No Welcome Mat for Civil Society at ASEAN Summit (October 19, 2009)
The members of ASEAN disagree on rules for NGO participation at the upcoming summit on October 23. Thailand is hoping to create a dialogue between civil society and government leaders and is encouraging a permanent partnership with NGOs and the regional body. However, countries such as Laos, Myanmar and Cambodia have expressed concerns about civil society participation in the organization. (IPS)
Caribbean Civil Society to Meet in Trinidad and Tobago on OAS Summit Goals (October 23, 2008)
Ahead of the 2009 Summit of the Organization of American States (OAS), NGOs from the Caribbean organized a forum to discuss the OAS Summit agenda. The forum was open to the public and focused on energy security and environmental sustainability. The NGOs used the forum to make their opinions heard, enhance collaboration with each other and learn about the OAS in order to influence its decision making. (Caribbean Net News).
Civil Society Gains Strength at African Union (September 11, 2008)
The Economic, Social and Cultural Council (ECOSOCC) of the African Union has created a civil society council where NGOs with less than 50 percent foreign funding will be allowed to participate. NGOs can use it as a platform to address leaders from the 25 African countries that will take part in the council. (Inter Press Service)
Civil Society Claims Its Place At AU Summits (January 27, 2007)
The African Forum and Network on Debt & Development (AFRODAD), the Africa Governance Monitoring and Advocacy Project (AfriMAP) and Oxfam UK commissioned a study on the workings of the African Union (AU). The report calls on the AU to improve preparations for its twice-yearly summits to allow NGOs a greater level of participation. Although the AU set up the Economic, Social and Cultural Council (ECOSOCC) "to give an official voice to civil society" within the pan-African organization, this article points out that many NGOs remain excluded from the AU policymaking process. (Angola Press)
African CSO Concerns on Exclusion from AU Summits (May 17, 2006)
In this petition to the Commission of the African Union (AU), 56 African Civil Society representatives argue that their exclusion from subsequent AU Summits will stall rather than accelerate policy making efforts for the resolution of the continent's development problems. They suggest that the AU should establish "transparent standards and access requirements" for host countries to ensure that security agents do not harass NGO delegates at summits. (Pambazuka)
Islamic Civil Society Organizations Form Humanitarian Forum (October 29, 2005)
Since 9/11, Western governments and civil society have increasingly scrutinized Islamic NGOs. As a result, a British-based Islamic NGO has convened an ongoing five-year forum for NGOs based in the Middle East. In this forum, Muslim organizations will collaborate, and learn world standards for civil society that they would otherwise not be informed of, since distrust from other NGOs often blocks vital lines of communication. (Yemen Observer)
African Civil Society and the African Union: Time for Self-Organization? (June 16, 2005)
At the 2005 African Union (AU) Heads of State Summit, the AU opted, without explanation, not to sponsor a parallel civil society summit for African NGOs. Pambazuka questions why "at a time when rock musicians and pop stars across the West can claim to have influence on the future of Africa," African NGOs have been silenced on the issues most pertinent to their existence. In order to deflect the risk of obsolescence, African NGOs must organize quickly to coordinate their own, independent meeting.
NGOs and the OECD (June 2003)
This article says that the OECD takes an interest in increasing its engagement with civil society. The article also describes the mechanisms within the OECD that NGOs can use for advocacy. (BOND)
Whose Mekong is it? NGOs Call on Region's Leaders to Open the Doors (November 11, 2002)
NGOs argue that the 65 million people affected by the Asian Development Bank's program in the Greater Mekong Subregion are excluded from the decision making process. NGOs are concerned that future plans supposedly meant to address poverty will actually exacerbate it and that corporations will continue to profit at the expense of local people. (AlertNet)
NGO Consultation Meeting - Paris, France, November 20, 1999
The OECD Secretary-General Donald J. Johnston has invited representatives of civil society to a consultative meeting at OECD headquarters to explain new OECD initiatives and hear the views of various stakeholders on biotechnology and other aspects of food safety.
