Lies or stories?

Lies or stories?Is there so much as a routine, when you're doing field research in Northern Uganda? Follow Marjoke in this new blog on her visits to the villages of Kitgum district.

Why bother to work on governance

Marjoke Oosterom (Institute of Development Studies, UK) carries out her PhD research on civic participation in local government structures in Northern Uganda. In 2010, she will do her field research in the districts Kitgum and Apac. In this blog she tells about her experiences based on interviews carried out in the capital and in Gulu and Kitgum districts.

Civil Society Building Programme Publications

The Civil Society Building Programme Publications currently consists of two working paper series. Both series are aimed at better understanding and improving the contribution of civil society building efforts to facilitate changes in the unequal balance of power in favour of vulnerable and marginalised groups. The Power of Civil Society Working Paper Series showcases young researchers findings on various aspects of civil society building. For instance how movies can prove to be a powerful to...

Claims to Success: ICT based Advocacy for the Protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa

How can the internet be used to promote the advocacy efforts by civil society organizations? In this paper, Caroline Kemp reflects on this question by examining the Solidarity for Women’s Rights Coalition (SOAWR) and their work towards promoting the Protocol for Women’s rights in Africa. The African Union adopted this protocol in 2005, but to date the ratification, popularization and implementation by member-states has been a slow process. SOAWR been instrumental in civic efforts to promote...

Avatar meets the Amazon: how to support indigenous movements?

Movies can prove to be a powerful tool to raise awareness for a certain cause. Recently the buzz around blockbuster Avatar is being used by environmental, indigenous and human rights organizations to create global media attention for their struggle. In Avatar the indigenous Na’vi people fight to save their land and traditional way of living on planet Pandora from human beings who want to destroy it to extract minerals for energy supply on planet Earth. The story in Avatar is based on fiction...

Social movements and NGO interaction

Are we entering a post-NGO era in development? Aid critics very much suggest so. Hailed as a magic bullet for development two decades ago, NGOs are increasingly criticized for being ineffective agents of change, out of touch with broader social currents in society and operating in a fragmented way. Under pressure to show results, NGOs and their donors are increasingly attempting to align with social movements in a bid to scale up their impact. Social movements are an older, looser form of or...

Social movements and NGO interaction

Are we entering a post-NGO era in development? Aid critics very much suggest so. Hailed as a magic bullet for development two decades ago, NGOs are increasingly criticized for being ineffective agents of change, out of touch with broader social currents in society and operating in a fragmented way. Under pressure to show results, NGOs and their donors are increasingly attempting to align with social movements in a bid to scale up their impact. Social movements are an older, looser form of or...

Avatar meets the Amazon: how to support indigenous movements?

Movies can prove to be a powerful tool to raise awareness for a certain cause. Recently the buzz around blockbuster Avatar is being used by environmental, indigenous and human rights organizations to create global media attention for their struggle. In Avatar the indigenous Na’vi people fight to save their land and traditional way of living on planet Pandora from human beings who want to destroy it to extract minerals for energy supply on planet Earth. The story in Avatar is based on fiction...

Avatar meets the Amazon: how to support indigenous movements?

Movies can prove to be a powerful tool to raise awareness for a certain cause. Recently the buzz around blockbuster Avatar is being used by environmental, indigenous and human rights organizations to create global media attention for their struggle. In Avatar the indigenous Na’vi people fight to save their land and traditional way of living on planet Pandora from human beings who want to destroy it to extract minerals for energy supply on planet Earth. The story in Avatar is based on fiction...

Claims to Success: ICT based Advocacy for the Protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa

How can the internet be used to promote the advocacy efforts by civil society organizations? In this paper, Karoline Kemp reflects on this question by examining the Solidarity for Women’s Rights Coalition (SOAWR) and their work towards promoting the Protocol for Women’s rights in Africa. The African Union adopted this protocol in 2005, but to date the ratification, popularization and implementation by member-states has been a slow process. SOAWR been instrumental in civic efforts to promote...