Lesson 8 - Consider messaging on the value of the civil society sector  


Essence

It is worth weighing up whether to take a pragmatic approach of messaging on the value of the civil society sector and what’s at stake economically through restrictions on the work of CSOs. 
 


Insight

The approach outlined in this lesson is definitely not to everyone’s taste - some of our partners have chosen to go down this route, while others decided against. However, it is worth at least a consideration, as our experience and case studies have shown that enumerating the value of the sector makes the issue of the civil society sector very real for target audiences, and in terms they can easily grasp and relate to. This entails quantifying and enumerating the actual contribution the civil society sector makes to the economy of a target country, region or community, for example in salaries, tax revenue, employment, social contributions and also possibly bringing funding to local economies from external sources. 
 
In addition, CSOs often play a key role as service providers through a contracting out arrangement or replacing government when they are not there, especially for vulnerable or isolated groups and communities. Further in many countries, CSOs are often leaders in implementing social and infrastructural development plans. Therefore, proposals to shrink civic space can have a direct downside impact on the economy and the social welfare of communities, and this is not automatically obvious for the wider public. These negative impacts can therefore, be strong arguments to build urgency in a campaign.
 
A more challenging approach is to build an argument on is the more abstract value of civil society as a indicator of the health of a democracy. To quote the Ariadne guide on tackling civic space:
 
“a ‘business case’ to support tolerant and open civil space is not too difficult to make, as businesses clearly benefit when the rules of the game are clear – consumers are empowered, employees are respected, and the judicial system works well”1 .
 
Further, when companies are assessing whether to continue investment in a particular country, they work from Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) risk assessments and CSOs act as both a source of information for such assessments and also the health of the civil society sector acts as a key indicator for social and governance risk assessment2 . Put simply, measures intending to shrink civic space reduce confidence and therefore, investment. This point could be included in building an argument around the risk of restricting the sector, and what’s at stake if restrictive measures come into force.


 
Cases

- Kyrgyzstan – The campaign drew on the fact that the civil society economy itself represents a significant sector in the relatively small national Kyrgyz economy. So, this enabled the campaigners to build a key argument around the potential loss of the economic contribution of the sector, as a significant employer and tax contributor. In addition, the sector is a main service provider in health care, with these services likely to be more or less immediately lost should the proposed law be enforced. These potential downside losses were strong arguments in the campaign and also allowed the campaign to build a broad base coalition including those from the affected public sector. On the more indicative value of the civil society sector, a number of embassies and INGOs made the argument of the potential loss of reputation of Kyrgyzstan as a democracy leader in Central Asia should the proposed ‘foreign agents’ law come into force.
 
 - Kenya - A similar argument centred around service-delivery loss was also made by the Kenyan campaigners with the private sector, MPs and large development CSOs working in impoverished areas especially worried about loss of service provision in the health sector.
 
See the Advocacy Cases Section 6 for more details and background on the cases.
 

 


Action

  • Invest in collecting the sectoral data -  Continuously collecting data about the contribution of the whole civil society sector in your country does require commitment, and also involves doing the required analysis. So, if you decide to pursue this approach, this work needs to be factored into manpower. It’s a worthwhile investment to be able to have this data on hand for quick usage, and it’s important to remember that the data can also be used to proactively drive your message, not just in a time of crisis. This may be more suitable and realistic work for CSO coalitions who come under threat, rather than an individual organisation3 . 

 

  • Work on accessible presentation of the data - It is important to invest in good visual presentation to support the ease of communicating your main message about the value and contribution of the sector. The infographics and visual communication in the Kyrgyz case are examples of this effort (See Lesson 7).

 


What you can get wrong

  • Being all doom and gloom - This tactic involves quantifying the potential loss from measures which restrict civil society action, but this shouldn’t be stand-alone messaging in a campaign, as scare tactics used on their own can backfire. When such messaging is combined with positive and uplifting messaging around the values of CSOs, a sense of balance is achieved and is proven to be an effective approach. 

 

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