Civic Spaces and Citizen Participation

Description

The participation of citizens in democratic processes and the good governance of public affairs is among the basic conditions for a vibrant democracy.

In order to achieve this goal, citizen participation and partnership with civil society organisations is a democratic requirement.

Objectives

This course will focus on ways governments can better inform and engage their citizens, including minorities and marginalised groups. You will also learn how civil society can be empowered to:

Encourage access to information in order to revive citizen participation in democratic processes.

Enable experience sharing between stakeholders (citizen movements, members of CSOs, media professionals, bloggers, web activists...) through the establishment of a network.

Provide documented guidelines on the role of civic space and citizen participation in the consolidation of democratic gains across the continent

Course outline

Origin of citizens' movements in the African civic space (French-speaking countries vs. English-speaking countries)
Role of African citizen movements in the consolidation of democratic gains
Citizen participation in the democratisation of African countries
Civil society and citizen movements as key actors of good governance
Civic tech for citizen participation, what are the possible futures!

Prerequisites

The MOOC DEG is open to everyone.

Assessment

A quiz at the end of each module will allow participants to assess themselves. This evaluation will be based on the content of the videos. In addition to this systematic evaluation, participants will have the opportunity to ask open questions on the MOOC forum.

Teaching team

Course instructor: Muhammed Lamin Saidykhan, Africans Rising movement coordinator
Course coordinator: Aisha Dabo - Activities coordinator, Charter Project Africa