Details

The event is part of the nine-month project "Promoting & Advocating for Civic Sector Enhancement" (PACE) developed by Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung's (KAS) Regional Programme Gulf States and The en.v Initiative (en.v) to foster the creation of networks amongst Kuwaiti Civil Society Organizations (CSOs). The aim of the project is not only to enhance the impact of local advocacy and development initiatives by improving civil society’s visibility and legitimacy, but also to mitigate the challenges of limited financial and human resources currently faced by local CSOs through increased collaboration.

During the first phase of the PACE project in May 2017, the objective of a two-day workshop was aimed at identifying similar and complementary intrasectoral areas, promoting increased coordination, knowledge sharing, and collaboration to achieve common goals more efficiently and effectively through forming working groups. To this end, speakers from Europe and Kuwait presented different examples of theoretical networks models paired with best practices from different regions. Finally, all participants prepared action plans to initiate participants’ common activities.

The second phase of PACE will take place from 16 to 18 September and will be consisting of a two-day workshop and a public networking event. The workshop is going to focus on introducing and on fostering the idea of a sector-wide network with a long-term vision and mutually agreed upon standards for transparent and accountable operations, with the ultimate purpose of increasing public visibility and embedding CSOs' role in society. A subsequent networking event will be an opportunity for the participating organisations to present their ideas to representatives of other Kuwaiti CSOs and to raise awareness about the importance of a sector-wide network. The workshop is the third cooperation between en.V. and the KAS Regional Programme Gulf States.