Suchergebnisse

Fundamental change is needed as many women near burnout, amid mounting social challenges and work-life imbalance.

Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) are a vital part of the system of international protection. This report presents a number of case studies from three European states to highlight the range, nature and significance of this work, as well as drawing a number of policy implications for all those working in this field. The six case studies – from Greece, Italy and the UK – provide a window onto a number of key lessons for policymakers and those seeking to understand the organisational landscape of protection. In particular, they highlight the varied ways in which CSOs understand the question of international protection and its impact on their work: by contrasting groups working on helping anyone in need and those working explicitly on refugees it is possible to note differences in priorities and in the conceptualisation and operationalisation of frameworks for action. While CSOs provide some very significant direct aid to their target groups, as well as engaging in a range of activities directed to shaping public and political debate, there is a common thread of fluctuating and uncertain funding, which has a direct bearing on their ability to perform work. This potentially compromises the valuable contribution that CSOs have to make, not least as means for refugees and migrants to have a voice in the national and international debates about them. The report also highlights the ongoing difficulties of translating the Global Compacts on Migration and on Refugees into meaningful action: the visibility and salience of these remains rather low among our case studies, mostly because of the weak implementation efforts of governmental bodies.

This paper analyses the work carried out by non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and civil society organisations (CSOs) in Libya from 2009 to 2020 to shed light on its ambivalent relationship to the EU externalisation of migration and border management. While also looking at Libyan organisations, and at initiatives such as EU-funded professionalisation projects, which aim to co-opt the nascent local civil society into the EU border externalisation mechanism, the paper largely focuses on international NGOs, with specific attention being paid to the Italian NGO CIR. The paper shows that even in the difficult Libyan context there is some potential for NGOs/CSOs to radically and effectively oppose EU externalisation, or at least try to do so through activities such as public information and advocacy. However, in a context in which migrants are systematically exposed to a wide range of abuses, and foreign or foreign-funded actors are seen with suspicion, NGOs/CSOs have limited room for manoeuvre. In fact, they mostly end up filling the gaps of the local migration and border management system on behalf of their (European) donors, thus supporting the smooth operation of externalised border management. This is also visible in the way NGOs/CSOs address human rights, interact with donors and local authorities, and perpetuate dichotomies and categorisations that support migration containment policies.

Civil society has emerged as an important catalyst of change in the development and democratic processes, making tremendous contributions in developing countries where abject poverty still dominates the livelihood of the people; democratic values and system of governance are yet in their infancy. With this in mind, the Government of Ethiopia has recently come up with the Charities and Societies Proclamation (CSP) to aid and facilitate the role of Charities and Societies in Ethiopia. Therefore, the main objective of this thesis is to assess the impact of the CSP on Women and Children Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) in Addis Ababa. To achieve the objectives of this thesis, the research method used was descriptive case study. Through the use of primary and secondary data sources, the researcher has gathered the necessary information regarding the impact of the proclamation. By employing purposive sampling technique those Charities and Societies working for women and children in Addis Ababa were purposively selected in consultation with the Network of Ethiopian Women's Association (NEWA) and the Union of Ethiopian Women Charitable Association (UEWCA). Semi-structured interviews were carried out with the selected eight Charities and Societies. In addition, structured interviews of key informants were carried out with three donor organizations and with the Charities and Societies Agency. Information obtained from these sources was then analyzed qualitatively based on descriptive analysis. As the findings show, the proclamation has brought about new demands on the way these women and children Charities and Societies operate be it in terms of financial, existential, sustainability or structural change. Though the proclamation creates an autonomous Agency for the CSO sector, allows income generation activities, and tries to curb harmful practices by Charities and Societies; it has strict funding source requirements, potential going out of operation of organizations and termination of employees. The study reveals that the Ethiopian Charities and Societies are most affected by the proclamation. A great challenge for them has been raising 90% of their funds locally; which has led to termination of activities, closure of organizations and termination of employment of staff. The absence of a tradition of giving financial support to human rights organizations, and the lack of the necessary skill and experience in generating funds from local sources are currently challenging the Charities and Societies

Research on the coverage of CSOs on social media and the use of social media by CSOs has been gaining momentum. To contribute to this line of research, this study investigates the coverage of civil society organizations (CSO) on Twitter in Turkey by focusing on the most frequently mentioned organizations. It examines the characteristics of these CSOs as well as the effect that social and political developments in Turkey have on their coverage on Twitter. The data were collected from Twitter for the period between August 18, 2019 and September 17, 2019. We found that CSOs were not equally mentioned on Twitter; a total of 29,387 tweets mentioned 4,941 different CSOs, representing only 3.98% of all CSOs in Turkey. We also found that, with a few exceptions, tweets were not equally distributed in number across the CSOs or over time. Furthermore, the content of the tweets about the most frequently mentioned CSOs was strongly related to the political developments in Turkey, thereby reflecting the politically polarized views about the organizations in Turkey. Therefore, we concluded that ideological divisions in politically polarized countries such as Turkey shape the coverage of CSOs on Twitter.

Civil society organizations in Sweden are facing new challenges and opportunities in a rapidly changing context. Demographical changes, a new political climate and a broad professionalization of the sector demand a transformational shift in business. In the project Tailwind, four leading CSOs in Sweden develop new strategies and policies to navigate the new landscape. The project explores the question of how these organizations will have to transform to be able to thrive in the future. Using positive psychology and appreciative inquiry as a method for this piece of research, key insights found include: the CSOs need to draw on the strengths of the organization when strategically developing the operations, to build their operations on empathic meetings with the target group, and to step up to claim an expert position in the public eye, sharing knowledge and insight with decision-makers about the needs of the target group.

AbstractThis article is about the role of civil society after violent conflict. It argues that the transformations that civil society organisations (CSOs) make are more ambiguous than supporting donors and NGOs presume. The article analyses how, ten years after the 1996 peace agreements, Guatemalan CSOs deal with agrarian conflict. It discusses in detail the case of a church-related organisation assisting peasants with agrarian conflicts and the challenges it faced in defining its strategies. The article argues that supporting donors and NGOs should stop seeing the difficulties of organisational change in post-conflict situations exclusively in terms of the internal incapacities of civil society. Instead, they should re-politicise their analyses and focus on the importance of broader social and political processes in post-conflict settings for the strategic options open to CSOs.