Civil Society Space in Africa

If there is an event or a series of events that demonstrate the need to protect democracy and reclaim the space for civil society; it is none other than the uprisings in North Africa and the Middle East. These have reaffirmed the crucial point in democratic and transitional studies; that is; that economic development without political and social progress is not sustainable. By all standards and indices, North Africa was always rated highly in terms of economic performance, yet simmering underneath was a revolution as a result of the closure of the public sphere. So when in 2011, popular uprisings spread like bushfire in that region, many in academia, media, civil society and governments were caught unprepared. Change came from unexpected circles, challenging assumed doctrines and theories associated with the functionality of organised formations

The Legislative Environment for Civil Society In Africa A Synthesis Report

This paper is therefore a discussion of the legislative environment under which civil society, in particular organized formations, operate in Africa. It is based on twelve African countries (Angola, DRC, Ethiopia, Liberia, Mauritius, Mozambique, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe). In all these countries we studied civil/state relations, existing NGO laws and NGO policies, including other laws that have an impact on NGOs, national constitutions, processes and the general political economy of the third sector. The merging findings point to some interesting conclusions. More studies are underway in Botswana, Cameroon, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Namibia, Nigeria, Senegal, and Swaziland. The findings from these will be integrated into the current paper. This paper is therefore work in progress -- nevertheless the countries studied already are significant to begin a discourse on state/civil society relations, public spaces, and the general legislative environment for citizens and their formations. One of the emerging findings is that the political context determined the emergence of these legal instruments

Transformative Innovations in African Philanthropy

The Rockerfeller Foundatio

Transformative Innovations in African Philanthropy, Briefing Summary

This is a summary of a discussion paper on philanthropy in Africa in its many manifestations and how it seeks to address the promotion of wellbeing

Establishing a Civil Society Support Mechanism with the Pan African Parliament (PAP), the New Partnership for Africas Development (NEPAD) and the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM)

The Southern Africa Trust would like to thank the research team that was led by Bhekinkosi Moyo of TrustAfrica. He was assisted by Che Ajulu; Michele Ruiters and Nhamo Samasuwo of the Institute for Global Dialogue. The lead researcher wishes to thank Michele and Che for reading and commenting on the preliminary report. From Southern Africa Trust, appreciation goes to Neville Gabriel, Barbara Kalima- Phiri and Thembinkosi Mhlongo, who gave valuable support and input into the study. The study would not have been possible without the participation of various respondents throughout southern Africa and the rest of the continent. The Southern Africa Trust also extends its gratitude and appreciation to delegates who participated in the first-ever dialogue meeting between CSOs and the Pan African Parliament in May (7-8) 2007 at the margins of the 7th Session of the Pan African Parliament. Their contributions have been integrated into the report

Infrastructure in Focus: A New Global Picture of Organizations Serving Philanthropy

Infrastructure in Focus: A New Global Picture of Organizations Serving Philanthropy is the second global picture of organizations serving philanthropy presented by WINGS that reflects on how we, as a field, can grow and strengthen philanthropy infrastructure worldwide

Infrastructure in Focus: A New Global Picture of Organizations Serving Philanthropy - Indonesian Version

Infrastructure in Focus: A New Global Picture of Organizations Serving Philanthropy is the second global picture of organizations serving philanthropy presented by WINGS that reflects on how we, as a field, can grow and strengthen philanthropy infrastructure worldwide

Infrastructure in Focus: A New Global Picture of Organizations Serving Philanthropy - Mandarin Chinese Version

Infrastructure in Focus: A New Global Picture of Organizations Serving Philanthropy is the second global picture of organizations serving philanthropy presented by WINGS that reflects on how we, as a field, can grow and strengthen philanthropy infrastructure worldwide

The Shrinking Space for Civil Society : Philanthropic Perspectives From Across the Globe

The shrinking space for civil society and reported violations to fundamental and democratic rights are a global phenomenon. Foundations and other philanthropic organisations have reported problematic laws in Algeria, China, Columbia, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Russia, Syria and Zimbabwe, just to name a few. And EU countries are hardly immune. Of serious concern have been ongoing challenges to civic rights in Hungary, UK surveillance programmes, anti-protest laws in Spain, counterterrorism measures in France, and attacks in Poland on the freedom of public media and the independence of the judiciary. In this publication, a group of European Foundation Centre members working across the globe share their thoughts on and experience of the shrinking space for civil society. This publication signals the EFC's ambition to scan the landscape on developments important to its members in an effort to contribute intelligence and capture the experience of foundations to make sense of the increasingly complex and interconnected world in which we all live. The insights from foundations and other philanthropic organisations on this issue are particularly valuable as these organisations, due to their funding practice and policy work, are often ahead of the curve in terms of what's happening on the ground

Effects of frequent veld fires on the seed bank of Herbaceous species at different soil depths in Matopos Research Institute, a semi-arid part of Zimbabwe.

Veld fires are very common in the semi-arid tropics, in Zimbabwe alone they frequently occur causing damage to the environment and infrastructure in hence their effect was investigated. The project was carried out in Mahiye a farm in Matopos Research Institute (MRI) and Tshabalala game sanctuary with the aim of investigating the effect of the frequent veld fires on the soil seed bank of herbaceous species. The effect of fire was investigated on three depth levels these being the0-3cm, 3-6cm and 6-9cm. Twelve 100m2 plots were marked in the two sites, 6 in burnt site (Mahiye) and the other 6 in unburnt site (Tshabalala). A species composition survey was done in the plots and identified 32 species. The Mahiye site was burnt before soil sampling, and collected in sequence at soil depths of 0-3cm, 3-6cm and 6-9cm. The soil samples were then germinated on heat sterilised sand in a greenhouse. A total of 1472 plants emerged but only 477 (32.4%) managed to survive up to species identification stage. A total of 21 and 18 species, including forbs and sage, germinated from the burnt and unbumt sit respectively. Grasses dominated both sites and there were no significant differences (P>0.05) in the germination frequencies of the plants between burnt and unbunrt site meaning fire did not affect seed bank in the burnt site. Amongst the species that emerged in the germination trials there were new species like Disitariaveluting. Digitaiia tenatta and sorehumversicolor while other species did not grow in the germination trials. This meant there were significant differences (P<0.05 between species emergence between the in-situ and ex-situ species emergence. The results of the trial also showed that viable seed are mostly found in the upper horizon, the 03cm, while the 3-6 and 69cm did not show significant differences according to the Duncan’s multiple range test.. However when comparing germination frequencies between the three depth levels they showed significant differences (P<0.05). The frequency of increasers, decreasers and invaders did differ significantly between the sites. The burnt and unbumt sites were dominated by decreaser species in the 0-3cm, followed by increaser species in the burnt site and invaders in the unbent site