Academy for Educational Development

What is ‘civil society’?





Civil society is the web of connections that fills the social divide between family and government. It is the realm of organized social life that is voluntary, self-generating, and autonomous from the state, and is bound by a set of shared rules. Examples in the U.S. range from your local neighborhood association, PTA, or soup kitchen to advocacy organizations such as the Young Americans for Freedom or American Civil Liberties Union.









This space is particularly important in countries transitioning to democracy. Just as the cynic within all of us seemed to be gaining the upper hand--and democracy seemed to be in retreat--we  witnessed the power of this space once again. The revolution was called  "orange" in Ukraine, "cedar" in Lebanon, and "rose" in Georgia.









The colors are different, but these peaceful regime changes, like the "velvet revolution" in the former Czechoslovakia, are all examples of the power of civil society. In all these countries, ordinary people organized themselves—often using modern technology—and were determined to be nonviolent and move toward democracy.  The world watched in stunned admiration. In each of these places, donors had worked for years to strengthen the advocacy and organizational capacity of local civil society groups. Despite claims of the neighboring authoritarian or semi-authoritarian regimes, these changes were not wrought by outsiders, but by the citizens themselves. 










How do you define governance?





This is how governments or other institutions conduct their business. AED has worked to improve local governance in South Eastern Europe, for example.










In Croatia with the assistance of local governments we are engaging youth productively, and in Bosnia, we are helping to create partnerships between local governments and NGOs to improve local services.  In Romania we involved citizens in budgetary hearings.









We’re also interested in how civil society governs itself, and work with NGOs so that they are good models of transparent governance; so they form active and effective boards of directors, for instance.










The Center is also working to fight corruption. With its social marketing experience, AED has the technical expertise to advocate for this kind of change. Corruption is a multi-layered problem. To make headway in combating corruption, you need to educate people about its pervasive cost—so social marketing is a particularly important resource. 









What do you do to build and strengthen civil society?






Peace-building, strengthening the non-profit sector, and supporting human rights are our three areas of focus.









In the AED Center for Civil Society and Governance, we implement peace-building programs in conflict and post-conflict environments, basing our work on AED’s social change theory which assumes that people are motivated by self-interest, not abstract ideals.









You can’t goad a divided community to interact in the name of peace, or democracy, or reconciliation; but you can engage people in dialogue if the interaction will realize some concrete gain in health, education, employment, or a better future for their children. In our peace-making work, we tend to focus on key populations—youth, women, traditional religious leaders, and the Diaspora—believing they possess the greatest potential for change.










Our second area of emphasis is developing and strengthening the non-profit sector as a whole. We focus on building NGO capacity for both advocacy efforts and service delivery. We have a great deal of experience with grant-making and creating anchor organizations that are leaders in their sector. In Croatia, for example, we’ve conducted an extensive training course which has produced a cadre of specialists who have the skills necessary to assist non-profits. These specialists have formed three of their own groups that now conduct training in Croatia and the surrounding region.









We also seek to foster a culture of philanthropy to encourage corporate citizenship and volunteerism, and help NGOs develop partnerships with their local governments.









Our third focus is on human rights; specifically, anti-trafficking activities. We have a project in South Asia that networks anti-trafficking organizations so that they are more effective in achieving results related to safe migration, care of survivors of trafficking, and implementation of laws protecting women and children. In Bangladesh we have been working with Imams and other Muslim leaders to reach out to vulnerable women to prevent trafficking. 









What are some of the Center's tools?






Polls for Peace: We’ve developed a methodology for using survey research to promote peace, identifying allies and potential spoilers in the peace process and stimulating social dialogue. We have just published a Polls For Peace paper describing this process.










Peace and Conflict Mapping: Early Warning System: An interesting idea we are piloting is an early warning system, which uses telephony (cellphones) to track potentially explosive situations as well as peace indicators.









One-Text Process: We’ve developed a process in Sri Lanka that pulls together multiple players within a peace process to share ideas and opinions in a secure setting and work towards a common text of proposals to put forth for peace negotiations. This process involves both face-to-face meetings and an innovative, secure electronic space.









Working through these physical and virtual meetings, the groups agree on “one text” on a specific issue that is then provided to high-level negotiators who are involved in the peace process. This process has been extremely successful in Sri Lanka, where we’ve been able to involve all the parties in the peace process.








Also through this process, we assisted the Muslim minority in establishing a peace secretariat, an agency that seeks to promote peace to its constituents. The “one-text process” develops a sustained dialogue on one text that represents the consensus of the involved stake holders.








Network Development Tool: A lot of our work has focused on evaluating and addressing the development stage of a single NGO. In the past we have used a variety of versions of our own “Institutional Development Framework.”









Currently we are developing a new tool that will help networks of NGOs build their capacity to work more effectively. Using a “Network Assessment Tool” we can assess strengths and weaknesses of a network and then provide appropriate training. Targeting NGO networks is exciting as they seem to spark change more effectively: There is strength in numbers and coalition. 








Are you about to start any new projects?





Yes, with the support of USAID, we are hoping to start a peace project in Nepal that would try to solidify the pro-peace segments of the civil society and so strengthen Nepal’s stability. We will be engaging organizations interested in dialogue related to the peace process. 







How has your work changed—if at all—since September 11? U.S. foreign policy has emphasized the importance of democracy. Fragile states are a potential breeding ground for terrorists, so it has become particularly important to work in those states where the government cannot provide security for its citizens. Liberia, for example, was once in the midst of a civil war and had no system to provide health or education services, or even to protect its citizens. What has become clear is that the promotion of democracy is not only a desirable outcome for philosophical reasons, but it also promotes global security.









In the post-September 11 world, conflicts seem to be on the rise, and it is often children who are both the perpetuators and victims of violence. Therefore, we have developed programs to engage young people in peaceful and productive activities. How our kids interact with each other, their families, and their communities are good predictors of the future.









In Poland, Liberia, Sri Lanka, and Guatemala, we have given youth opportunities to work toward peace through media, constituency building, and peer-mediator programs.








We also recently developed a guidebook that shows how many of AED’s traditional youth development, health, and environment programs can be used to bridge divided communities by working on concrete common goals, not just in the name of higher ideals but simply in the name of rational self-interest.