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Civil society and the law
While there is much debate about how to define civil society, one thing is agreed: it is not defined by law. It embraces free action and interaction; law constrains action, controls it. At first sight, …
NPO self-regulation – the Pakistan experience
Although the state remains the principal regulator of civil society in Pakistan, the absence of effective enforcement mechanisms means that compliance by non-profit organizations (NPOs) with reporting and other requirements is very low. Self-regulation is …
Funding civil society infrastructure – Paying your dues?
While sustainability is a key issue for all non-profits, it is a particularly pressing one for civil society infrastructure organizations – those that provide support of various kinds for the sector as a whole. This …
Croatia’s National Foundation – From vision to reality
The Government of Croatia has taken an extraordinarily bold stand in recognizing and fostering the development of civil society. A process that began in late 1998 with the establishment of the Government Office for Cooperation …
Hungary’s National Civil Fund – Is good will good enough?
As I write, just over 1,600 NGOs in Hungary have elected 12 civil society representatives to the Governing Council of the National Civil Fund (NCF). This is the first time NGOs have elected representatives in …
Whose ‘information society’?
Many question the use of the term ‘information society’, with its tendency to gloss over fundamental inequalities. Nevertheless, it is here to stay and the recent UN World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS), in …
Do we need a global infrastructure?
Civil society ‘infrastructure’ organizations have assumed great importance at the national level in recent decades. Given the enormous growth of transnational CSOs, networks, movements and campaigns, the emergence of what many term a global civil …
Needed: a new social financial services industry
The dramatic expansion of the citizen sector over the last two decades – and in particular the explosive emergence of social entrepreneurship – has come about because of a profound change in the sector’s underlying …
CIVICUS civil society index – Strengthening civil society’s infrastructure
Over the last decade, donors have been increasingly recognizing the need for programmes to strengthen civil society. What has been missing, however, is a tool to gauge the current situation and specific needs of civil …
The infrastructure of civil society – Hitchhiker’s Guide[1]
‘There is a theory which states that if ever for any reason anyone discovers what exactly the Universe is for and why it is here it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even …