Fifth CIVICUS World Assembly

The Fifth World Assembly of the World Alliance for Citizen Participation (CIVICUS)—an international grouping of civil society organizations, ranging from human rights advocacy bodies to community-based service delivery entities—was held in Gaborone, Botswana, on 21–25 March. This is a biennial event that seeks to create space for a diverse set of voices to be heard and experiences to be exchanged. Over 700 participants from 100 countries participated in the meeting, which was opened by President Festus Mogae of Botswana.

Other key participants were Mary Robinson, Honorary President of Oxfam International and Executive Director of the Ethical Globalization Initiative, Prega Ramsamy, Executive Secretary of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), Salil Shetty, Director of the Millennium Campaign, and Graça Machel, President of the Foundation for Community Development in Mozambique. The overarching theme was ‘Acting Together for a Just World’. The four sub-topics– were civic justice, economic justice, political justice and social justice.

In his presentation, Ozias Tungwarara of IDEA asserted that political justice is attainable through the creation of a democratic system of governance that ensures popular control over political power and the political equality of citizens. He urged civil society organizations to contribute to the strengthening of democratic processes and institutions and to examine critically their roles in light of a rapidly globalizing world economy and challenges to democracy.

During the panel discussion, it was acknowledged that there is an urgent need for new creative partnerships that will unlock the doors of power. In his opening speech, CIVICUS Secretary-General Kumi Naidoo stressed that the challenge for civil society is how to ‘democratize democracy’. He appealed to political leaders not to see victory at the ballot box as an opportunity to rule without engaging with citizens.

CIVICUS and IDEA are currently exploring areas of cooperation. IDEA’s tools and research findings in regard to reconciliation, elections, participation of women and political parties could be relevant to the Participatory Governance Programme of CIVICUS.