Civil Society in the Arab Region: The Needed Role and the Obstacles to Fulfillment

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Civil Society in the Arab Region The Needed
Role and the Obstacles to Fulfillment

• by Ziad Abdel Samad

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Context of the Paper
Looking beyond the legal framework
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Definition and Classification of Civil Society

• Definition and classification- are essential
  factors for Civil Society development
• Typology Situating Civil Society between the
  Market, State, and Family
• Various Definitions of Civil Society

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• It is important to consider the family in
  developing countries as a third border to civil
  society.
• Structures built on family relations, i.e.,
  tribal, clan, and religious considerations, are
  not considered civil society.
• In the Arab region, civil society is referred to
  as the indigenous sector.
• This stems from the weakness of the notion of
  citizenship in Arab societies.

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Comprehensive definition of civil society

• The legal aspect
• The economic aspect
• The functional aspect
• The structural and operational aspect

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Why is the structural operational classification
more adequate?

• structure of the organization
• relationship to the government
• financial structure
• governance and operation
• its contribution to enhancing social capital

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Civil Society in the Arab Region Role and
Challenges (Regional challenges)

• Militarization peace and security
• The Political Context political reforms
• The socio-economic context
• Cultural diversity

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Civil Society in the Arab Region Role and
Challenges( Challenges specific to each country)

• Legal System
• Level of Development
• Level of Centralization
• Governmental Policies
• Cultural and Religious Relations among the
  Society

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Tools for studying civil society Example the
Civil Society Diamond

• The CSD Four dimensions
• the structure
• the impact
• 3) the environment
• 4) the ethics (values and culture)
• Seventy Four indicators
• The purpose of the CSD assessment of core facets
  of civil society define its weaknesses and
  strengths

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Analysis of CSOs in the Arab Region survey
conducted for purposes of paper

• Questionnaires (reflected on the civil society
  Index)
• 104 CSOs in 11 countries, (sent)
• 25 CSOs from 8 countries (responded)
• Sixty-six questions in four main sections
• general information on the organization, its
  legal status, objectives, internal governance and
  outcome (target groups and activities)
• the legal framework within which the CSO operated
  
• the CSOs understanding of the role of civil
  society
• the social and political environment in which the
  CSO operated

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Outcomes of the SurveyAbout Vision and Internal
Governance

• Weak understanding of the main elements of
  internal governance (vision and mission
  statement, adopted strategy, internal structure
  and organization chart)
• Problem of internal governance may be related to
  the lack of experience
• Ambiguity relating to the hierarchical relations
  within the organization the relations among the
  governing bodies, the executive level (staff),
  constituency (membership and volunteers) and
  target groups.

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What is your organizations vision?
Adequate Vision
Irrelevant Answer
No Answer
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Auditing system
What type of auditing system does your CSO use?
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Governmental regulator

• The relation with the government can vary
  according to the type of the NGO
• For service delivery CSOs, coordination with the
  concerned ministries is needed
• Advocacy CSOs perceive that this can lead to a
  kind of government co-option and therefore reject
  such coordination

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Principal Government Regulator
No Answer
Other
Ministry of Social Affairs
Ministry of Justice
Ministry of Interior
Ministry of NGOs / Civil Society
Conservative Countries
Liberal Countries
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Legal system/Legal system obstacle
Do traditions and tribal relations have an
impact on your work?
Is the legal framework an obstacle to the
development of your CSO?
No Answer
No
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20
Yes
Yes
52
No
76
32
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Funding restrictions/ Various obstacles
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Tribal relations/ Impact of tradition
How does tradition negatively impact the work
done by your CSO?
Liberal Countries
Conservative Countries
Impact on Understanding of the Difference Between
Rights and Charity
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What are the main disabling factors affecting
your CSO?
Conservative Countries
Liberal Countries
Cultural Factors
Political Factors
Human Resources
Other Factors
Socio-economic Factors
Financial Factors
Legal Factors
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Conclusions

• Importance of a clear definition of the third
  sector, considering the special nature of the
  sector
• Importance of typology and classification of the
  sector taking into account five characteristics
  for non-for-profit association the structural
  definition, voluntary, self-governing, private,
  institutional, and non-profit
• Reform of the legal framework is important but
  not sufficient
• The law should protect the third sector from the
  tendencies of the state to exert control over the
  civil society organizations and, at the same
  time, create an enabling environment that
  enhances their role and empowers their
  capacities.

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Conclusions Recommendations for the external
challenges

• The elaboration of an adequate legal system that
  contributes to the creation of an enabling
  environment for the third sector.
• The elaboration of comprehensive national
  strategies and policies This should be the result
  of a participatory process in which the various
  stakeholders (the state, the business sector, and
  the third sector) should take part.
• The need to reform political structures and
  institutions,
• Economic, social and cultural reforms.
• Regional coordination and networking among civil
  society organizations
• Developing a regional comprehensive vision and
  strategies for peace building and security,
  establishing democracy and respect of human
  rights and achieving sustainable development.
• The civil society needs to elaborate a vision,
  mission and strategies. It also needs structural
  reforms which lead to the elaboration of good
  internal governance.

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Conclusions recommendations for the internal
governance

• Institutional sustainability
• Code of conducts
• Vision and mission and strategies (participatory
  process).
• Organizational capacities (administrative and
  financial management)
• Capacity in advocacy, lobbying and dialogue
  techniques.
• Networking (local, regional and international
  levels)
• Accountability and transparency