When representatives from international development organizations gather at high-level meetings like during #GlobalDev Week in New York, they often find hard to connect the lofty goals coming from the discussions to beneficiaries and partners on the ground.
That’s when it’s time to connect the streets with the boardroom. But how? By reaching out to civil society, CIVICUS Secretary-General and CEO Danny Sriskandarajah told Devex reporting fellow Jeff Tyson on the sidelines of the Clinton Global Initiative’s annual meeting in New York.
“Here we are … in a little bubble where all sorts of development professions from all around the world come to try to lobby for [an agenda],” Sriskandarajah said. “This is such a microcosm, so removed from the day-to-day experiences and lives of activists and professionals all around the world.”
Click on the above clip to find out why the CIVICUS chief executive is “cautiously optimistic” about the future of civil society and what to expect from the International Civil Society Week, organized by his organization in Johannesburg in November.
Check out more coverage of New York #GlobalDev week. Watch more development aid videos online, and subscribe to The Development Newswire to receive top international development headlines from the world’s leading donors, news sources and opinion leaders — emailed to you FREE every business day.
About the author
Jeff Tyson@jtyson21
Jeff is a global development reporter for Devex. Based in Washington, DC, he covers multilateral affairs, U.S. aid and international development trends. He has worked with human rights organizations in both Senegal and the United States, and prior to joining Devex worked as a production assistant at National Public Radio. He holds a master's degree in journalism from Columbia University and a bachelor’s degree in international relations and French from the University of Rochester.
