CIVICUS

CIVICUS is an international non-profit organisation, which describes itself as “a global alliance dedicated to strengthening citizen action and civil society around the world. Founded in 1993, the organisation today has members in more than 145 countries, with its headquarters in Johannesburg and offices in London, Geneva and New York.

In 1991, an international group of 20 leaders from Non Governmental Organisations (NGOs) and social movements met to explore how to support citizen participation in governmental decision-making processes. This process culminated in 1993 when a founding board established CIVICUS from the Latin term meaning "of the community".

The organisation works to protect and grow civic space where people can express and organise themselves. In particular, the organisation focuses on regions where participatory democracy and freedom of association are at risk. CIVICUS counts among its central values: Justice and Equality, where all people are free to exercise their rights as citizens as defined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

In service of its mission and values, the organisation’s primary areas of activity are:

CIVICUS has approximately 30 members of staff and is led by Dr Dhananjayan Sriskandarajah, who became Secretary General in January 2013. The governing body of CIVICUS is an International Board of 13 civil society leaders from 13 countries.

Revenue to support the operations of CIVICUS is derived from multiple sources, including institutional funders, individual contributions, membership fees, and registration fees for the CIVICUS World Assembly. The aggregated income for 2013/2014 was roughly $3.5 million USD with notable contributions from SIDA, Department of Foreign Affairs (Ireland), Freedom House and the European Commission.

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