CIVICUS Consultation and interviews on Civil Society

Friday 21 January 2005

Friday 21 January 2005

11:00

03:00

NICVA - Belfast

What do you think of civil society in Northern Ireland ?

CIVICUS is a global alliance dedicated to strengthening civil society and citizen action throughout the world. Its members include voluntary organisations, foundations, research institutes and individuals from 106 countries. NICVA is the National Co-ordinating Organisation for the CIVICUS supported research programme - the Civil Society Index (CSI). The CSI is an innovative action-research project that assesses civil society worldwide so as to create a knowledge base and an impetus for strengthening initiatives.The Index defines civil society as “the arena, between family, government, and market, where people voluntarily associate to advance common interests”.

It assesses four dimensions of civil society
* the structure
* the external political, legal, socio-economic and socio-cultural environment
* the values practiced and promoted in it
* its overall impact

How canyou participate?
A regional stakeholder consultation will take place to gather information on civil society in Belfast (NICVA) on January 21st from 11-3pm. Most of the participants will come from within the voluntary and community sector but it is also essential to include those with an interest in civil society from government, the media, churches and the private sector. Participants will be requested to respond to a short written questionnaire and to meet to discuss findings. For those from outside Belfast short individual interviews will be carried out over the next couple of months
The findings from these consultations and interviews will play a key part in the final CSI country report.

For more information, or if you are interested in attending (or being interviewed) please contact J.J. McCarron, Research and Policy Officer at NICVA.

028 9087 7777
jj.mccarron@nicva.org