The International Center for Not-for-Profit Law
announces the first-ever

Global Forum on Civil Society Law

November 17 - 19, 2005
Istanbul, Turkey

About | Conference Agenda| Conference Materials

Participants' Corner | Logistical and Travel Information | ICNL Home

"Thank you for giving me the opportunity to participate in the Global Forum on Civil Society Law and learn from highly respected and experienced experts. All the topics discussed at the Forum were pertinent to my work and have contributed to my knowledge. To convene this forum, required great effort and was not simple. It is your tireless effort that managed to bring together the experienced panelists and participants. You almost contained the 'world in one room' discussing and empowering each other on civil law of different nations accross the world."

Kefale Belachew, LLB
Managing Director
AEPA, Ethiopia

About

The Global Forum on Civil Society Law drew together 150 leading experts from over 60 countries in the field of civil society law. The Forum provided participants with the opportunity to:

Benefit from cutting-edge learning on civil society law reform issues;
Develop strategies for promoting effective law reform; and
Engage with a worldwide network of experts in the field.

Participants represented a cross-section of stakeholders, including civil society organizations (CSOs), the government, the legislative branch, academia, and the donor community.

The Opening Plenary was conducted in a talk show format allowing participants to discuss key issues confronting civil society.

Key Themes

The Forum addressed cutting-edge issues organized under five thematic tracks. To ensure that the workshops meet the concrete needs, participants were asked to identify topics of interest when they completed their application forms. Session topics included:

Reform and Advocacy

Tools to Assess the Civil Society Legal Framework
Building Coalitions and Establishing Political Will for Reform
Enhancing CSO Participation in Decision-Making
International Law Protecting the Freedom of Association and CSO Activity

Contemporary Issues and CSO Law

Counter-Terrorism and Civil Society Law
Post-Conflict States: Sequencing of Civil Society Law Reform
Human Rights Defense: Promoting the Freedom of Association in Politically Complex Environments
Civil Society Law and Indigenous Peoples

CSO Sustainability and the Law

Sustainability of NGO Law Reform Organizations and Initiatives
Law and Philanthropy
Government Funding of CSOs: Improving the Framework
The Legal Framework for Social Enterprise and CSO Economic Activities
Challenges in Defining “Charity” and “Public Benefit”

CSO Accountability, Transparency, and Regulation

Models of NGO Regulation
Codes of Conduct and Self-Regulation
Accountability to Stakeholders and Donors
Tools for Regulatory Compliance: Promotional, Risk-Based Systems

CSO-Government Relations

Compacts and Other Strategies and Mechanisms to Promote CSO/Government Relations
CSO Legitimacy and Representation: Defining Participatory Democracy
Social Service Delivery: Models for Cooperation

In addition, the Forum included regional workshops that enabled participants to share experiences and to develop regional networks of civil society law reformers.

More information about these sessions can be found on the Conference Agenda and Conference Materials sections of the Global Forum Website.

Forum Objectives

Participants discuss ideas about next step initiatives and lessons learned from the Global Forum.

1. Explore best practices in CSO law reform across regions and develop principles and recommendations for their local application;

2. Bring together key representatives from civil society, the government, academia, and donor agencies to facilitate networking and experience sharing globally;

3. Create a pool of resources to be shared across countries and utilized by stakeholders in local initiatives upon return; and

4. Provide assistance in developing local reform.