Kinda Muhamadieh: Arab civil society is looking beyond political reforms

Kinda Muhamadieh

Tunisian and Egyptian civil society organizations “are not just looking at political reform, but also looking at economic reform, debt cancellation, and the relationship with the European Union (EU) and overall transition process,” according to Kinda Muhamadieh, programme manager at the Arab NGO Network for Development (ANND).

Muhamadieh was speaking about the on-going developments as a result of the Arab Spring and their positive ramifications for civil society in the region, at the UK National Council for Voluntary Organizations (NCVO) 2012 Annual Conference in London last week.

The ANND, member of the Social Watch network, includes 30 NGOs in 12 Arab countries.

Muhamadieh looked at the example of Egypt and Tunisia and said: “Civic dynamism has been very important. In Egypt, women’s groups have been active in engagement, opposing oppression and pushing for change.”

From this, Muhamadieh said the revolutions in these countries, and vitally, its civic society component parts were multidimensional in their influence.

“The civic agenda is diverse: it is about the politics and representation; but civil society organisations are not just looking at political reform, but also looking at economic reform, debt cancellation, and the relationship with the EU and overall transition process.”

Dr Lamia Abusedra, head of the international cooperation department at the Libyan ministry of culture, said, despite on-going events in Libya the future for Libyan civil society is positive.

“NGOs in Libya are here to stay. Civil Society will not be repressed like by the previous regime. There is no going back.”

On a more philosophical level, Abusedra observed: “What civil society means, it is true we are still fully developing. But people in Libya have the awareness. Citizenship is really active in Libya, and this is a developing process.”

Source

Charity Times: http://bit.ly/y3HbDw