Empowering the CIVICUS Alliance Johannesburg, November 2012

1. Empowering the CIVICUS Alliance Johannesburg, November 2012 www.civicus.org

2. CIVICUS Alliance CIVICUS aims to strengthen members and partners’ engagement within the CIVICUS network building on CIVICUS’ founding principle of being a global alliance.

3. CIVICUS Networks and Constituencies • We have identified 46 different networks/constituencies/working groups managed by CIVICUS, or in which CIVICUS is actively engaged. • Formalised grouping of organisations and individuals who share common focus on thematic areas. The majority of these are through the formalized projects active at CIVICUS, such as CSI, PG or LTA. • These may be closed communities of practices, where partners have been specifically selected to participate, such as the AGNA group or the Eurasia network, where certain key actors are selected as partners according to specific needs and priorities. • Other ‘networks’ are much more open to anyone interested in the theme or focal area, and serve as open platforms for dialogue and exchanges. These include social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook (where both CIVICUS and EHHR have large followings), or blogs and websites, and newsletter subscribers.

4. 46 different networks The 46 different networks/ constituencies/working groups: • Internal networks • Stakeholders • External communications • Projects/networks within CIVICUS work areas • CSO campaigns • Localised/ regional networks • United Nations linked NGO networks www.civicus.org

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13. Feedback from Members and Partners – end 2011 • CIVICUS ran a consultation in 5 languages in August – Spanish, Portuguese, Russian, French and English. • 89 Members and partners answered the complete survey.

14. Feedback from Members and Partners – end 2011 Members value been part of a global network and want CIVICUS to: • Communicate more in: Spanish, French, Portuguese, Russian and Arabic. • Strengthen CIVICUS presence at a regional level • Establish a more decentralised network structure • Undertake outreach through partnerships with local organisations Respondents suggested: • Decentralisation of the CIVICUS secretariat by establishing regional representation offices / champions • Reaching out and engaging more with civil society organisations/networks in the regions • Organising regional events such as seminars, meetings, conferences and other fora to strengthen the regional networks • Localised communications campaigns

15. Network management needs The CIVICUS secretariat will be focusing on the following priority areas necessary to address networking and network management needs: • Database improvement • Network Analysis • Communication analysis • Analysis of horizontal connectivity within networks • New Communication Strategy • New membership strategy • National Representatives/Regional and thematic ambassadors • Organizational network management strategy and procedures www.civicus.org

16. Affinity Group of National Associations (AGNA) 60 members around the world.- All are national platforms/ associations with membership base of local country organisations.- Many have been silent in the past: bad contact details, lack of clear benefits from the network. Now reengaging all and bringing them into the network as active participants: through newsletters, better communication, active engagement, clear benefits package and engagements with CIVICUS.

17. Key questions for AGNA • How do we revive old networks and neglected partners? • How to make the network fully participatory and all members engaged? • How to get them to sell CIVICUS to their members to bring them into the alliance? • How to properly use them as a core network for CIVICUS? • How to broker cooperation between two competing/ similar networks?