Civil society

Civil society is a vital component of governance and decentralization, the one

component that is supposed to vigilantly hold those in power accountable and to

promote democracy. Simply put, civil society is that sphere of action independent of

the State, within the realm of private sector and civil organizations, capable of

stimulating resistance to and change in undemocratic regimes. Civil society

organizations include non-governmental organizations, professional and private sector

associations and trade unions. They also include families, churches, neighborhood

groups, social groups and work groups. The capability and strength of civil society

depends on the operation of such organizations.(1)

A problem with civil society in the context of epidemics and pandemics, identified by

the HEG Expert Group Report, is that “civil society remains mostly the ‘weak part of the

picture’ or an obstacle to good implementation of measures, ‘something to be

‘educated’ and ‘informed’’, most solutions include improved communicating to civil

society but no real involvement of its relevant parts in the evaluation and management

of the crisis.”. The report raises a number of questions, like: “What processes,

pathways or organizational networks could be developed to facilitate interactions with

civil society?” and “What could be done to improve civil society’s long term resilience

with respect to pandemics”, and suggests possible solutions, such as novel o

rganisational or participatory ways to improve interaction, educational aspects,

improvement of fast access to trustworthy information and increased knowledge of

cultural and group-specific aspects of perceiving and managing threats. (2)

(1) United Nations Economic and Social Council, Definition of basic concepts and

terminologies in governance and public administration, UNESC Report, E/C.16/2006/4

(2) HEG Expert Group, Science, H1N1 and Society: towards a more pandemic-resilient

society, Final Report, 2011