Thematic priority 3: Shrinking Civic Space

The March 2024 document on Shrinking Civic Space mentions:

Limited structural support for civil society organisations, hindering their ability to counteract restrictions on civic space and defend freedom of expression, especially in regions affected by repressive legislation, including those involved in BDS movements or human rights advocacy, contributing to the global phenomenon of shrinking civic space. Limited budgets for arts and music.

International initiatives like the Shiraka project (https://thehagueacademy.com/scholarship/shiraka/) aim to support civil society organisations and promote democratic values, countering the effects of shrinking civic space and fostering inclusive and participatory governance structures.

Comments AWF: To address shrinking civic space, we need to expand our national network and seek cooperation with partners who could fund some of our activities.

Expansion of the network.

We welcome network members to use their own connections to invite organizations that subscribe to the principles of dialogue as outlined in major Anna Lindh Foundation documents to join our network. With a larger network we will be able to increase the impact of our network. With political party organizations on board that advocate dialogue between Europe and the MENA region and within these regions, we will also have a stronger voice in seeking to preserve government funding for intercultural dialogue activities. Please see the initiative to reach out to religious and political institutions in line with the proposed Network Internal Regulations which proposes that religious and political institions can become a member of our network but cannot be elected Head of Network.

We sent letters to the Humanistisch Verbond, Initiatives of Change, Oxfam Novib, Quakers, the Mennonite Church in Amsterdam, the Dutch Council of Churches, the CDA Leden Beraad Midden-Oosten, Haagse Stadspartij, Contact Orgaan Moslims en Overheid (CMO). We plan to ask the The Hague Academy for Local Governance, Dialoog in Den Haag (www.dialoogindenhaag.nl) and Haags Verhaal (www.haagsverhaal.nl) to join the ALF network.

Funding

The Arab-West Foundation identified Connect for Global Change subsidy which is administered through the Wilde Ganzen. Romana Moussa and Kees Hulsman attended their information day on October 5. We are currently working on a proposal for them. Once we have a draft ready, we would appreciate as many network members to join us in this request as posisble. Their deadline is December 4. That is not much time, but we will try.

For peace building we possibly can request support from https://sire.nl/ . Their board meets twice per year. Before a proposal is developed and executed a lot of time will pass.

We are also looking at the Hague program ‘verbinding en antidiscriminatie Den Haag’ that aims at fostering understanding among diverse communities.

Attachment: Examples of thematic priorities as provided by the ALF secretariat:

Arts, culture and creative Industries

Tangible and intangible heritage

Cultural diplomacy and cultural cooperation

Peace building

Dialogue between cultures

Interfaith dialogue

Active citizenship and civic engagement

Culture of tolerance and living together

Inclusion and social cohesion

Democracy and community development

Human rights

Gender equality

Youth engagement

Youth empowerment

Social innovation

Challenging all kind of phobias

Hate speech

Networking

Migration

Vulnerability

Education and research

Formal/Non-formal education

Lifelong learning

Media literacy

Sustainable development

Climate Change

Blue/green and circular economies

Sports