Civil society has a key role in the international community. It can heavily influence international organisations. They are a very important pressure group for international organisations.

History has given us examples of the importance of civil society organisations in promoting important values in the world that benefit the entire globe.

“The Magisterium positively evaluates the associations that have formed in civil society in order to shape public opinion in its awareness of the various aspects of international life, with particular attention paid to the respect of human rights, as seen in the number of recently established private associations, some worldwide in membership, almost all of them devoted to monitoring with great care and commendable objectivity what is happening internationally in this sensitive field”.

Thanks to the lobbying of many human rights groups there is now a plethora of treaties and laws that for instance outlaw torture, abolish the death penalty, recognise the equality of women and the rights of children.

Thanks to the work of human rights groups, the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and the International Criminal Court have been established.

Even at national levels these groups have played a major role. They have played a major role in the disbanding of apartheid in South Africa and in the development of democratic governments in Latin America, Eastern Europe and parts of Africa and Asia.

“Governments should feel encouraged by such commitments, which seek to put into practice the ideals underlying the international community, ‘particularly through the practical gestures of solidarity and peace made by the many individuals also involved in Non-Governmental Organizations and in Movements for human rights’.”

All governments should therefore adopt measures to facilitate the involvement of civil society in the formulation, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of policies, strategies and programmes. They should seek to create an enabling environment for an effective partnership among civil society, Government and the international community. 

Governments should seek to create common forums for regular and systematic dialogue. They should seek to identify the comparative strengths of civil society partners and seek to build on them and put them to use accordingly. Joint plans of action for various issues can be developed by the various partners in a transparent and participatory manner. 

Key of course to the success of this, is ensuring that civil society has the human and financial resources and the institutional capacity to function at such a level that they are able to partner with international organisations and governments and have meaningful impact on the various publics.

Governments therefore have a responsibility to provide an environment where civil society is first allowed to function freely and constructively, through setting up the necessary legislation to allow them to operate, providing access to training facilities, materials and programmes and to some extent financial resources.