The Limits of “Good Law”: Civil Society Regulation in South Africa and Ethiopia

At the end of apartheid, the South African government adopted laws regulating civil society that are widely seen as “good” laws: laws designed to encourage and facilitate a thriving civil society sector. In 2019 the Ethiopian government repealed the repressive, decade-old Charities and Societies Proclamation and replaced it with a much more open and permissive regulatory system, also aimed at facilitating a thriving civil society sector. This article compares South Africa's post-apartheid civil society organization (CSO) laws with Ethiopia's 2019 law, to examine the different and overlapping ways in which these regimes attempt to advance the interests of CSOs against an historical background of state oppression. In doing so, it examines what “good” regulation of CSOs constitutes in practice and finds that there are significant limits to the effectiveness of regulatory change in addressing the many, complex problems CSOs face, especially in the wake of political and legal oppression.

Persistence of The Tarekat Naqsabandiyah in Local Politics of Indonesia Post New Order

In the Indonesian context, tarekat is seen as a social movement with a broad impact. Its existence and activity need to be paid attention to by the State, society, and other political infrastructure. Many experts have carried out the discourse on tarekat with various points of view. This study focuses on the socio-political sphere of tarekat and its movements in local Indonesian politics after the Soeharto Era using a qualitative approach with interpretive data analysis involving the informants who understand the tarekat activity in Rokan Hulu in depth. The emergence of spiritual organs with various ideological variants, visions, and missions indicates the strengthening of civil supremacy in Indonesia. As part of a religious civil society organization, the Naqsyabandiyah order can grow and exert a strong influence on the dynamics of Indonesian local democracy, especially in Rokan Hulu - Riau. The existence of this movement strengthens Bruinessen's argument about the tarekat as a "storehouse of sounds," whose symbolization of motion is described by the gesture and commands of the teacher. After the New Order, there was a shift in the political orientation of this group; the nature of taqlid to master teachers was only for religious matters, while on political issues, there was a shift in direction that was more directed at the individual interests of the congregation. Even so, the Naqsyabandiyah Rokan Hulu tarekat could still maintain its existence and political power.

A Risk Communication Strategy to Support Implementation Child Rights Protection Program: A Descriptive Qualitative Study in ALIT Indonesia Foundation during the COVID-19 Pandemic

During the pandemic COVID-19, the number of Child Rights violations have been increased such as sexual harassment, the exploitation of the children, and child abuse. Moreover, during the regulation such as “lockdown” that forced people to stay at home has been putting the children into another risks. Thus, it is important for Civil Society Organization (CSO) who works with the children to have its risk communication strategy in its Child Rights Protection (CRP) program implementation. This study is to address the risk communication and community engagement (RCCE) strategy in supporting the sustainability of CRP program implementation in ALIT Indonesia Foundation during pandemic COVID-19. The writer assumed that the organization has been applied a good strategy for its risk management. Moreover, using a descriptive qualitative research methods and data gathering from interview and literature review, it founds that the risk communication strategy adjustment applied by ALIT Indonesia Foundation on its CRP program implementation not only helped the organization in working with the children and their family as the target group, but also giving advocacy about the Child Rights to the stakeholders during pandemic COVID-19. The organization run some strategies based on the government’s health protocols during pandemic, such as physical distancing, wearing mask, hand washing. They also use social media such as Zoom, WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube to outreach their target group who live in the internet-accessible area, but for those who are living in the remote area, they had field staffs as the interconnector to their volunteer in the field, and spread the key messages of the CRP program through local radio station, or they gather the children of 4 who live nearby to disseminate the information.

Bem-estar Animal e Inovação Social: Evidências a partir de um Estudo de Caso no Sul do Brasil

This study examined the Cão Terapia (Dog Therapy) project, developed by a civil society organization, in order to verify how it generates social innovation based on practices focused on animal welfare. It is a qualitative case study, with an exploratory and descriptive approach. It consists of literature review, documentary research, participant observation, and interviews with volunteers and managers of the Bem-Animal organization. Bem-Animal seeks to promote the welfare of animals rescued by the government after complaints of abuse, being run over, and other serious situations. We found that the initiatives of this organization result in social innovation, above all, by providing social actions contrary to the speciesist, instrumental, and consumerist mentalities. They contribute to an experience of ethical precepts and to the consolidation of rights for non-human animals within the society.

The Joint Collaborations between the International Human Rights Movement (IHRM) Philippines and Igniting Young Minds (IDYM) Philippines, Pachyderm Tales India in attaining its Sustainability, Development and Goals

The Pandemic brought huge problems in the global community not only in the economic sector but also it has a psychological impact to idle individuals who lost their jobs. Amidst the Pandemic Situations there are also helpful groups who are willing to devote and spent their time in conducting Free International Webinars. IDYM Foundation Philippines and in collaboration with the International Human Rights Movement Philippines (IHRM-Phils, Inc) will be conducting series of International Webinars which will tackle about Human Rights, Educational Technology related issues, and Research Related topics that can help our shape up our individuals and make them more productive and think of other ways to survive from the pandemic we are facing right now. The purpose of this study is to strengthen the collaboration between other NGOs or Civil Society Organization in this time of pandemic that we can work together to support our community in other ways such as by giving free webinars that will help shape their futures

Practice Theory and the Opening Up of International Organizations

Scholars researching international organizations’ (IO) inclusion of transnational and local civil society organization (CSO) have provided compelling insights; however, according to their self-evaluation, many of these insights remain at a general level. Against this backdrop, I propose two complementary claims. First, I identify a bias in the literature that has focused on large, Western IOs. What non-Western or small IOs do and how their practices interact with CSO inclusion in different localities is often missed. Second, based on bourgeoning practice theoretical literature on IOs and CSOs, I claim that practice theory can add to research on IO-CSO. In spite of internal pluralism, practice theory refines constructivist methodologies for zooming in on IOs’ internal dynamics, daily practices, and performances of the practice of CSO inclusion, including in IO country offices. On the basis of my own field research, I also suggest that the practice of CSO inclusion interacts with power, gender, and race dynamics. In sum, practice theory can inform research on marginalized and often power-ridden specificities among and within IOs in relation to IO-CSO interaction.

Scaling Up

This chapter addresses the scalability and generalizability of an intervention like the one described in Chapter 4. In the construction of public works, a lack of accountability results in corruption and inefficiency. The question, then, is whether civil society oversight that is explicitly supported by a relevant public authority with sanctioning capacity will improve accountability. Or, as is sometimes argued, does the added scrutiny demoralize and distract officials, causing undesired delays? To approach an answer, this chapter describes a field experiment that builds on a sample of two hundred district governments in Peru. Half of the districts were randomly selected to enter into a control group. The other half received letters indicating that specific public works under their charge were being monitored by a civil society organization with the support of the country’s leading anticorruption agency. The results suggest that, even as districts in the two groups completed public works at a similar rate, the intervention lowered the cost of public works in the treatment group. This is evidence that the monitoring intervention resulted in overall efficiency gains.