When governments are fragile, or unable to meet the needs of their citizens, civil society organisations can step into the void. Their impact can be life-changing, providing people with basic healthcare, schooling, and shelter; or helping them access credit to expand a small business for example.
In nations where the government is more established, the efforts of a robust civil society sector are equally as important; workers’ rights groups such as teachers’ unions or medical associations advocate for fair treatment, while environmental groups promote sustainable living practices.
Civil society institutions can also take the form of media outlets and arts organisations that communicate and share knowledge, or social enterprises that generate innovative ideas. They can be as small as a neighbourhood self-help scheme, or as large as an international NGO or the United Nations.
For the wellbeing of all individuals and communities, it is important that civic principles should play a leading role in the future of all populations.
Mawlana Hazar Imam has also outlined volunteering as one of the key components of a healthy civil society. In a speech at Brown University in 2014, he said “One of the energising forces that makes a quality civil society possible, of course, is the readiness of its citizens to contribute their talents and energies to the social good..."
