The Civil Society Capacity Building Program covers many different topics such as “Place and role of civil society”, “Access to international funds and project techniques”, “Lobbying in international organizations”, “Right Seeking Mechanisms in International Organizations” and many more.
Qualified experts share their experiences with members of civil society.
The United Nations Security Council, at its 5264th meeting on 20 June 2005, put on the agenda the item titled “The role of civil society in the prevention of conflicts and the peaceful resolution of conflicts”.
Council explained that civil society is able to identify new threats and sources of concern faster than the United Nations system, and is an indispensable factor in successful political processes and post-conflict reconciliation in “parallel” and “people-to-people” diplomacy, which is often the key to success.
Also added that civil society organizations can also connect on the ground with parties that governments cannot reach, and enrich the work of the United Nations through valuable analyzes of the situation on the ground.
For all these reasons, they stated that non-governmental organizations would play a key role in the establishment of the Peacebuilding Commission. They called on governments, international financial institutions, regional organizations and civil society to work together as partners to increase the effectiveness of conflict prevention and peacebuilding strategies.
Council insisted on the necessity of an overall strategy for the prevention of conflicts and the peaceful resolution of conflicts. Reaffirming that this strategy should be based on the participation of governments, regional and non-governmental organisations; They emphasized that a vibrant and diverse civil society can play a role in the peaceful resolution of conflicts as well as in conflict prevention.
Council also noted that a solid and inclusive civil society can play a leading role within communities, shape public opinion and facilitate reconciliation of communities in conflict.
Civil society is a key element that is increasingly involved in development debates and policy recommendations. The search for a balance between the two models after the disruptions and inadequacies experienced in the state or market-oriented development models led civil society to come to the fore as an important player.
In this process, the concept of rising governance within the framework of the changing role of the state has a great importance. The concept of governance, which is interpreted as the state, market and civil society acting in harmony, has been a concept emphasized by international institutions, especially the World Bank, and inculcated in developing countries.
Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), which are the institutional representatives of civil society, have been an important pillar of governance in cooperation with the state and private sector in the development process, in a way they are positioned as the “Third Sector”.
Thus, the roles of NGOs have also changed. NGOs, which are positioned as auxiliary and/or supportive in development policies, have taken a more autonomous (determinant) position.
It is seen that NGOs are mostly in close contact with international organizations and states and their roles are shaped in connection with this.
In order to contribute to this process and to strengthen civil society within this framework, we are conducting the Civil Society Capacity Building Program.
In this context;
- We must strengthen our capacities. We must increase the knowledge and experience of civil society, strengthen their contacts with international organizations and mechanisms, and help them generate more services and jobs by providing them with access to international funds.
- We must discover ourselves, share our opportunities, potentials, projects, dreams, negotiate and dream together for a fairer world in peace.
- We must produce common concrete projects for the peoples of the world.
- We must stand up against those who invade our countries on the basis of power, exploit our wealth, cause poverty, immigration and wars regardless of color, belief or race, and work with a sense of justice for all.
What does the program include?
Right seeking mechanisms in international organizations,
Civil society and lobbying in international organizations,
Access to international funds and project techniques.
