Background Media plays an important role in society, shaping and influencing how people think about, understand and perceive issues.

This toolkit has been designed to add to the skills you already use for communicating about your work, as well as advocacy and mobilisingcommunities for civic action.

The Civil Society Support Mechanisms: A Directory is a resource for civil society under threat.

Guide to Reporting Civic Space: Media Toolkit According to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, all people, everywhere in the world, have the right to speak out, to organise, and to take action.

Background The UN Universal Periodic Review (UPR) is the principal international mechanism to facilitate the examination of a country’s human rights record every five years.

Background Participatory governance is embodied in processes that empower citizens to participate in public decision-making, and it has been gaining increasing acceptance as an effective means to tackle ‘democracy deficits’ and improve public accountability.

Background At CIVICUS, we believe that society will achieve large-scale progress in solving the complex challenges of our time only if a collective, citizen-powered approach is utilised.

Background Special Procedures is the name given to the mechanisms established by the UN Human Rights Council to address country or thematic issues in all parts of the world.

Background As civil society organisations (CSOs) often assert that they speak on behalf of minority voices, regularly demand greater accountability from other sectors and manage increasing volumes of public funds, they are being asked to improve their practices internally, among themselves and in their relations with other stakeholders.

Background This guide has been developed in liaison with the Open Institute, to provide the essential steps for running a project based on Citizen Generated Data in all its guises.

Background This tool was created by DataShift, an initiative that builds the capacity and confidence of civil society organisations to produce and use citizen­generated data (CGD) to monitor sustainable development progress, demand accountability and campaign for transformative change.

Background This tool was produced to help guide the conversations that took place under the CIVICUS Youth Assembly at the International Civil Society Week.

Background Civil society has the potential to have a positive impact on social exclusion and gender equality, this is why this toolkit has been designed to be a practical resource that can be used when designing activities, programs as well as being an input to more complex planning processes, such as a strategic plan.

Background This toolkit is part of a larger effort by DataShift to strengthen organisational capacity to work with data in an actionable way through the Data for Action programme.

Background The guide is part of a series of experiments to determine whether human-centered design survey techniques can improve the ease, quality, diversity and usability of data collected from beneficiaries.

Background The guide is part of a series of experiments to determine whether human-centered design survey approach can improve the quality, diversity and usability of data collected.

Background The content is presented as an audio presentation that takes the user through the different elements of designing and conducting an interview, how to recruit participants, keep confidential information and utilizing the data.

Background This is an audio training guide on how to design, prepare for and run focus group discussions.

Background This tool is presented as an audio training that aims at preparing CS practitioners in the art of selecting and using enumerators in surveys.

Background This tool has been turned into an audio and video training that aims at generating expertise in survey design and use.

Background Gender mainstreaming in projects is about using participatory approaches in all project stages.

Background This tool has been developed by the CIVICUS Resilient Roots project team to support project partners to strategise for and design their 12-month pilot accountability project.

Background The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) form an ambitious agenda for reducing poverty and improving lives.

Background This advocacy toolkit is an output of the Sustainable Development 2015 (SD2015) programme, a multi-stakeholder engagement programme run in 2015 by Stakeholder Forum and CIVICUS, in collaboration with UN DESA.

Background This short guide draws upon the experiences and lessons learned from the DataShift initiative’s engagement with government and other stakeholders in Kenya and Tanzania on the use of multiple sources of data to monitor progress on SDG 5 (gender equality), along with inputs from an A4SD (Action for Sustainable Development) event held during the 71st Session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA) this September.

Background Civil society organisations (CSOs) are occupying more and more spaces in the public sphere, gaining access to more financial and political resources, advocating for civil society and citizen activism, and increasingly influencing public policies and fostering social change.

Background For donors, civil society is a crucial partner and resource in progressing development goals.

Background Budgeting is the key to financial management of non profit organisation.

Background A successful application depends on the design of a sound project, which addresses social, political, and economic issues of a community.

Background Many people in leadership positions in civil society organisations and projects find themselves dealing with large sums of money when they have little or no knowledge or experience about how to manage money.

Background This toolkit is aimed specifically at people who have not thought through a financial strategy before.

Background The aim of the toolkit is to help organisations to improve their efficiency and effectiveness through the creation of internal communication processes that create a cohesive organisational culture.

Background Civil society organisations get set up by people who feel concerned enough about an issue to want to do something about it.

Background Many organisations and different civil society groupings are asked to respond to requests for interviews, need to send out press statements or have to handle some type of crisis the media picks upon.

Background Media is a powerful tool we can use to communicate our messages and advance our work as civil society organisations.

Background Writing is one of the most powerful tools your organisation counts with in its day to day work.

Background This toolkit provides many useful tips and tools to use in your writing.

Background Strategic planning is the core of the work of an organisation.

Background Although there is a tendency in civil society organisations to see an evaluation as something that happens when a donor insists on it, in fact, monitoring and evaluation are invaluable internal management tools.

Background Action planning is the planning that guides your day-to-day work.

Background Planning is a complex process that can take many forms.

Background This resource guide was prepared by the Civicus Affinity Group of National Associations (AGNA) in response to member’s requests to support efforts towards setting up and running networks/alliance/national associations of CSOs.