The role of civil society in global governance

Abstract

The processes of globalization produce major challenges for global governance. It is much more difficult to govern today than it was 20 years ago. Governments need to engage non-governmental sectors both to make informed decisions and to implement these decisions. Accordingly, national and international civil society organizations (CSOs) have gradually evolved and developed from being observers and critics of governments to being (in parallel to their traditional “watchdog” function) active participants in various governance mechanisms. CSOs today play larger roles in promoting global public goods, including human rights protection, gender equality, adaptation to and mitigation of climate change, disarmament, prohibition of excessive lethal weapons, international cooperation and development, etc. There is a broad acceptance of the strong necessity to engage civil society in governance and decision-making, but there is not yet enough acknowledgement of the necessity to provide for capacity-building and to reform the mechanisms of global governance.