Civil society remains the key bastion defending and advancing human rights and monitoring the implementation of states’ commitments to rights and values. However, the space for civil society to function is shrinking globally. Non-profit expertise is often requested and not paid or underpaid by government actors and institutions, whilst for-profit expertise and consulting is paid at high daily rates by the same government actors and institutions. This can result in an uncomfortable power dynamic that puts civil society experts, and grassroots movements in particular, in positions of “asking to be heard” instead of being met on an even basis as legitimate representatives of the collective interests of the very populations that are most marginalised by traditional politics. The issue of access to decision-makers and unequal valuing of civil society insight is compounded by the increasing difficulty of accessing long-term and sustainable institutional funding.

Kristina Lunz is co-founder and co-Executive Director of the Centre for Feminist Foreign Policy, and Damjan Denkovski is Project Manager in the organisation. In this Brown Bag Lunch discussion, they will reflect on the way civil society expertise is currently valued, how it is connected to the programming of donor funding, and possibilities for rectifying the power imbalance.
Please note that registration is mandatory. RSVP to Lorenzo Conti if you would like to participate.