HEADS of Civil Society Organisations (CSO) – non-governmental organisations (NGOs) are a subset of CSOs, and are often challenged with these questions: Of what real value are you to ordinary citizens? What tangible benefits and improvements do you bring to their lives? These questions are all the more relevant for organisations that don’t deliver services directly to citizens, but which work to improve how government responds to citizens – by promoting informed and open public debate.
In late October at the opening of CSO Week 2022 in Arusha, the matter was raised very directly and creatively. In a mock trial, a group of CSO leaders were put in the defender’s box, as a citizens’ prosecutor levelled a number of charges against them. These charges included being elitist, self-serving and having no impact on ordinary citizens’ lives. We were asked to show how, in concrete ways, CSOs contribute to making lives better. We welcomed the challenge, first because it is useful to question ourselves and to find ways we could do better, and second because CSOs have many powerful stories to tell that demonstrate how our work is making a difference.
Msichana Initiative’s inspiring work to legally protect the rights of girls against child marriage is one example. HakiRasilimali is working tirelessly for a fair deal for citizens in the mining and gas sectors. And there are a few stories from our own work at Twaweza in Tanzania which demonstrate that civil society more has done to improve things for citizens.
First, after a four-year pause, we published a Sauti za Wananchi brief highlighting citizens’ experiences and opinions on their economic well-being and on the year-old mobile money transactions levy. Our brief prompted a vibrant debate in the media and public discourse. Given this strong evidence of citizens’ views, the government responded first by explaining and justifying the levy. Then, a few weeks later, the Ministry of Finance reduced it by up to 43 per cent, thus delivering a concrete improvement to citizens’ financial wellbeing.
Second, from Kigoma-Ujiji to Pangani in Tanga, we work with several local NGOs to encourage and enable citizens to be more active in several districts, wards and villages. In a process we call “animation,” we train and mentor individuals as change agents, who then mobilise fellow citizens to attend regular village meetings, share their opinions and be bold in keeping their leaders accountable. As a result, participation in community meetings has jumped; citizens are prioritising and contributing more to local projects. They are keeping better watch on local leaders.
Third, in mid-October, a coalition of 15 CSOs organised to express their concerns about proposed amendments to Tanzania’s Commission for Science and Technology (COSTECH) Act. These amendments had serious negative implications for the freedom of expression through independent research. On October 19, we presented these concerns to the Parliamentary Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs. In November, the Committee’s report to the Speaker of Parliament confirmed that the entirety of the proposed amendments to the COSTECH Act had been withdrawn by the Government.
All citizens, have all enjoyed the benefits of the first of these examples: we save money so that we are better able to spend that money on things we need. The benefits from the second and third are less obvious. Skeptics will rightly ask how persuading citizens to attend public meetings helps to reduce poverty. Or how a better environment for researchers fills the stomachs of the hungry.
But just because the benefits to citizens are indirect, it doesn’t mean they are absent. Indeed, the first example demonstrates exactly how and why the third is so important. It is only because organisations like Twaweza are able to conduct surveys and research that we were able to bring citizens’ opinions to the attention of decision makers and to persuade them to revise policy. Similarly, when citizens actively engage with local leaders it becomes more likely that concrete actions will be taken that address their immediate, direct needs.
It is about so much more than just research and surveys and animation. It is about civil society playing to its strengths and being at its best. When the media is able to freely report on the issues facing citizens, when academics are able to dig deep into the causes of poverty and effects of particular policies without hindrance, when trade unions can speak up for their members without fear, and when ordinary people, individually or in organised groups, can confidently air their views in public, everyone wins.
Everyone wins when public debate is open, free and robust, people are engaged, challenges and choices are identified, a wider range of possible solutions emerge, and better decisions are made by communities and by government. A vibrant civil society is a hallmark of a civilised society.