perspective

Last week, I attended a discussion on sectoral approaches to encouraging civil society in countries that may not be amenable to civic participation or criticism. The idea was that civic participation could be encouraged by NGOs and CSOs that focus on the provision of services that governments cannot provide, rather than focus on advocacy or watchdog activities often associated with, but only part of, civil society.

In a world where —according to tech-guru Richard Graves— “mobile phones are king,” how do practitioners engage youth in the social, economic, and political development necessary for lasting reform? Last week at the “Youth and Media: Capturing Youth Perspectives” panel, four journalists challenged the international development community to find their answer in media.