Latest additions to the repository
Institute of Social Studies and Hivos
Hivos Annual Report 2008
01/07/2009This is the Hivos annual report for 2008. It was a year in which we concentrated on innovating our approach and which produced good results. It was also a year that ushered in a new era and many uncertainties, but at the same time opened up new opportunities for the world. Hivos celebrated its fortieth anniversary and looked back on four decades of distinctive history with due pride.
Tags(s): Hivos
Demographers do not see a ‘clash of civilizations’
16/02/2009The article is a review of Le Rendez-vous des civilisations by Youssef Courbage and Emmanuel Todd (2007) and has been published in issue 12 of The Broker, the bimonthly magazine of the Foundation for International Development Publications (IDP) in Leiden, the Netherlands. This article is published within the framework of the Knowledge Programme Civil Society in West Asia, which aims to disseminate and integrate knowledge on roles and responsibilities for democratization through Civil Society Actors (CSAs) in Iran and Syria. Demographic data suggest that the world is not facing a ‘clash of civilizations’ between the Muslim and western world, according to Youssef Courbage and Emmanuel Todd. In their book, Courbage and Todd compare trends in Islamic nations with those of other countries. Parts of the Muslim world show a certain lag in the increase of literacy, a decline in the number of children born per couple, changing gender roles and shifting political ideologies. The overall pattern, however, is not much different from other parts of the world. The demographic development of Tunisia and Iran, for example, does no longer differ from that of France.
Tags(s): democratization, civil society, muslim world, demography
Civil society is dé oppositie van Afrika (in Dutch)
12/02/2009In many young democracies political parties are not well organized, this is partly due to a lack of (financial)support. Non-governementel organisations, however, do receive a lot of international support for their advocacy work. This has resulted in NGOs partly taking over the role of political opposition and political parties. In the long run this will curtail democratisation processes in Africa.
Tags(s): democratisation, politics, africa
Strengthening citizen agency through ICT: an extrapolation for Eastern Africa
01/01/2009Since the late 1990s, the prospect of using ICT (Information Communication Technologies) to improve accountability, transparency, access to information, and monitoring authorities has attracted general optimism. However, early hopes that e-initiatives would be the panacea of all the problems have given way to more modest claims. An aspect that has not received much attention so far is the use of ICT in support to citizen agency; to involve and inform communities and interact with and influence authorities. There are quite a few examples of successful smaller projects in this realm, also in developing countries. But new emerging technologies (e.g. mobile phones) create new momentum for strengthening citizen agency at larger scale. This paper focuses on the how ICT is already being used for this, and where the possibilities for the future lie.
Tags(s): ICT, Agency, development, citizen, eastern africa
Hivos Annual Report 2007
01/05/2008Hivos is a Dutch non-governmental organisation whose work is based on humanist values. Together with local civil society organisations in developing countries Hivos wants to contribute to the creation of a free, fair and sustainable world: a world in which citizens – women and men – have equal access to resources and opportunities for development. In which they are able to take an active and equal part in the decisionmaking processes that determine their lives, their society and their future.
Tags(s): Hivos, civil society