PRIA’s contributions in empowering civil society has two pillars – conceptualising civil society as a “sector” (third pillar), and building capacities of civil society, voluntary and non-profit organisations to promote people’s participation based on the principles and approaches of our unique Participatory Training Methodologies.
The civil society sector continues to face two broad challenges:
The civil society sector must be able to build resilience through leadership and strategies that adapt to new circumstances.
Though civil society is independent and autonomous of the state and the market, it is not independent of the people. Finding common ground and connecting with people’s movements helps build horizontal solidarity.
We must build the capacities of local citizen leaders. Adaptation, resilience and sustainable development is possible when leadership is encouraged and developed from inside the communities, especially through the participation of women and other vulnerable groups.
Working together with humility and understanding the efforts taken by others are important, as every organisation’s commitment and obligation towards social causes is equal. Partnership among civil society organisations should be steered by shared values and strategies.
It is important to recognise that a participatory approach to knowledge changes the way we can bring about change.
Continuous engagement and communication with others through sharing of knowledge and capacity building efforts can also be useful for one’s own future efforts and struggles.
Civil society needs to reject ‘conditional funding’. Long-term, patient risk capital, with systematic funding over several rounds, is imperative for building the foundational capacity of civil society organisations.
It is also important to prioritise adaptive management. Organisations should undergo self-assessment based on their experiential learning, articulate their values, and build internal capacities to undertake new solutions that address social problems. Spend time re-examining how change happens and develop a shared understanding with everyone in the ecosystem about what results we want to see on the ground.
Adapt impact measurement methods and learn new instruments for generating data and evidence, which measure those changes that are making people’s lives better. Use this to influence governments and markets to generate support for a sustainable level of investment in the organisation.
Civil society cannot be empowered without an enabling environment from international development agencies, multilateral agencies, and government-led cooperation, which caters to the diversity of civil society actions locally, nationally and globally.
Donors have the primary responsibility to be progressive. They need to have the courage to try something new and develop a large tolerance for failure. This is important to restore the agency of civil society for innovation.
There is a need for creating a safer sector-wide space where funders can have conversations with each other and reflect on their actions.
Civil society adds values to development cooperation by bringing expertise from the grassroots, holding government and intergovernmental agencies accountable, and explaining complex issues to the layperson. A clear policy position on the value of an inclusive and independent civil society, in line with rights to the freedom of peaceful assembly, association and expression, can incentivise civil society to be more effective, transparent and accountable, and bring Indian civil society experiences and innovations to the world
National Policy on Voluntary Sector 2007
Incubating CSOs
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The Joy of Giving
