[bestbits] FW: CIVICUS statement on release of State of Civil Society Report 2015 (with key insights on resourcing for civil society)
Becky Lentz
roberta.lentz at mcgill.ca
Wed Jul 8 09:02:12 EDT 2015
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> State of Civil Society Report 2015
> View this in your browser
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> From Ebola to the bombing of Gaza, civil society was the first responder to
> humanitarian emergencies during the last year, but faces dire threats and a
> funding crisis around the world, says a new report.
>
> ³During the last year civil society was everywhere, doing great work often at
> the frontline of the world¹s challenges, but at the same time having to stave
> off threats to its very existence,² said Dr Dhananjayan Sriskandarajah, the
> CIVICUS Secretary-General on launching the organisation¹s 2015 State of Civil
> Society Report.
>
> CIVICUS, a global alliance of civil society organisations, says that in
> addition to the work it does on pressing global challenges, such as poverty,
> inequality and climate change, civil society also finds itself at the
> frontlines of response when it comes to humanitarian emergencies, including
> those caused by conflicts and disasters.
>
> In addition to the Ebola crisis and natural disasters in Nepal and Vanuatu,
> civil society has, in the last year, also been called on to respond to a range
> of conflicts, including in Syria, Yemen, Ukraine, Gaza, Central African
> Republic and South Sudan.
>
> ³Despite the incredible work that civil society does, it remains under attack.
> In 2014 alone, we documented serious violations of `civic space¹ the
> freedoms of expression, association and assembly in a staggering 96
> countries around the world. Taking the size of these countries into account,
> it means that 6 out of 7 humans lived in countries where their civic freedoms
> were under threat.²
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> ³To make matters worse, organisations that need funds the most, largely based
> in the Global South, receive only a fraction of the billions of dollars of
> funding that goes to the sector. It¹s an untenable situation. Many funders
> know that civil society is doing essential work but we need more bravery from
> them to ensure the survival of those on the frontline,² stated Sriskandarajah.
>
> Interestingly, there is a link between civic space and resourcing trends. ³It
> is not surprising that domestic civil society does not have the capacity to
> defend itself against attacks on civic space if donors have systematically
> underinvested in local organisations,² Sriskandarajah said.
>
> The report provides a comprehensive `year in review¹ of civil society and the
> conditions it works in around the world, drawing on a range of inputs from
> experts and activists on the ground. In addition to reviewing the civil
> society landscape as a whole, this year¹s theme focuses on the resourcing of
> what is called `change-seeking¹ Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) i.e. those
> that seek policy change, hold elites accountable and seek to uphold human
> rights.
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> The report calls on governments to honour their commitments to protecting
> citizens¹ fundamental rights, for donors to be braver and for civil society to
> stand together and show solidarity in the face of the threats it increasingly
> faces.
>
> A few highlights from the Year in Review:
> * 2014/2015 demonstrated that civil society is the first responder to
> humanitarian emergencies, including those caused by conflicts and disasters.
> * We continue to see a rejection of conventional politics, because increasing
> numbers of citizens see through the attempts to mask collusion between
> political and economic elites.
> * The trajectory of contemporary protest movements generally takes an
> identified pattern of growing from small local issues to larger more profound
> matters such as inequality and lack of voice.
> * The power of civil society is recognised indirectly, when elites try to
> suppress civil society¹s essential role of speaking truth to power.
> * In 2014, there were significant attacks on the fundamental civil society
> rights of free association, free assembly and free expression in 96 countries.
> * Threats to civil society emanate from both state and non-state actors that
> benefit from perpetuating governance failures and denying human rights;
> including corrupt politicians, unaccountable officials, unscrupulous
> businesses and religious fundamentalists.
> * New attempts are underway, even by democratic states, to roll back
> long-established human rights norms, which are described as obstacles to
> national development and security, while critical voices are conflated with
> terrorism.
> * Hostility to civil society is becoming normalised, and CSO energy is being
> forced into fighting existential threats.
> Key insights on resourcing for civil society:
> * Change-seeking CSOs are finding it harder to receive funding, including
> funding from international sources because of government restrictions.
> * Many governments want to subdue CSOs that express dissent, and where there
> is an absence of domestic resourcing bases for change-seeking CSOs,
> restriction of cross-border funding is an effective tactic.
> * Out of the $166 billion spent on official development assistance (ODA or
> aid) by OECD-DAC countries in 2013, only 13%, or $21 billion, went to civil
> society.
> * Although current data is hard to obtain, the latest estimate from 2011
> suggests that Southern-based NGOs get only around 1% of all aid directly.
> * Many traditional donors are trimming their list of priority countries, and
> withdrawing particularly from countries assessed as having middle income
> status, despite their engrained social problems. E.g. Brazil and South Africa.
> * The rise of new economic powers, such as the BRICS countries, means that
> some Global South states are now donors, but almost all their support is for
> government-led initiatives.
> * We are seeing new donor conservatism with aid being more strongly connected
> with strategic foreign policy and trade agendas of donor governments, and the
> stronger pushing of free market policies on recipient countries to create
> opportunities for donor country businesses
> * Many international CSOs risk being seen as promoters of their home
> governments¹ foreign policy agendas, and channels for government attempts to
> use ODA to project soft power.
> * At the domestic level, state funding often goes only to CSOs on favourable
> terms with ruling elites, and strongly favours service-oriented work.
> * A lot of funding for CSOs is short term and project focused often not
> lasting long enough to usher in systemic change
> * To counter negative trends, CSOs need to exercise exemplary transparency,
> demonstrate accountability to citizens, develop volunteerism and
> entrepreneurial capacity, where relevant, to reduce donor reliance.
> * CSOs should establish and implement resourcing policies to clarify the
> grounds on which they accept and do not accept resources from donors.
> * Conventional approaches to philanthropy are not working; donors need to be
> braver in their resourcing decisions to support the change the world needs.
> To download the full report or individual sections, please visit:
> http://civicus.org/index.php/en/media-centre-129/reports-and-publications/socs
> 2015
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