Civil Society

 

Date: 01/12/2011 Description: Secretary Clinton addresses civil society audience at a Town Hall held in Muscat, Oman, on January 12, 2011. At right is moderator Yuthar Mohamed AlRawahi, founder and chairperson of the Omani National Association for Cancer Awareness. - State Dept Image   Date: 07/04/2010 Description: Secretary Clinton particpates in a roundtable with Azerbaijani civil society and youth leaders at the Mugham Club, Baku, Azerbaijan. Pictured with her left to right are: Ali Novruzov, Leyla Aslanova, Ramin Hajili, Vugar Safarov, Jeyhun Osmanli, Charge Don Lu, Jeyun Karamov, Gulsel Safarova, Rashad Shirin, Roya Talibova, and Zaur Akbar. © State Dept Image, U.S. Embassy Baku   Date: 01/28/2010 Description: Secretary Clinton meeting with women representatives of Afghan civil society, at the Afghan Conference press conference. - State Dept Image

"These three essential elements of a free nation -- representative government, a well-functioning market, and civil society -- work like three legs of a stool. They lift and support nations as they reach for higher standards of progress and prosperity. ...Civil society undergirds both democratic governance and broad-based prosperity."

--Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton

Strategic Dialogue with Civil Society in Lithuania
Secretary Clinton: "We come together today with our own causes and interests but as part of a community of shared values and a common commitment to human rights and freedoms." Full Text»
Strategic Dialogue with Civil Society in Washington
Secretary Clinton: "We uphold the universal rights of every person to live freely, to have your voice heard, and your vote count. And we want to work with all partners, governments, the private sector, civil society, the entire cross-section that gives us the chance to make real and lasting change." Full Text»
Briefing by Senior Advisor for Civil Society and Emerging Democracies Tomicah S. Tillemann»

Date: 09/23/2010 Description: Civil Society 2.0 logo - State Dept Image

Civil Society 2.0 is an initiative announced by Secretary Clinton in her 2009 speech in Marrakesh, Morocco to assist non-governmental (NGOs) and civil society organizations (CSOs) in using new digital tools and technologies to increase the reach and impact of their work.

The State Department convened technologists, CSOs, and those who understand the interface of the two groups. Through specific regional events, we gather an understanding of the challenges CSOs face and engage the technology community to help solve them appropriately. In November 2010, a Tech@State: Civil Society event introduced this idea, and its first application, TechCamp, took place in Santiago, Chile.

For TechCamp Santiago, the Department of State and its partner, Personal Democracy Forum (PdF), convened technologists and civil society leaders from around the Americas to identify and implement improvements. Goals of the program include increasing regional civil society organizations' digital literacy, sharing information, building networks and matchmaking like-minded individuals to organizations. By expanding capacity overall through the digital sphere, organizations will be able to work more efficiently toward their goals.

Global and regional technology and social media experts worked together with regional civil society representatives to determine specific need and build practical applications on the following themes:

  • promoting social and economic opportunity;
  • ensuring the safety of our citizens;
  • strengthening effective institutions of democratic governance;
  • and addressing the challenges of energy security and climate change.

The issues identified during TechCamp Chile fed into the global Random Hacks of Kindness event in December 2010. The combination of TechCamp training and Random Hacks programming allowed technology volunteers from around the world to assist in developing solutions for the civil society organizations in attendance in Santiago.

TechCamp, a key program of Civil Society 2.0, is a two day training event through which the Department of State pairs leaders in the technology community with civil society organizations to provide training, resources, and assistance that enable civil society organizations to harness the latest connection technologies to build their capacity and advance their missions.


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