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The Knowledge Programme on Civil Society in West Asia is a joint initiative by Hivos and the University of Amsterdam with the purpose of generating and integrating knowledge on the roles and opportunities for civil society actors in democratization processes in politically challenging environments. This programme integrates academic knowledge and practitioner’s knowledge from around the world to develop new insights and strategies on how civil society actors in Syria and Iran can contribute to various processes of democratization and how international actors can support this.
Latest News
December 16: Arab Spring and Gender: Opportunities and Obstacles
On Friday December 16, the ANVK (the Arab - Dutch Women's Circle) will organise the conference: Arab Spring and Gender: Opportunities and Obstacles.The conference aims to pay attention to the political, social and economical situation of women in different Arab countries after the Arab spring. It also aims at analyzing the role which Western countries and especially the European Union can play to enhance the position of Arab women.
KP policy paper on the ‘Dignity Revolutions’ recommended by BNR News Radio as a reading material
At a programme of the Dutch radio channel BNR News Radio on Wednesday 23 November, the latest policy paper of KP Civil Society in West Asia entitled Regional Perspectives on the 'Dignity Revolutions': How Middle Eastern Activists Perceive Popular Protest was recommended as a reading material. This policy paper provides the perspectives of political and social actors who are the foot soldiers of the ‘Dignity Revolutions’. Please click the link of the programme below (in Dutch).
BlueCoat: US technology surveilling Syrian citizens online
In the context of repression in the Middle East and North Africa, surveillance technology has played a key role in providing authoritarian regimes with the tools necessary to track citizens online. Among these companies, BlueCoat has proved to be the most efficient in helping the Syrian regime control every movement of Syrians on the Internet.
Regional Perspectives on the ‘Dignity Revolutions
This policy paper provides unique perspectives from Middle Eastern activists who are part of popular protests across the region. The recommendations are based on their perspectives and addressed to the EU at large European Commission, the Dutch government and Non-Governmental Organisations in order for them to best support the democratic transitions in the region.
12.000 Egyptian Civilians in Military Trials
On November 28, 2011 for the first time in decades, parliamentary elections will take place in Egypt. The fall of Mubarak’s regime at the beginning of January this year has some Egyptians to believe that the revolution is over, some feel that there is a need to continue the struggle for democracy and others think that demonstrators need to be stopped for the sake of Egypt’s stability and economy (see Global Voices).
Syria's crisis: A 'war of attrition' and a 'marathon', experts say
Read the interesting article of Ahram Online on the conference Emerging Spheres of Civil Engagement in Syria organised by Hivos, Arab Forum for Alternatives and University of Amsterdam on 24-25 October 2011 in Cairo.
The Syrian Uprising and the Power of Stories
On a daily basis scores of Syrian activists upload their YouTube footage of protests and the regime’s atrocities, hoping that someone will watch them, become outraged, and act in ways to support the uprising. Given the regime’s information blackout, a lot can be learned from these video snapshots. Yet otherwise the eerie silence from Syria has been deafening. Rarely are Syrian activists given a voice to express their grievances, wishes, desires, aspir...
What Support for the Protest Movement?
If the creeping massacre of the Syrian population is to be stopped, now is the time to send out an unambiguous message, warns Volker Perthes, expert on the Near East and director of the German Institute for International and Security Affairs
Hivos Advices The Netherlands Advisory Council On International Affairs on Support to Democratic Reforms in the Middle East
As a reaction to popular uprisings in the Middle East and North Africa, The Dutch Advisory Council On International Affairs (AIV) requested Hivos and other Dutch NGOs on 21st of April to advice it on how the Dutch government could support reforms, democratization processes and rule of law in the region. Today the 28th of June the Dutch parliament debates about the AIV advise entitled Reforms in the Arab Region: Opportunities for Democracy and Rule of Law (Dutch translation) as well as the res...
The Arab revolutions: an end to dogma
The popular uprisings in the Arab world are a great disaster for a radical camp led by Syria-Iran and long indulged by media such as al-Jazeera. A great opportunity follows, says Hazem Saghieh.
Newsletter
Newsletter Civil Society in West Asia, Issue 3
The uprisings in the Arab world had not even been in full swing before various political agendas scrambled to appriopriate them. Many opinions appear to be caught up in clichés and analyses colored by blatant attemps to only see self-serving and worn-out world perspectives confirmed. It is against this background that sobering and thorough academic research on the origins and nature of the Arab uprisings gains urgent value.ARABIC Version Newsletter Civil Society in West Asia, Issue 2
Newsletter Civil Society in West Asia is now available in Arabic. Crisis is a much-overworked word in social sciences generally and in politics in particular. Phrases such as ‘democracy promotion is in crisis’ or ‘civil society can never be a force for democratization’ are simplistic overstatements. However, one cannot deny that there are serious challenges on the road to democratization, both of a conceptual and of a practical nature. The second issue of the newsletter of Knowledge Programme...Community Login
register a new accountGlobal Voices » Middle East & North Africa
- Egypt: Storify on Port Said Clashes (03/02/2012)
- Bahrain: Celebration and Criticism Greet “Manama, Capital of Arab Culture 2012″ (03/02/2012)
- Israel: The Lie, The Truth and The Meme (of the Soldier and the Girl) (03/02/2012)
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