At the opening ceremony of the CIVICUS global assembly in Scotland, participants were asked to jot out their dreams for a better world on a piece of paper. By the end of the day, more than 1,000 dreams had been pinned up together onto a single wall CIVICUS is the World Alliance for Citizen Participation, an international alliance of an estimated 1,000 members in about 100 countries that has worked for over a decade to strengthen citizen action and civil society the world over. This year and for the coming two years, the global assembly was set to be held in Scotland. Within the premises provided by the alliance, a community of informed, inspired and committed citizens debated on how to confront the challenges facing humanity, raise the voices and opinions of the ordinary and give expression to the enormous creative energy of the burgeoning sector of civil society. This year, CIVICUS, in collaboration with the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations, hosted its sixth global assembly, calling for action for civic, economic, political and social justice. Throughout human history, so long as there has been oppression, citizen action has been taken to reap justice. The latest United Nations human development report emphasised the role of civil society as being on a par in importance with that of governments in the global effort towards attaining sustainable development and improving human rights records. The CIVICUS workshops and plenary ran for days discussing hot topics that ranged from questioning political leaders, to hearing out civil society, to the role of men in the fight for gender equality. One of the most interesting workshops was on the lessons learnt from civil society participating in pursuing in the millennium development goals where the general outcome was that the awareness of civil society and their beneficiaries of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) were hardly tangible. Another mini-plenary on political justice raised many questions by Amani Qandil, director of the Arab Network for NGOs, on how far counter-terrorism efforts and legislation are in fact impeding democracy. Qandil highlighted the fact that only seven representatives from Muslim NGOs had been invited to the assembly, noting that this undermined the positive role some faith-based civil society organisations could play in development. Rather disappointed with this year's event, she explained to Al-Ahram Weekly, "in the old days, the workshops were more vibrant, and the flow of information was enormous, as books and research [papers] were reviewed and discussed, and a greater variety of people attended." From another angle, Medhat Mouris, media spokesperson of the Coptic Evangelic Organisation for Social Services (CEOSS), one of the oldest and most prominent in the field of sustainable development in Egypt and among the founders of CIVICUS, explained that he believed that the assembly was successful in creating think-tanks resulting from collective ideas for development and the exchange of experiences. "I see the objectives of the assembly as being more long-term, for, despite being a global event, those represented are still on an individual level," he told the Weekly, adding that any truly effective impact must come from the bottom up. Asked about the challenges facing Egyptian civil society, Mouris said, "it is the lack of transparency and objectives in the majority of the 15,000 and counting NGOs that make their vision blurry as they slowly grow fund-driven." As for the significance of the chosen location for the assembly, indeed the vibrancy of Scotland's civil society stands as a solid example worth heeding. For a population of approximately five million, there are approximately 55,000 NGOs in Scotland, presented by one council and a newspaper. However, on a parallel note, at the debate, co- organised by the British Council Scotland on the relationship between media and civil society, the gap between the mainstream and new media on the one hand and civil society on the other remains significant. On a larger scale, the issue of global civil society might have united many people from all walks of life in the name of humanity. However, this unity faces similar obstacles and challenges the world over, including transparency and accountability, to name but a few. Having a global agenda needs much sustainable development on the local level in order to keep a global promise. Asked whether the impact of global civil society could perhaps be strengthened through CIVICUS's adaptation of a different approach, attaining development goals from the national onto the global level, and so create a common guideline for development networks and a rather tangible common goal, CIVICUS's Secretary-General Kumi Naidoo replied: "the question bears part of the answer. But then again there is a need to explore the possibility of a global campaign that would expand the parameters of progress, for what are the basic civic rights if you want, so part of that is yet to be decided upon the findings and feedback of all the assembly's workshops." Against all odds, CIVICUS continue to play an immense role in the realm of global society. Having initiated a global call to action against poverty, it has also created its own input in global civil society. As CIVICUS Chairperson Aruna Raor put it, "it's about walking that thin line between hope and cynicism, and choosing hope."
