civic space?
Who are the members?	Approximately 160 organisations; a diverse range of international, regional and national CSOs.
How does it work?	A coalition secretariat and a steering committee; country-focus across 6 action teams. Each member has equal footing to determine the coalition’s priorities.

Coalition action

Outcomes	Advocacy and campaigns enjoy greater reach thanks to the diverse membership; national engagement with international and regional bodies is facilitated; organic, bi-lateral connections have been enabled; creative and innovative initiatives incubated and stewarded by the action teams.
Challenges	How do you maintain the momentum of country-level conversations? How do you coordinate a response in ‘opening contexts’?
Lessons learned	Trust is essential (and enabled by secure platforms); coordination enables identification of key gaps and opportunities; this needs to be backed by ready resources and mechanisms.

Get the case study

Background to our Pilot Solidarity Playbook Case Studies

Thanks go to our case study partners for making their learnings available to a larger readership.

Eva Gondor

Senior Project Manager

International Civil Society Centre

Islamic Relief Worldwide: Building a Reputational Risk Management Strategy in the face of Islamophobia-motivated attacks

22nd April 2020 by Eva Gondor

Facing Islamophobia-motivated attacks, Islamic Relief Worldwide, an independent humanitarian and development organisation, developed a strategy to manage reputational risks.

Read the summary and find the full case study at the bottom of the page.

Actions taken by the organisation

What was the trigger?	Designation as terrorist organisation in Israel and the UAE (2014).
What was the internal response?	Reputational Risk Management Strategy, backed by new infrastructure and resources.
What measures were taken at the national level?	Country offices received training and support to develop their own strategies.

Response carried out in practice

What was the trigger?	Amendment proposed by US congressman to cut US funding to IRW (2017).
What was the response?	Collective action taken by IRW, InterAction and the Together Project, including advocacy, political engagement and solidarity action.
What were the outcomes?	The amendment was dropped, and their funding was left in tact. Learning has been applied to other contexts.

Learnings collected by the organisation

Outcomes	Islamic Relief Worldwide is more prepared and resilient, and they have grown as an organisation since – and in spite of – the designations.
Challenges	Costs – legal and lobbyist fees are expensive; staff time is hard to commit to this additional effort on top of day-to-day work.
Lessons	Engage with influencers over opponents; make friends while the sun shines and identify your key stakeholders; invest in saying who you are are rather than saying who you are not; fail to prepare, prepare to fail.

Get the case study

Background to our Pilot Solidarity Playbook Case Studies

Written by Sarah Pugh and Deborah Doane, these case studies first appeared in an In-house study called “Solidarity in Times of Scrutiny” presented at the International Civic Forum in Addis Ababa in October 2019.

Thanks go to our case study partners for making their learnings available to a larger readership.

Eva Gondor

Senior Project Manager

International Civil Society Centre

Greenpeace International: Developing resilience to Strategic Lawsuits against Public Participation suits through joint action

22nd April 2020 by Eva Gondor

Greenpeace International developed a proactive and collaborative response to the threat and damage of SLAPPs (Strategic Lawsuits against Public Participation) in the US and beyond.

Read the summary and find the full case study at the bottom of the page.

Actions taken by the organisation

What was the trigger?	Significant Strategic Lawsuits against Public Participation (SLAPP) suit filed against Greenpeace International in the USA (2016).
What was the internal response?	Greenpeace International developed a SLAPP Resilience Strategy, recognising legal solutions were not enough.
What measures were taken at the national level?	The strategy, developed with Greenpeace USA, involved outreach and engagement work in US.

Response carried out in practice

What was the trigger?	A 2nd SLAPP suit was filed against Greenpeace International seeking almost $1 billion in damages (2017).
What was the response?	Thanks in part to Greenpeace International’s engagement work, there was a huge backlash from civil society, and the Protect the Protest coalition was formed.
What were the outcomes?	Both cases were dismissed (either in part or entirely); US civil society is now attuned to this tactic and responding collectively.

Learnings collected by the organisation

Outcomes	Greenpeace International is now better prepared for SLAPPs, and has developed expertise and learning that can be applied elsewhere.
Challenges	Engaging other CSOs, and managing differences within a coalition.
Lessons	When responding collectively to a specific restrictive tactic coordination is key for spotting opportunities and gaps; finding ways to enable easier participation e.g. by building efficient structures and processes, can help encourage joint action.

Get the case study

Background to our Pilot Solidarity Playbook Case Studies

Thanks go to our case study partners for making their learnings available to a larger readership.

Eva Gondor

Senior Project Manager

International Civil Society Centre

Working Group Comes Together Virtually to Push Forward Solidarity Playbook Initiative

2nd April 2020 by Thomas Howie

The Working Group of the Solidarity Playbook came together virtually this week to shape the framework of the initiative and prove the ground for its first activities. The group emphasised that acts of solidarity between civil society actors and towards beneficiaries have gained importance in the current COVID-19 crisis.

The Working Group consists of international and national civil society organisations around the world. They give strategic guidance to the building the initiative from their expertise on resilience and solidarity in times of crisis. In recent years, many civil society organisations in different countries have come under undue pressure. As a result, they have developed resilience mechanisms to protect themselves and their partners. Furthermore, there is a shared desire among them to learn from each other and actively support one another, acting in solidarity when an organisation from the community is under attack.

The idea of a Solidarity Playbook came from our Innovator’s Forum and interviews with international civil society organisation staff members. We further developed the idea at the International Civic Forum (ICF). During the two-day virtual meeting, the Working Group members showed a strong interest to move this initiative forward. In the next steps, the Solidarity Playbook will focus on collecting and sharing best practice and building a solidarity network.

Eva Gondorová, the Solidarity Playbook Project Manager, said:

“I am happy to bring this group together virtually to discuss how we can support each other and show solidarity in difficult times. We can see the importance of solidarity at this time, as some governments attempt to overextend their powers and potentially undermine legitimate civil society voices and activities. All in the Working Group hold a strong interest and high commitment to carry on the Solidarity Playbook Initiative. The desire for concrete outcomes is what motivates us to continue our work.”

Solidarity Playbook

Thomas Howie

Communications Manager

International Civil Society Centre

Centre events and the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) (last update: 2 April 2020)

12th March 2020 by Thomas Howie

The International Civil Society Centre is carefully watching the situation linked to the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

As event organisers, we have a duty of care for all participants attending our events and to take measures to ensure a safe environment. We wish to reduce the risk of spreading the disease.

Therefore, we have decided that all planned meetings will take place virtually for the forseeable. This impacts two forthcoming events:

We are working hard to adjust our planning. Project managers will communicate with participants on how this will work.

Events after mid-April: we will continue to monitor the situation and inform participants at the latest one month ahead of each meeting about any necessary changes.

If you have any questions concerning our events, please don’t hesitate to contact Ryan Stanton (rstanton@icscentre.org).

Useful links:

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.

Leading Together on transforming CSO culture

15th January 2020 by Åsa Månsson

About Leading Together

Under the new name of Leading Together, in June we will convene Global Heads of Division of international civil society organisations (ICSOs) for high-level strategic discussions on global trends, best practice and joint challenges. This meeting presents a unique chance for senior leaders to network with and learn from peers. It is a space for leaders to explore opportunities for collaboration and discuss how to push for change in the sector together.

Previous Participant:

“The fact that I managed to meet and connect with my peers was amazing. The collaborative spirit and safe conversations were highly appreciated.”

This year, Leading Together will have a specific focus on Organisational Culture. Organisational Culture is a critical element of an organisations potential success or failure. Most ICSOs are investing considerable amounts of time and resources in strategy development and implementation. In some cases, however, organisations pay only a little attention their culture, which – since ‘culture eats strategy for breakfast’ – means there is a high risk of undermining their strategy. Yet, there are also plenty of examples of good organisational culture playing a key role in strengthening strategies, making them more relevant and legitimate. There is a need for ICSOs to develop a deeper understanding of how culture functions and develop a broader toolset on how to shape culture.

About Leading Together

Event format and focus: Leading Together 2020 offers two separate but interlinked conference elements:

Joint sessions: Space to explore, discuss and shape burning issues related to the future of the civil society sector – with all participants.
Parallel meetings: Space for peer exchange and exploration of collaboration – in parallel groups of Directors.

Joint sessions theme: Organisational Culture

Understanding organisational culture
Learnings from changing CSO culture

Parallel Meetings: Peer exchange and exploration of collaboration

In the second part of the conference, the following four groups will meet in parallel:

Policy & Advocacy Directors: The Centre has convened this group annually since 2016.
Programme Directors: The Centre convened this group for the first time in 2018.
Human Resources Directors: The Centre convened this group for the first time in 2019.
Heads of Urban: The Centre has convened a thematic group of ICSO innovators annually since 2017, this year’s focus on urbanisation in the Innovation Report adds this group to the Leading Together format for the first time.

Leading Together

Åsa Månsson

Special Projects

Wikimedia Foundation

In May 2020 Åsa left the Centre and joined Wikimedia Germany in a role working on organisational development’. Between 2010 and 2013, Åsa acted as manager of the INGO Accountability Charter (Accountable Now). In September 2013, Åsa took up the role as Director of Development, innovating the Centre’s fundraising and communication efforts. Since October 2016, Åsa has been Director of the Global Standard and has additionally taken on the role as the Centre’s Programme Director in mid-2017. Originally from Sweden, Åsa earlier worked for a consultancy, evaluating social projects within the public and civil society sector. Åsa studied European Studies and Sociology at universities in Gothenburg and Berlin. She completed her education with a Master’s thesis on the role of civil society in European governance.

Join us to help make voices heard and count in SDG implementation

15th January 2020 by Peter Koblowsky

In 2020, The Leave No One Behind global partnership enters a new 3-year phase after successful completing the pilot stage between 2017 and 2019. The focus remains on Making Voices Heard and Count through empowerment of marginalised groups, assessment of their local situation through community-driven data and advocating for sustainable improvement of their livelihoods.

In this new stage, the global partnership is expanding its scope with countries from both the Global South and North. This means a continuation of our scaling up in Bangladesh, India, Kenya, Vietnam and Nepal. Additionally, we are exploring new national partnerships in Denmark, Canada, Malawi and the Philippines. The partnership plans to highlight the importance of implementing the SDGs in different socio-political contexts, demonstrating, that there is considerable room for improvement in countries in the Global North as well, thus recognising the universality of the Agenda 2030.

The International Civil Society Centre remains in the role of a host organisation. The increase in scale of Making Voices Heard and Count means that the Centre is additionally looking for new strategic partners to come on board and contribute to the bigger impact through their expertise. Currently we have 12 global international civil society organisations and national level coalitions, consisting each of numerous CSOs, throughout all action countries.

Join the Partnership

The Centre is expanding both the partnership itself and advisory groups on different topics, such as:

Data generation and analyse,
Working with margilised communities,
Implementation of the SDGs.

If your organisation has expertise in one or more of these fields, or if you want to build a deeper understanding of the project, feel free to contact Peter Koblowsky for further information and framework questions.

Let’s join forces for the practical achievement of the SDGs in a growing number of countries worldwide!

Making Voices Heard and Count

Peter Koblowsky

Senior Partnership Manager - Leave No One Behind

International Civil Society Centre

Peter joined the Centre in January 2013, back then as a trainee. He completed the traineeship in the advocacy & campaigning office of World Vision Germany. Peter now coordinates the Leave No One Behind project and contributes to the development and implementation of various other strategic formats. Before joining the Centre, Peter worked for various organisations and think tanks in the development sector, being an expert in multi-stakeholder processes. He studied at the University of Bonn and graduated with an MA in Political Science with a focus on multi-actor advocacy for climate policy.