New Social Contracts, Civic Space and Enabling Environment for Civil Society

Sixto Donato C. Macasaet

“Towards New Social Contracts: Using Dialogue Processes to Promote Social Change.” “Monitoring, Protecting and Promoting Civic Space and the Enabling Environment for Civil Society.” These were the important topics of the workshops of the Affinity Group of National Associations (AGNA) held last June 15-16, 2015 in Istanbul, Turkey.

AGNA brings together national CSO associations from around the world. Launched at the 2004 Civicus World Assembly, AGNA aims to engage these national associations to foster greater co-operation across national and regional boundaries and to increase their ability to pursue mutual interests.

The discussions on the first day focused on social contracts and multi-stakeholder dialogues. A social contract is defined as an implicit agreement between members of an organized society (or between a community and decision-makers) that defines the relationship and responsibilities of each to the other.

Moving towards new social contracts (NSCs) is important in our present world where discontent is widespread and crises are being experienced in the environmental, social, economic and cultural-spiritual spheres. 

Traditional responses to these problems have proven to be inadequate because they fail to address their complexity and inter-relatedness. The proponents of the NSCs see the need for a new approach that is systemic, participatory and adaptive. This approach also reinstates politics and citizen power as a prime mover of change. “Civic driven change” concentrates on the why and the how of relationships in processes which drive socio-political change, anywhere and at any scale.

Crucial to NSCs are multi-stakeholder dialogues or “long-term structured conversations between several actors aimed at initiating and sustaining constructive relationships and collaborations driven by a shared vision of an ideal future”.

At the AGNA workshop, Clara Bosco of Civicus shared the experience of its New Social Contract (NSC) action-research project. Through this project, a methodology has been tested and revised through locally-initiated multi-stakeholder dialogues in 7 countries around the world. 

Based on this project, CIVICUS has now developed a toolkit for wider dissemination. This toolkit discusses and provokes reflection on the potential and limits of multi-stakeholder processes in promoting socio-political change. It also includes practical tools and resources to facilitate the use of dialogue processes in new ways.

The toolkit is available through this link:

TOWARDS NEW SOCIAL CONTRACTS: USING DIALOGUE PROCESSES TO PROMOTE SOCIAL CHANGE – http://www.civicus.org/index.php/en/about-us-125/accountability/policies-and-procedures/new-social-contract

The AGNA workshop on the 2^nd day focused on Civic Space Monitoring and Enabling Environment.

How can we assess (and eventually promote) the enabling environment for civil society?  As one answer to this vital question, Tanja Hafner-Ademi of the Balkan Civil Society Development Network (BCSDN) shared the Enabling Environment Monitoring Matrix of BCSDN. The Monitoring Matrix was developed and applied by civil society in the European Union (EU) “Enlargement Countries” (West Balkan countries including Albania, Kosovo, Macedonia and Serbia, plus Turkey).

The Monitoring Matrix presents the main principles and standards that are crucial for the legal and policy environment to be considered as supportive and enabling for the operations of CSOs. The matrix assesses the enabling environment for civil society based on 3 areas using a total of 24 standards and 151 indicators. 

The three areas and their sub-areas are (1) Basic Legal Guarantees of Freedom (which includes Freedom of Association and the Related Freedoms of Assembly and Expression), (2) Framework for CSOs’ Financial Viability and Sustainability, including Tax and Fiscal Treatment of CSOs and Donors, State Support and Human Resources, and (3) Government – CSO Relationship, which includes Framework and Practices for Cooperation, Involvement in Policy and Decision-Making Processes and Collaboration in Service Provision. The matrix looks at both legislation and especially implementation or the real situation when reviewing these three areas.

The standards and indicators of the matrix were formulated based on the experiences of the CSOs in the Western Balkans and Turkey. The internationally guaranteed freedoms and rights and best regulatory practices at the European Union level and in European countries were also considered.

The three areas are defined by key principles which are further elaborated by the 24 standards. In order to enable review and monitoring of the legal environment and actual practices, the standards are further explained through indicators. The indicators are descriptive. They guide interested groups and users (CSOs, governments and donors) in understanding better the legal and policy environments.

The goal is to help them to draw lessons as to what are the areas that require further reform, how to address the challenges and to help them prioritize the issues for reform. In fact, the matrix results in the past years was the basis for the development of the Guidelines of the EU for Support to Civil Society in Enlargement Countries.

For more information on the Monitoring Matrix, go to:

Enabling Environment Monitoring Matrix (BCSDN): www.monitoringmatrix.net

Cathal Gilbert of Civicus also explained to the group the Civic Space Monitor (CSM), a method being developed by Civicus to monitor civic space in a country.  Civic space is defined as the laws, policies and practices affecting freedom of association, freedom of expression and freedom of peaceful assembly.

The CSM has 5 “ratings” for civic space: open, narrowed, obstructed, repressed and closed. The basis for these ratings are (a) key scores and analysis done for all or most countries by various institutions (e.g. World Press Freedom Index, Human Rights Watch report, others), (b) newsfeeds and (c) consultations with civil society through the Civic Pulse. The Civic Pulse is an on-line survey of selected representatives of the diverse range of civil society organizations (CSOs) in a country. In South Africa, for example, the Civic Pulse, included 600 CSO representatives.

The CSM is expected to be launched around 1 year from now. In the meantime, Civicus is completing over 100 country chapters of the CSM and intends to build around ten Civic Pulse country panels.

Representatives of AGNA members from Austria, Uruguay, Japan, Uganda, Poland, Jordan, India, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Pakistan, Nepal, Turkey and the Philippines (CODE-NGO) attended the workshops.

Sixto Donato C. Macasaet is the Executive Director of CODE-NGO.