CIVICUS World Assembly
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If you have a long journey back from meetings such as the CIVICUS General Assembly, there is really no need to play any movie on your small screen on the plane. Instead, you can enjoy the rewind of the event in your head. Hundreds of faces. Charming views of Old Montreal. Myriads of thoughts – yours and of those who inspired you there.
I admire activists. They inspire me. I like seeing how moved they are talking about their work. How seldom they complain about dire circumstances. Some of them deal with everyday crises, providing for those in need who are forgotten by everyone else. Others try for systemic change, so that the need for help decreases and the world gets a bit better. There are also those who measure, map, compare and analyze so that the rest can look into best practice, learn, and demonstrate impact whenever needed. All of those can be found at any CIVICUS GA.
I could go on about how important and valuable it is to participate in workshops and what a great opportunity it is to listen to the representatives of World Bank or Google Inc., but the CIVICUS bloggers (including me) have already given you a lot of insight into that. Instead, I want to make a point that the unique value lies in the fact that people who are involved in all those kinds of activism meet each other and talk about how their tasks are different and where synergies are. I believe you can only become a better activist if others help you look from the outside at what you do.
There is a great value in talking about opportunities and challenges. Shrinking democratic space, new ways of engagement, double edge of technology and all the faces of justice: from judiciary through economic to climate – require responses and strategies more coordinated than ever. If we can be divided, then we can be easily ruled. There is a great value in differences in opinions and we should never let go of this, but we need to be able to negotiate common ground based on shared principles. Chances are someone asks what the world ought to be like and we wouldn’t want to be caught guessing.
Because there are so many problems to deal with and so many things to do, we, activists do live in a jetlag. Some of us work ahead of our time zone, looking into the future, foreseeing impact of current events and designing strategies. Some of us work a couple of hours behind our time zone, dealing with results of human irresponsibility, greed and appetite for power, having always something to fix and to make better. We all need to find time and space to breathe, to catch a perspective and to use some peer support. There will be many occasions in the following twelve months. In September 2012 we all can hopefully meet for this in Montreal, -4 GMT.
See you all there.
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Category : Civil Society and Democratic Space, Programme Work Sessions
Tags: #CivWA, activists
My Mexican friend Consuelo told me today that what she remembers the most from her first World Assembly in 1995 is a statement that civil society organizations are like mushrooms: some are nutritious, some poisonous and some – hallucinogenic. A position that our civil microcosm is not like that anymore would be quite a hard one to defend.
Therefore I was very curious about the workshop “Civil Society at the Crossroads” that was delivered today by a group of people running an initiative on the future of civil society around the world. Which sorts of mushrooms will sustain evolutions and revolutions? What new species emerge? Rajesh Tandon of PRIA, India, stated that CSOs as we know them are only a part of the context. There are also active citizens engaging in issues of concern in a collective manner that can last together for few weeks but also for few hours. What is then the role of those movements? What sort of political space they occupy?
Brian Pratt of INTRAC, UK, argued that civil society and its organizations need to remind themselves what they are all about, revalue the space their occupy. He noted, that UK exports a model to the world where organizations are first and foremost subcontractors of public service. Finally, the civil society is at the crossroads because society is there as well.
a snapshot from yesterday's dance is both a chance for you to see how good it was and to reflect on the structured vs. amorphous nature of civil society :)
Activists who put a lot of time and effort into building sustainable structures take a distanced approach to movements and amorphous collaborations, treating them as unsustainable. On the other hand, we cannot totally ignore them, because it seems that the random and issue-focused way of engagement will be a growing trend. It is especially important for umbrella bodies and support organizations who promote participation and model frameworks for it. If they become oblivious to the civil society that grows away from traditional structures, they may be soon laying down rail tracks in the areas less and less people want to take trains to.
On the other hand, not all citizens moved by what bugs them will remain active after the itching stops. Those with their activism gene activated may want to involve in action-based movements on issues of concern after hours of their regular engagement, and that is also fine. Finally, no organization nor movement grow in vacuum – there are stakeholders and constituencies that would like to know the phone number and person responsible for speaking on behalf of the initiative – be it governments, grant makers to beneficiaries. “Traditional” organizations have a predictable model of democratic governance that makes them simple to talk to and their flaws in democratic procedures easier to spot. Those issues are still ahead of movements and ad hoc initiatives that wish to be treated seriously in the long run.
I think big thanks go to both the facilitators and the audience that posed very good questions to inspire the rest and avoided easy answers. Any answer conceived in an hour-and-a-half workshop would be strikingly false on the issue that still belongs to the future.
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Category : Civil Society and Democratic Space, Programme Work Sessions
Tags: #CivWA, civil society, CSOs, democratic space, movements
Everyone I talk to is impressed with today’s opening plenary “Global Decision Making: Moving Margins to the Centre”. Indeed, the contributions were fantastic and to the point and left all of us inspired.
Members of the Board past and present speak early during Day 1 of the 10th Annual CIVICUS Assembly in Montreal, Quebec, Canada on September 10th, 2011
Matt Dune, Head of Community Affairs at Google Inc. mentioned that nowadays for 8 dollars you can have the computing power that only governments or universities used to have. Peanuts! It makes me realize the obvious: there is no democratization of power if there is no democratization of resources, including the Internet and devices to connect us to the information flow.
Good news have come also from the World Bank. Aleem Walji, Practice Manager of World Bank Institute’s Innovation team showcased the attempt to free all the data the WB collect and disposes. Freeing means giving it for free to everyone interested, enable successful searches through engines but also open licensing that allows people to build on it. Services such as Safe the Rain use WB’s rainfall and other relevant statistics to determine online what sort of crop can be grown in your area. Check this out, it really works! It wouldn’t be possible without the data but the World Bank would not have it utilized to such an effect were it not for the people.
We live in times of power to take informed decisions and giving evidence moving closer and closer to citizens. To make full use of that we need to watch out for those, who see it and will do a lot to prevent it. CSOs, that are used to interacting with governments need to take into the account that there is another powerful broker at the table. Because private sector delivers more and more solutions of access to information and exchange of it, we need to make sure they are on our radars as much as any political actor.
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Category : Civil Society and Democratic Space, Programme Work Sessions
Tags: #CivWA, democratization, google, participation, power, world bank
Coming to Montreal for the second time feels like time travel. Familiar faces and spaces, just as if we parted a week ago. On the other hand so many things have happened since, it hardly the same setting!
The question of the changing setting and how principles for engagement should follow was one of the dilemmas of the buzz session called “Principles for Civil Society Engagement with Multilateral Bodies – An Open Dialogue”. Rajesh Tandon from the Society for Participatory Research in Asia spoke about how challenging the multilateral setting can be and how the lack of principles can contaminate those who try to engage in the eyes of their constituencies. The example of trying to drive World Bank’s International Development Association back to right track showcased several important lessons. It is worthwhile to campaign those who finance those whom we are trying to influence. Mature engagement takes into account possible disengagement. We constantly need to remind ourselves our vision and mission.
Rajesh Tandon, President, PRIA
Seth Lartey of the Commonwealth Foundation spoke about a review the foundation undertook and run several consultations of the need for principles and their scope. Meetings highlighted issues such as diminishing space for CSO, continuous reduction of resources and democratic regression: infringement of freedom of association and expression.
The consultations brought a question how to ensure flexibility so that the guidelines are applicable to many different contexts? Can they be future proof? What sort of partnership are we looking for? What skills are required?
Group discussions evolved around these questions as well. England as well as other UK countries have developed agreements that are called compacts and outline the partnership between the public domain and the civil sector. The Council of Europe developed the Code of Good Practice of Civil Participation in Decision-Making Processes, a tool which brilliance lies in its simplicity. In Canada there is the Partnering Initiative that works with individuals, organizations, and systems to promote and develop partnerships for sustainable development - between business, government and civil society.
Since there are many models, the questions are then, if to combine them for better utility, and how to make them operational? What do you think?
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Category : Civil Society and Democratic Space, Programme Work Sessions
Tags: #CivWA, multilateral bodies, participation, partnership, principles
One thing definitely engaging a blogger into blogging is presenting your most experimental theories to people you would otherwise never meet! So, since I am now traveling to the CIVICUS GA (currently passing over south of Greenland at almost 12 thousand meters altitude) let me tell you this: I believe airports are the most condensed microcosm of our civilization.
Charles de Gaule airport in Paris, France
First, because any airport is one giant plastic capsule that seems to be pretty much self-sustainable. Everything you might need or forget to take with you is there and majority of the stuff is disposable. Second, because your way is marked down for you so that it is almost impossible to get lost. There are very clear boundaries of where you should be, where you could go and where you are not supposed to venture in.
Third, any airport experience is a ritual. If you went through one, any other will be predictable in its orientation and organization. Actions have the same sequence and many of those necessary ones are totally blurry in their meaning (why can’t I take in a sealed bottle of branded drinking water? Gooey green liquid that looks like kryptonite for Superman extermination goes through security check, as long as it is 100ml in a zipped bag!).
Detached, therefore relaxing. Marked up, therefore comfortably choice-free. Predictable, therefore soothing. Huge hub of a great utility that millions pass through but no one really inhabits.
Let me fall further down the rabbit hole and argue that even a well organized democracy that is not inhabited by citizens is like an airport. People move around swiftly but once they are handed a boarding pass at the beginning, there is no choice left as to where to go and what time to depart at. With all the mechanisms being Swiss work, if they are made for people and not with them, the soul of democracy is lost.
The CIVICUS GA, with its theme focus on the role of civil society in global decision-making, is very important to present mechanisms, best practice and innovation in improving the governance of our ‘airports’. But it is even more important in making us all realize that we, acting as citizens as well as those who activate citizenship potential in others, need to make an informed choice if we are the passengers or the inhabitants of our local and regional contexts. Are we only demanding or do we also step in? Do we request faster service, better organization and more connections or do we actually learn to fly?
A society of passengers is bound to translate into democracy without citizens: with a lot of comfort and security but less and less freedom.
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Category : Civil Society and Democratic Space
Tags: #CivWA, democracy, participation
Life is no Hollywood movie and activists know all about it. Love and care do not always make everything all better. Help does not always come on time, if it comes at all. Truth does not always prevail and heroes of today are often not the best people when tomorrow comes. In a democratic narrative our worries are relatively small but turn on TV and you’ll realize that if this world doesn’t run on hope, it doesn’t run at all.
Just recently I saw that an exhibition has been opened featuring the original 21 postulates of the Solidarity movement. It reminds me of conversation about my childhood with my mother and her saying that back in the days of the regime they hadn’t thought the fall of communism is at all possible. From the inside, on an everyday basis it seemed that the oppression would last forever. Clearly, the postulates were a work of several dreamers fueled with ‘what if’ thinking. Had it not been for them, we wouldn’t be where we are now – free to complain there is not enough democracy and participation and empowered to demand it.
But how do you find hope in Haiti struggling with the post-earthquake problems? How do you keep it in Congo or the Horn of Africa? Where to look for it when your house is torn down, your family members are threatened, your old job and any prospect for the future ones gone?
I am interested in it, because activists are prone to burnout and withdrawal because of all the difficulties they experience and see. Yet, everywhere you turn there are people not only hoping things can get better (or, at least believing that they should get better) and acting on it. I believe hope is the key factor here. When constructing any sort of support to those who do the difficult job on the ground, some kind of hope-assistance should be in place too.
Apart from any input from the lectures and workshops, my main private task for the CIVICUS World Assembly is to find out how you keep your hope going. I am happy to see there is a slot in the program on assisted networking because this a good occasion to see who else is there and what is their work all about.
So if you have any thoughts on this or want to share your experience with losing hope and finding it back again in any corner of the world feel free to tap my shoulder at the GA. I will be very happy to get inspired with whatever you have on your mind.
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Category : Civil Society and Democratic Space, Programme Work Sessions
Tags: #CivWA, activism, freedom, hope
I must tell you that I think Europe is great. Not that I doubt other places are great too, or that I would challenge anyone saying there are better continents. It is probably a matter of being born here and living in the vernacular since. It is not a big continent, but quite diversified. There is also this arrangement called European Union and, leaving political implications aside, it lets me - the European citizen - travel almost all over the continent without a passport.
I used to think Europe was great also because of other things. Until late eighties, when the Iron Curtain was tumbling down, we, the citizens of its Eastern end, were very hopeful to catch up with the Western part. Of course we wanted stability and prosperity, but first and foremost we wanted freedom. Newspapers and TVs that tell the truth. The right to protest and vote according to our conscience and not be punished for it. We worked hard to get there and I must say we caught up really quick. I bet back then we all thought Europe was the coolest place to be.
Recently things got a bit complicated, just as elsewhere in the world. It turns out that the crisis, the banking and the secret part of governance (or lack of thereof, as some say) broke the continent apart. So now, we have those who feel cheated – because they put a lot into the EU and now hear they need to pay even more – and those who feel frustrated – because their countries are going bankrupt, their governments are idle and their prosperity melts down to nothing.
Would this make me think Europe is not a great place anymore? No, because these things happen every now and then throughout history and the only regret is that we do not get any smarter. What makes me sad is that when it gets tough, our solidarity is shaking. The media of the Northern Europe refer to countries in trouble as PIGS (standing for Portugal, Italy, Greece, Spain). That makes me sad and ashamed.
Greek riot police clash with protesters during May Day protests on May 1, 2010 in Athens, Greece.
Tough times are always a good excuse to sell solutions tougher than needed, because people want decisions and action and forget to ask important questions. The question is then what will the civil society do? Will we follow political frustrations of our leaders and turn away from fellow Europeans in need? Or will we step up and look for means to make sure civil society and civil liberties are not infringed by measures softening the impact of the crisis? Are we ready to block extremisms rising on the wave of frustration and feeding on the search for someone to blame?
I am very much looking forward to the regional meeting at the CIVICUS GA. I hope we can see how much solidarity is there to navigate through the tough times. Because Europe is only as great as we can make it be.
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Category : Civil Society and Democratic Space, Economic Justice
Tags: #CivWA, crisis, democracy, Europe, freedom
On Saturday in Warsaw we had a celebration of our new national stadium almost being ready (yes, I know it sounds a bit strange for a celebration, but that is the fact). On the occasion the venue, situated by the river, was a background to a beautiful light show culminating with the most spectacular fireworks I have ever seen. This remark has little to do with the topic, but everything to do with the pictures. Besides, I don’t know of an activist that does not enjoy fireworks!
This week I was busy editing a report for an organization called the Panoptykon Foundation . They deal with privacy infringements, surveillance and its impact on the society. When you edit, you are supposed to read with understanding, and the reading was a true eye-opener.
I think my fellow Polish activists, along with myself, are pretty sure that in the conditions that we enjoy, our freedom of speech is pretty much intact. Sure, the probability of someone taking power and closing down free media along with locking up several activists, are zero to none. But it seems that attempts of chipping off bits and pieces of freedom only got a bit sophisticated in conditions we are able to enjoy.
Just look at new technologies, internet web 2.0 and mobile telephones. Did you realize that the body of data stored by mobile service providers not only does enable tracking down our moves but also profiling our future behavior? In Poland, as well as in other European countries, some of the data is stored exclusively in case the Police, courts, prosecutor or secret service wants to delve into it. In my country they don’t even need a court order to browse though. The obligation is to store data of all the citizens using services, regardless if they have a record of breaking the law or not.
Legal systems are occupied with many problems that rise together with the development of technologies. Dissemination of pictures and multimedia depicting sexual abuse of children has become a lot easier with massive access to the internet and there is no doubt both regulators and law reinforcement should do everything in their power to take down websites and portals that host such a horrible content. Instead, there is a notion to block them. But, where there is a block, there is someone capable of finding a back door to the content. The scary part is, that once you develop an infrastructure capable of blocking content of your choice, you can apply it to any other field. So not only can we lose that important battle but also create a monster that will serve all those who have an appetite for infringing freedom of speech in any area – from politics to open source technologies.
In my country we say, that the darkest spot is under the lantern. I think that the citizens of the Western World who treat technology and the internet as another consumer good should pay close attention to workshops such as Doing advocacy better with new media . No doubt that without technology we cannot make it as effectively as we do. But this is exactly why in our bright, lucid world of free speech and independent thought there are forces waiting to complicate it little by little.
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Category : Civil Society and Democratic Space, Connecting People Through Technology
Tags: #CivWA, freedom of speech, new media, Poland, surveillance
Well established civil societies are like ancient cities. Well grounded – twenty layers of foundations, and you reach only the beginning of our common era. Those that manage to survive despite terror and horror are like picnic blankets during windstorm – you have to hold it tight and, likely, you will need to set up the whole party again when the wind stops.
I guess we tend to think that the wealthier and the better established democracy – at least here in Europe we tend to see these as two sides of the same coin – the better civil society works. I always wonder, if this is also true if it comes to responding to change. I guess, it is easier to survive a sandstorm behind thick walls, but if they tumble down, would you know how to rebuild them?
Sure, it is better to have a possibility to interact with a government that respects human rights and civil liberties and I will not make an argument to contradict that. I just want to point out that having so many favorable conditions in Europe or Northern America makes us a little bit lazy.
Advocacy and campaigning cost. In the Western World, because this is serious thing and we want to have it done well, but also because we have money for it. Someone writes speeches and articles, someone organizes events, creates awareness raising campaigns, spends months talking to the government and MPs… In the Global North, more often than not we pay for it with some good currency. Sometimes we are given time and services because our case is noble, but mostly we spend. Of course, there is nothing wrong with it. This is just our price tag for getting things done.
I remember when I started and we were somewhere midway between oblivion to what civil society wants despite those rare occasions when we were called voters, and where we are now – a young but successful partner in the public debate. Then we had to think a lot, because nobody thought there can actually be any money for telling the government they shouldn’t feel so good about themselves. We had to conceive brilliant ideas on how to get press releases done, whom to ask for volunteer support and where to print our manifestos the cheapest possible. Would we be able to pull it up now, that we have gone a long way into somehow institutionalized dialog? I like to think we could, but I am not sure anymore.
Therefore, meetings like CIVICUS WA are helpful to all those involved, wherever they come from. By becoming more aware of a situation elsewhere, where the price tag means replacing the picnic blanket over and over again, and by raising awareness back home, we can apply external pressure on those countries globally. But also we can see how brave these people are and how effective they are in impossible conditions. This is why workshops such as Adjudicating Threats to Civil Society in Fragile States through Gratis Legal Service Using Regional Standards and Jurisprudence in Africa or The success of a new joint Israeli/Palestinian grassroots activism model are a must for every one of us that considers him- or herself a skilled advocate.
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Category : Civil Society and Democratic Space
Tags: #CivWA, advocacy, freedom, participation
I was told that when speaking to a group of people, it is always good to back arguments with an inspirational quote. I often like to use a quote attributed to Albert Einstein:
“We cannot solve problems with the same thinking that created them.”
Try it. You will see that it fits most of the cases you are trying to make and supports innovative methods you propose. After all, who would argue with Einstein?
Coming to CIVICUS World Assembly, I can always find a program slot that makes me think there still are methods that can change our thinking and really help us see long-discussed issues in a new light. This time, it is the work session called Religion and Faith-Based Organizations in global decision making and social transformation.
I too notice that ‘because of the preoccupation with religion in violent conflicts as seen through the prism of the secular-religious divide, the involvement of religious groups in international institutions for peace often goes unnoticed.’ Poland is a country where Catholic Church had played a pivotal role in mobilizing people towards peace-driven transition back in the eighties. I believe clergy and lay-leaders in communities elsewhere also support non-violent methods and I would be very curious to learn more about it. The media, maybe unwillingly, feed us with the message that institutionalized faiths are capable of inciting xenophobia, fear and hate. If they possess such powers, they can also instill and reinforce a need for peace, forgiveness and reconciliation.
The session will concentrate on how these faith-based organizations can most effectively contribute to UN proceedings. Hopefully the speakers will also take a look at what is going on now in the Middle East and perhaps in other settings.
The title reminded me of Rabbis For Human Rights based in Israel and in the US. Founded in 1988, this organization has been occupied with the cause of the poor in Israel, supported the rights of Israel’s minorities and Palestinians, worked to stop the abuse of foreign workers, endeavored to guarantee the upkeep of Israel’s public health care system, promoted the equal status of women, helped Ethiopian Jews, battled trafficking in women, and more. The organization called upon the Israeli government to enable the flotilla to arrive in Gaza, inform public about the situation of people that had their houses demolished and call upon more peace and more social justice.
I believe that any clergyman (and woman), nevermind if they are called a Rabbi, a Priest or an Imam has human rights at the forefront of their job description. Clearly, we all had done something wrong with the world if there is a need to institutionalize the human-rights aspect of their job. All the more we should make sure secular and non-secular actors have a chance to join forces when it comes to searching for peace.
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Category : Civil Society and Democratic Space
Tags: #CivWA, FBOs, peace, Rabbis for Human Rights, social justice
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