What does a focus on relationship building mean for Civicus

What does a focus on relationship building mean for Civicus Introduction and Rationale At the September 2004 Strategic Retreat of the Board, it was decided that CIVICUS would give greater focus on its role as a relationship builder of civil society. This decision was taken for two primary reasons: There was a need to break down the barriers within civil society and this was a role that CIVICUS was already playing and was regularly called upon do so. However additional rationale also gesture towards the importance of this role of CIVICUS. There are few neutral honest brokers that do not threaten more well-known brand name NGOs. Most importantly though, CIVICUS is called upon to play this role on several occasions: sometimes as once off short term events (Co-convening the Resource Mobilisation Training Conferences hosted by Resource Alliance in March 2004, Johannesburg) and sometimes processes that run for several years (such as the World Bank Joint Facilitation Committee). Since the Board meeting, the Secretary General has had numerous discussions with members, staff, partners, and with the Chair of the Programme Committee of the CIVICUS Board. The Secretary General and Alan Fowler, have had several brainstorming conversations to help elaborate our thinking about what this decision means in practical terms for CIVICUS. What follows draws from all the above mentioned conversations and discussions. Clarifying relationship building: Connecting, Hosting and Convening The three key operational terms that inform CIVICUS relationship building role should consider are connecting, hosting and convening. The relationship building role in the current global environment should primarily focus on building meaningful relationships within civil society but also keeps the door open to explore our role in building relationships or rather framework for relationships between civil society and business, governments and intergovernmental organizations. It is important that in trying to understand the different tools that CIVICUS will use to forward this commitment, we start with a statement of the kinds of activities already underway. There is of course an overlap in specific activities that might have both a connecting and convening element for example, and the demarcation that follows below is not intended to be read as clear defining boundaries. Connecting: ECIVICUS, whose tag-line, was once, Connecting Civil Society WorldWide, is an important tool to connect different activities of civil society organisations around the world. We hear anecdotally, of several relationships that emerge from different news features that we run in ECIVICUS. Sometimes we are connecting CSOs with sources of funding, sometimes with events that are forthcoming, sometimes with awards, scholarships and other training events. CIVICUS Relationship Building Focus Page 1of 5

On an ongoing basis, we are often asked to connect people in different countries or in specific sectors of work. We do this work informally and at the moment do not have an effective tracking system to either quantify the amount of requests we respond to, or the quality of this work. Often, when CIVICUS is approached to play this role, almost as an information clearinghouse function, it is done telephonically, or via a quick informal email, or sometimes when CIVICUS staff engage with our members and partners in face to face meetings. Possible new areas of work: (1) Explore a specific intervention between trying to connect trade unions and NGOs and secular and religious civil society organizations; (2) Develop a tracking system to follow up the impact of relationships that we enable through our day-to-day work. Convening: Our principle convening event the World Assembly is now on track to become an annual event. We are optimistic that this model will enable greater traction in terms of media coverage, impact and coherence. Already for the June 2006 World Assembly we have several conversations going on to ensure that there will be several back to back events convened by partners and members CIVICUS works which will happen either prior to or after the CIVICUS World Assembly proper. At the national level, the Civil Society Index initiative as been a major contributor, in some cases initiator of dialogue and engagement of civil society actors at the national level, around working collectively to defend and advance civic space. This is a key part of the methodology that we envisaged as part of our rationale for the CSI. For two years in a row now we have, in partnership with the Hauser Centre have convened the meeting of the Chief Staff Officers of International Advocacy NGOS (IANGOS). The next such meeting takes place in Amsterdam in June. This is now a semi-structured process of trying to build relationships between peers who work around similar areas but who generally do not engage with each other on a substantive basis. We have also had the opportunity to host various convening events from time to time with intergovernmental organizations such as UNDP or with members such as The Resource Alliance or the Institute of Cultural Affairs. We have chosen these roles on the basis of their relevance to the work of CIVICUS. Most often, CIVICUS role in such convenings is limited with our partner organization carrying out the bulk of the work. Hosting: Sometimes as part of trying to move forward a particular civil society agenda which resonates with CIVICUS mission, vision and programmes, we have hosted the secretariats of various initiatives. This has always been done on the basis of a request being made to CIVICUS. What follows below is a brief overview of four of the key initiatives that we have and continue to host in two cases in chronological order. 1. Business Partners in Development: This was a three year commitment from 1999 to 2001 during which CIVICUS served as the convenor of the Knowledge Resource CIVICUS Relationship Building Focus Page 2of 5

Group of the Business Partners in Development initiative which sought to pilot macro development projects between government, business and civil society. This was an initiative driven by the World Bank and had the participation of several companies and NGOs. Our role was to help facilitate the knowledge inputs into several pilot initiatives underway, and to track the outcomes of the event and to develop the reports associated with the projects. CIVICUS role included contract management, fiscal agent, and reporting to donors. This project was not intended to be a long term project and CIVICUS involvement ended when the three year pilot concluded. Gender at Work: As part of our efforts in the period 1999-2002, to promote the leadership role of women in civil society organizations, we partnered with UNIFEM, AWID and the Women s Learning Partnership, in an initiative called Gender at Work. We played the role of fiscal agent, contract management and brought CIVICUS experience into the initiative. Having incubated the initiative for three years, Gender at Work is now an independent organization with CIVICUS having a seat on the board of Gender at Work to maintain our involvement in this initiative. World Bank Civil Society Joint Facilitation Committee: CIVICUS was requested by some of the civil society organizations involved in a process initiated in December 2001 to serve as the secretariat for this event. This involvement has brought with it attacks from some segments of civil society who have taken a principle non-engagement position with regard to institutions such as the World Bank. We have played a leadership role in facilitating the involvement of civil society players in attempting to shape the way the World Bank engages with civil society, such that the World Bank commits to a framework of engagement in which it performs in a more transparent, democratic and accountable manner. CIVICUS role as secretariat will not run beyond June 2006 after the holding of a Global Civil Society Forum where the JFC CSOs will present recommendations for improvements in the framework for engagement between civil society and the World Bank. One of the difficulties we faced here was that most of the resources for this work came from the World Bank and it has been a struggle to raise additional resources, as well as to keep the JFC CSOs actively engaged. Global Call to Action Against Poverty (GCAP): CIVICUS currently hosts parts of the global secretariat for this major civil society mobilization attempt to push for substantive improvement towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals and more. The campaign focuses on Trade, Aid and Debt but also calls to southern governments around issues that are within their domain of control such as gender equality and anti-corruption efforts. We now have the resources to employ four full time staff for this work, in addition to the roles that other CIVICUS staff will play in the campaign for which resources have also been raised. At this stage this is seen as a 2005 campaign with the agreement that there will be a review at the end of the year to evaluate what was achieved this year and whether the campaign should continue. CIVICUS Relationship Building Focus Page 3of 5

Can this role of CIVICUS be resourced by dedicated funding? While we cannot say with certainty that this work is fundable, even though it is needed, there are grounds to believe that if this work is packaged and presented creatively, some donors might be willing to support this area of our work. This will mean making an investment in current relationship building activities that we are involved in, and also building staff capacity to do this. At this time there is far too much reliance on the direct role of the current Secretary General in this work. While this work might play to the strengths of the current Secretary General we need to develop this work such that it is sustainable beyond the Office of the Secretary General. What have we learnt from past relation-building activities? Relationship building activities require dedicated staffing capacity, thoughtful planning, strategic political management and the ability to maintain trust by ensuring that our work is based on an understanding that CIVICUS is a servant of civil society, rather than a leader of civil society. We need to ensure that we do not underestimate the amount of resources needed to effectively meet all the demands that are placed on the organization. What practical implications does this have for capacity, structure and operations? Firstly, we need to develop an operational plan based on current activities. Secondly, we need to on the basis of these plans to develop a fundable programme that we can pitch for support as part of our fundraising efforts from May to September 2005. In the interim, the capacity that has been unlocked for GCAP augurs well for this model. In the long term it is envisaged that we develop a Department of Convening under the direction of Secretary General in the short term but under the direction of the Deputy Secretary General of Programmes once appointed. Such a department or unit, should ideally have a Senior Manager, an administrator and a researcher who could be an intern. Thirdly, we need to look at what relationship building activities are occurring in all of CIVICUS work and to ensure that this is linked through a matrix management system with the Department of Covening. Conclusion This paper is intended primarily as a stimuli for reflection on the part of the CIVICUS Board s Programme Committee and the Board as a whole. It is hoped that this paper will initiate a process of helping staff and the board think through in greater detail what is needed in terms of moving the organization in a direction where we give content, meaning, and capacity to fulfill the relationship building role envisaged by the board in its September 2004 meeting. Consequently, we respectfully, invite the comment of staff and board on this initial attempt at clarifying the way forward. CIVICUS Relationship Building Focus Page 4of 5

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