February 11, 2003
Civil society leader Dr. Kumi Naidoo delivers Presidential Lecture.
Noting that globalization, civil society, and governance were prime topics at the World Economic Forum in Davos and the World Social Forum in Porto Alegre, Dr. Kumi Naidoo brought his views on three of the "biggest issues presently facing humanity" to Washington yesterday as part of the World Bank's Presidential Fellows Lecture series. Past lecturers have included United Nations Secretary General Koffi Annan, Nobel laureate Amartya Sen, novelist Chinewa Achebe, and former President of the European Commission Jacques Delors.
Naidoo is Secretary General and CEO of CIVICUS, an international alliance of more than 600 networks and organizations in 110 countries working to strengthen civil society and participatory democracy worldwide. A social activist, Naidoo was a member of the anti-Apartheid movement and founded the South African NGO Coalition.
Bank President Jim Wolfensohn said in his introductory remarks that "our institution has benefited over the years tremendously from interaction with civil society—not always comfortably and certainly very critically, but I think the criticism has helped us to modulate the way we do things."
In his lecture, Naidoo stressed the contradictions inherent in globalization—the benefits versus the costs, the emergence of transnational crises such as HIV/AIDS, and the trend towards strengthening multinational corporations and supranational institutions at the expense of local control.
"Important decisions affecting people's lives and well-being are made in non-transparent ways in supranational institutions that are not accountable to citizens and not accessible to citizen engagement," said Naidoo to illustrate the perception by many activists that democratic decision-making is on the decline.
Citing recent surveys examining trust in political institutions, Naidoo explained that traditional notions of governance—including representative democracy—have broken down in the context of globalization and produced a "democracy deficit." Yet this decline in trust does not necessarily suggest a rise in apathy, as witnessed by the resurgence of civil society involvement in policy discussions such as those around debt relief.
"Given the shift of power from national to global levels, it has become a critical priority for civil society to be engaging at a global level, yet it is here that the democratic deficit is felt most strongly," remarked Naidoo in noting that this especially holds true for institutions such as the Bank and U.N.
Likewise, Naidoo views legitimacy as the primary challenge for civil society itself. In response to critics who argue that civil society groups only represent themselves, Naidoo notes that civil society organizations operate on the "perform or perish" principle, given that contributions are not guaranteed through taxation or membership contributions and that their performance will largely dictate future funding levels. Furthermore, codes of ethics and standards of excellence are being adopted by civil society at the national level in many countries.
Regarding openness to engagement with civil society, Naidoo said that the Bank has come far, but still has a long way to go. Asked what would be two things the Bank could do to improve its interaction with civil society, he said the Bank should incorporate gender equity at the meso-, macro-, and micro levels of its work, and adopt a rights-based approach to development that puts economic and social justice as the guiding principle in its operations.
Fellow activist in the anti-Apartheid movement and presently Managing Director of the World Bank, Mamphela Ramphele, closed the lecture by saying, "Your being willing to come and engage with us in such a thoughtfull way--on some of the real difficult questions that we all face--is an indicator that the direction the Bank has taken on engaging civil society is being reciprocated by the decision of civil society to engage the Bank."
Naidoo sought input for his lecture from some 80 different groups and individuals around the world
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