CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation would like to invite you to a series of civil society events taking place between 10th and 15th November 2013 in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Coming just two months after the UN General Assembly meetings in New York in September, the week of strategising, dialogue and mobilisation will be a key milestone and space for global civil society to chart a route forwards on how to bring real citizen voice, accountability and mobilisation into the newly emerging development vision.
Two major global civil society conferences, at the heart of the week, are being hosted for the first time outside of Europe:
- The conference on Building a Global Citizens Movement, convened by CONCORD/DEEEP, will take place on 11-12 November, and bring grassroots activists and social movements together with organised civil society. A session hosted by CIVICUS and partners, with a special South African focus, will connect the experiences of yesterday’s struggle activists with more recent social justice movements.
- The International Civil Society Centre's Global Perspectives 2013 conference engages global and national CEOs of leading international civil society organisations in a dialogue around navigating disruptive change. The conference is co-hosted by ActionAid International and CIVICUS and will take place on 13-15 November.
In the wings of these two important conferences, CIVICUS will also organise a range of side meetings and events, bringing together many of its existing networks for regular meetings and holding a number of workshops, for example on strengthening the enabling environment for civil society. We will also convene the alliance’s membership Annual General Meeting, Board of Directors, and Youth Advisory Group.
In late 2012, CIVICUS announced that it would not hold a CIVICUS World Assembly in 2013, instead using the year to learn and evaluate what kind of spaces could best convene global civil society around the issues that matter. While we carry on this learning process, the series of events scheduled for 10th – 15th November will provide an important space and opportunity for global civil society to convene, and is expected to bring together around 500 civil society leaders and activists.
Are you interested in participating in or organising your own session in the wings of the CIVICUS civil society week? We want to bring as many CSOs, activists and friends of civil society to Johannesburg as possible for this important week, so please let us know as soon as possible by emailing , and watch this space for details of formal application and registration!
