As the year comes to a close, I would like to invite you to reflect with me on some of the highlights that have characterised civil society efforts over the past twelve months.

Sadly, one of the dominant trends of the past year has been the ever-growing number of countries that are passing legislation to restrict the rights and activities of civil society. Many of these actions have been “justified” in the name of the so-called “war on terror.” As a result, we will almost certainly be called upon in 2007 to increase our efforts to support and help defend civil society organisations and activists who are being threatened across the world. I therefore appeal to you to consider becoming involved more closely with the work of CIVICUS’ Civil Society Watch Programme, and to sign up for the monthly CSW Bulletin that specifically tracks these threats to civil society.

As civil society has grown more powerful, not only at the national level but also globally, governments and critics of civil society increasingly question the legitimacy, transparency and accountability of civil society. This past June, a diverse group of international NGOs agreed to an International NGO Accountability Charter, which illustrates civil society’s commitment to ensure that we maintain the highest ethical standards possible and that we never take the high level of public trust that we enjoy for granted. There are several efforts of civil society to develop self-regulation mechanisms at the local, national and global levels. Some of these are broad and generic in nature while others are tailored to specific sectors of civil society.

One of the realities that civil society organisations must increasingly come to terms with is that unless we can find greater common ground for dialogue and action we will not have the impact that is necessary to create a more just world. The unification this past November of the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU), the World Confederation of Labour, as well as a few other independent trade unions, was probably one of the most important steps toward greater unity in recent years, and has important lessons for NGOs and other parts of civil society.

The ongoing efforts of the Global Call to Action against Poverty (GCAP) also holds hope for united civil society action across countries, sectors and regions. In October, around the International Day for Poverty Eradication, GCAP led a mobilisation effort called Stand Up Against Poverty. According to the Editor-in-Chief of the Guinness Book of Records, the 23,5 million people who participated constituted the largest-ever mobilisation of people in a twenty-four-hour period in the history of the Guinness Book of Records. These actions – which seek to keep pressure on governments to deliver on their fairly modest commitments and to open up pathways to participation by new constituencies of citizens – shows the importance of civil society continuing to focus on the considerable number of areas where there is agreement and common ground, and to agree to respectfully disagree on the smaller number of areas of difference.

The challenge for us in 2007 is to reflect deeply, from the local to the global levels, on how we as civil society can enhance and improve our effectiveness. We are called upon to recognise that one of our strengths is our diversity, while also recognising that diversity can sometimes be used as an excuse for parochialism, or to justify a lack of willingness to explore collaborative ways of working and sometimes pursuing individualistic approaches to social change for the greater public good. I sincerely hope that in 2007, the myriad, diverse organisations, constituencies and communities that constitute civil society will create space to talk more about how we can act together more effectively to create a just world.

On behalf of the Board of Directors of CIVICUS and my colleagues on staff we thank you for your support of the work of CIVICUS, and extend a warm hand of friendship to you. We invite you to join us again next year as we struggle to defend democracy, promote justice, and create a more inclusive world where all citizens have voice, meaningful opportunities for public participation, and – ultimately – the ability to live and work in dignity.

Thank you for all that you do to make the world a better place. Let’s join hands again in 2007, rested and refreshed, and re-energised to continue the important struggle that we have chosen. On behalf of all of us at CIVICUS, we wish you, your family and friends, and your colleagues, the very best for 2007. May peace, justice and true democracy reign supreme.

For more information, please email kumi@civicus.org.

Warmest regards,

Kumi Naidoo