CIVICUS - People’s participation to be at heart of 2008 World Assembly

The CIVICUS World Assembly will be held from 18 to 21 June at the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre in Glasgow. Although the overarching theme will be, as in the past three years, Acting Together for a Just World, the particular focus next year will be People, Participation and Power.

This theme, which emerged from the two previous World Assemblies as a key concern for CIVICUS members, civil society and other stakeholders, will highlight the role of individuals in effecting change in their communities at the local, national and international levels. We believe it will become the new guiding principle for public actors for this decade.

People, Participation and Power is about civil society participants accessing, engaging and participating in all forms and spheres of governance at all levels. For better social development and real change within their communities, citizens can engage national governments directly for better governance or they can do so by working with business, CSOs and/or local government. Whichever way they choose, governance denotes the practice of involving other actors in decision-making processes.

Turning debate into tangible action calls for dialogue that is open and participative, and that builds knowledge and relationships. These things have been the hallmarks of CIVICUS programmes and its World Assemblies since their first convening in 1995.

The main questions that will be discussed at the 2008 CIVICUS Assembly will concern the role of civil society: why its participation in public affairs is so resisted and what it needs to do to overcome that resistance; what the obstacles to civil society's full participation are; and, above all, why such questions are of such critical importance. The discussions will also explore the issue of people’s participation and influence over organizations, private and public, whose activities and/or policies have a reach or influence beyond their mandated stakeholders.

For more information
For more about the CIVICUS World Assembly, visit www.civicusassembly.org or email civicusassembly@scvo.org.uk

CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation
Secretary General: Kumi Naidoo
T +27 11 833 5959 x137
kumi.naidoo@civcus.org
www.civicus.org