Civicus -- a global forum for citizen participation.

• Author: Robinson, David Maurice

The 2001 World Assembly of CIVICUS, held in Vancouver in August, was attended by more than 400 delegates from 90 countries. Reflecting the designation of 2001 as the international year of the volunteer, the theme of the conference was "Putting people at the centre: voluntary action shaping social and economic change".

BACKGROUND

CIVICUS, an international association of national and global foundations and non-government organisations (NGOs) dedicated to strengthening citizen action and civil society throughout the world, was formed at a gathering in Mexico City in 1995. Victoria University of Wellington's Institute of Policy Studies Programme on Civil Society (formerly the Voluntary Sector Programme) was a founding member of CIVICUS, and I was their representative in Mexico and at the subsequent world assemblies in Budapest, Manila and Vancouver. The Association of NGOs of Aotearoa (ANGOA) is now also a member of CIVICUS.

Underpinning all of CIVICUS' activities is its vision that a healthy society is one in which there is an equitable relationship among citizens, their associations, foundations, business and governments, and that citizen action is a predominant feature of the political, economic and cultural life of all societies.

In addition to the bi-annual World Assemblies, CIVICUS has sponsored discussions and produced publications on legislation affecting community organisations, fund-raising strategies and community-business relations. A major current project is developing a civil society index that draws together into a single measure four elements of community associations -- the space in which they operate, their structure, their impact on society and their underlying values. The index has been tested in a pilot study in ten countries: New Zealand, Canada, Croatia, Romania, Belarus, Ukraine, Mexico, Uruguay, South Africa and Pakistan.

THEMES OF THE FOURTH WORLD ASSEMBLY

Two major issues ran through the conference presentations and discussions: building positive relations between government and community organisations, and how to reach out to the disadvantaged and excluded. In relation to CIVICUS itself, the subtext concerned ways in which a global association could bring people with disabilities, indigenous people and informal community associations into its discussions. In other words, could CIVICUS move beyond being a grouping of national and global foundations and NGOs?

The civil society index project was a centrepiece of the...