Sandra dos Santos Pires's Page

What motivated you to become involved in peace and conflict resolution?

I am the Membership Manager at CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation.

CIVICUS seeks to amplify the voices and opinions of ordinary people. It recognizes that for effective and sustainable civic participation to occur, citizens must enjoy rights of free association and be able to engage all sectors of society.

Please feel free to provide a short bio about yourself (no more than 3 paragraphs)

CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation is an international alliance of members and partners which constitute an influential network of organisations at the local, national, regional and international levels, and span the spectrum of civil society including: civil society networks and organisations; trade unions; faith-based networks; professional associations; NGO capacity development organisations; philanthropic foundations and other funding bodies; businesses; and social responsibility programmes. CIVICUS has worked for over a decade to strengthen citizen action and civil society throughout the world, especially in areas where participatory democracy and citizens' freedom of association are threatened. CIVICUS has a vision of a global community of active, engaged citizens committed to the creation of a more just and equitable world. This is premised on the belief that the health of societies exists in direct proportion to the degree of balance between the state, the private sector and civil society. CIVICUS provides a focal point for knowledge-sharing, common interest representation, global institution-building and engagement among these disparate sectors. It acts as an advocate for citizen participation as an essential component of governance and democracy worldwide. CIVICUS seeks to amplify the voices and opinions of ordinary people and it gives expression to the enormous creative energy of the burgeoning sector of civil society.

Please list the countries and/or regions in which you have direct and significant expertise

Mission:
CIVICUS is an international alliance dedicated to strengthening citizen action and civil society throughout the world.

Vision:
A worldwide community of informed, inspired, committed citizens engaged in confronting the challenges facing humanity.

What is your current country of residence?

South Africa

What is your current job (and organization) and/or where and what field are you studying?

Membership Manager at CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation

What is your personal or organizational website?

http://www.civicus.org

Which are your primary sectoral areas of expertise?

Civil Society, Democratization, Development, Diplomacy, Environment, Facilitation, Gender, Human Rights, Information and Communication Technology, Organizational Development, Peacekeeping, Policing, Social Entreprenuership

Which are your primary skills areas?

Advocacy, Capacity Building, Communication, Evaluation, Information Technology, Monitoring, Program Implemenation, Research, Training