Discover and learn from the Solidarity Playbook on cybersecurity
Strengthening cybersecurity
With increased digitalisation (international) civil society organisations – (I)CSOs – have faced an increase in digital threats and cyberattacks carried out by malicious actors interested in financial gains...
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Welcome to the International Civil Society Centre’s new website!
As we head into the Centre’s next decade we offer a virtual entry point into our work, which is modern and easy to use. We hope that you like it and find what you are looking for (and more than that)! Help us with your feedback or questions, and do get in touch!
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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.
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.
Leave No One Behind Annual Meeting – ICSOs connecting to go beyond organisational limits
Over 30 representatives from International Civil Society Organisations gathered in Dhaka, Bangladesh for the Leave No One Behind Annual Meeting between 2 – 3 May. The group focussed on the progress made in the project’s pilot countries* and developing a joint political message, for the high-level political forum, from the initial key findings.
The next phase of the project pilot will involve rolling out the projects unique data collaboration between country offices of ICSOs. The aim is to ensure the recognition and validation of community-based data in the official SDG implementation of the five pilot countries. This will achieve the project’s main target: to make sure that people’s voices are heard, understood and acted upon.
Wolfgang Jamann, International Civil Society Centre Executive Director, said:
“The SDGs were created in the spirit of “leaving no one behind”. This means that they will only be considered fulfilled if all goals are reached, for everyone – especially those who live at the margins of society.
“This project is about raising the voices of those marginalised people around the world. By bringing together the wealth of evidence that is being collected by international civil society organisations we can put their voices at the centre of SDG implementation.
“Collectively, as a coalition, we have made some huge strides since this project started last year. The project shows that when leading ICSOs connect, they can go beyond organisational limits. By collaborating, we stand a better chance of reaching the SDG targets in more places. That can only be a positive thing.”
Peter Koblowsky, Leave No One Behind Project Manager, said:
“I am really pleased with the progress we have made in the two days. Our next steps will focus on consolidating country-level experiences and findings. This will help us to refine our planned activities and develop a scaling-up strategy for the project to be carried out in an increased number of countries, thereby reaching more marginalised communities around the globe. In addition, the outcomes from Dhaka will be used to prepare a joint message to be delivered at the High Level Political Forum. I hope that our common effort will be a success, so that the voices of the most marginalised around the world will be heard and make a difference in the implementation of the SDGs.”
*Bangladesh, Nepal, Vietnam, Kenya and India
International Civil Society Organisations (ICSOs): “We must and will do better”
This paper is based on a statement by the BOND network of British development organisations and a discussion among international civil society organisations (ICSOs). The International Civil Society Centre Centre recommends that ICSOs use the statement as a basis for further developing and enforcing their ethical standards. We recommend that all ICSOs sign up to and implement the action points listed.
As organisations whose core aim is to help the most vulnerable people in the world, to secure human rights and protect the environment we must always confront and eradicate abusive behaviour and the misuse of power. When it comes from individuals within our own staff it is a
double betrayal, not just of the people we exist to serve, but of the people (staff, volunteers, supporters, donors) who work with extraordinary engagement to achieve our mission. There can be no tolerance for the abuse of power, privilege or trust by individuals within our organisations or in our work. Our utmost priority is to those victims and survivors of abuse – to atone for damage that has been done and to stand in solidarity with those women who have faced such injustice. We have an absolute duty to our staff, our supporters and, above all, the people we seek to help to ensure we do everything in our power to prevent, detect and eradicate unethical behaviour.
We take every necessary step to prevent any wrongs occurring and to respond quickly and decisively if they do – and we will deepen these efforts further. We also have a clear responsibility to ensure that the people we seek to serve are not the ones punished for our mistakes. The
widespread public outcry at this behaviour demonstrates that people feel profound compassion for those who need civil society organisations’ help. We must honour that drive, and the rights and needs of the communities with which we work, by continuing to provide vital support but also by constantly seeking to improve.
We are fully committed to being transparent and accountable towards the people we serve, our partners, supporters and the public at large. That is why we are collectively announcing the following series of urgent and immediate measures:
- We commit ourselves to adhering to existing ethical standard frameworks and to
intensify our work with the independent organisations that ensure our compliance. We
have mandated a review under the lead of Accountable Now of the ethical standards
employed across the sector - We will all increase the resources we devote to preventing and safeguarding against
abuse and misconduct – meeting our responsibility to protect the people we serve, our
staff, and our partners - We will collectively review our current human resources referencing systems so that
people found to have abused their power or behaved inappropriately are not re-employed in the sector – including in ICSOs, government agencies, the UN and other associated multilateral, bilateral and domestic agencies - We will work with these authorities and regulatory bodies to ensure any individual caught abusing their power are sanctioned and cannot do so again.
In taking these steps, we are also asking people to come forward to report unacceptable behaviour. We hope these measures send a clear message to those who experience or witness any form of abuse or have done so in the past – it is essential that they know we take their reports
seriously and that we will take action.
These actions are only the first step as, collectively and individually, we do everything possible to ensure that our organisations, our staff and our work meet the most fundamental principle for all civil society organisations – to do no harm. We are truly sorry that there have been occasions when this has not been the case. We must and will do better.
