The Escuela Nueva is a unique non-governmental organization which has collaborated with the Colombian Ministry of Education, the Federation of Colombian Coffee Growers, and corporate partners to improve access to and quality of education. The Escuela Nueva Foundation enacts policies based on the political belief that all children should have the basic right to an education. The most visible way that the Escuela Nueva promotes this belief is through the implementation of multi-grade classrooms, where more advanced students aid those who are younger or further behind in their studies. The Escuela Nueva classroom model was implemented in 1977 as a response to the shortcomings in teacher training and replicability that were the downfall of earlier attempts to implement multi-grade models in rural Colombia. The gradual growth and continual improvements to their model has afforded the Escuela Nueva Foundation a level of immunity from state intervention that few other non-state actors enjoy. Although the Colombian state government has historically been opposed to those non-state actors with overtly political goals, the cost-effective and competitive services provided by the Escuela Nueva programs, like their multi-grade schools and Learning Circles, acted as a strong incentive for allowing this organization's work to continue. Organizations like the Escuela Nueva, particularly those that partner with public and private actors to achieve service-oriented goals, play an important role in Colombia, creating new social forums where individuals can share their political identities and beliefs in a way that affects real change in the communities where they live. / Master of Arts

Yes / Acceleration of the applications of cutting edge science is often most likely in situations involving conflict and warfare between different groups. That is the focus of this paper. It asks what we know of the past, present and possible future applications of advances in our understanding of the brain in the development of chemical weapons, and what might best be done to moderate the most dangerous aspects of that process at the present time, particularly by members of civil society. The paper therefore begins by examining this possibility of hostile manipulation of the brain in some detail. It then briefly reviews the current state of the chemical and biological arms control and disarmament regime as embodied in the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BTWC) and the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) following the 2016 8th Five Year Review Conference of the BTWC and in the lead up to the 2018 4th Five Year Review Conference of the CWC. Finally, our civil society initiative to assist in achieving a successful outcome of the 2018 CWC Review Conference is described. This initiative involves the production of a multi-authored edited book, to be published in advance of the Review Conference by the UK Royal Society of Chemistry that explores many of the critical issues facing the CWC States Parties as they seek to agree effective measures to prevent the development and use of chemical weapons, as the life and chemical sciences advance.

Yes / In this report, we identify some of the key technical and political challenges currently facing the broader Chemical and Biological Weapon (CBW) regime- with a particular emphasis on major forthcoming diplomatic meetings. Most significantly the Ninth Review Conference of the Biological and Toxins Weapons Convention (1972) (BTWC) which will take place in 2022 and preparations for the Fifth Review Conference of the Chemical Weapons Convention (1993) (CWC), expected in 2023. This report is an output of an ongoing project, designed to stimulate thinking and discussion about these issues, within relevant stakeholder communities. The report provides an introduction to this issue area for the general reader before surveying key issues and developing a series of practical policy suggestions for further consideration.

[pt] A Agenda 2030 orienta as políticas nacionais de desenvolvimento nos próximos anos. A conquista da transversalização de questões de gênero na Agenda 2030 é atribuída, dentre outros fatores, à influência da sociedade civil e de organizações internacionais que trabalham com pautas de gênero e desenvolvimento, no processo de consulta para a construção dos Objetivos de Desenvolvimento Sustentável (ODS). Tendo em vista esse histórico de engajamento, o objetivo do presente trabalho é mapear como a sociedade civil brasileira atuante sob a bandeira de alcançar a igualdade de gênero está avaliando e acompanhando o cumprimento do ODS5 da agenda 2030 e quais são seus posicionamentos acerca desse monitoramento e dos indicadores relacionados. A governança por indicadores norteia as formulações de políticas internacionais; sendo assim, usar essa linguagem com uma perspectiva feminista para tornar os instrumentos de mensuração mais qualificados e benéficos para as mulheres é uma estratégia ecomendada pelo presente relatório. / [en] The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development will guide national development policies in the coming years. The achievement of gender mainstreaming in the 2030 Agenda is attributed, among other factors, to the influence of civil society and international organizations working with gender and development guidelines in the consultation process for the construction of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGss). Considering this history of engagement, the objective of this paper is to map how the Brazilian civil society working under the banner of achieving gender equality is evaluating and monitoring compliance with SDG5 of Agenda 2030 and what their positions are regarding monitoring and the indicators involved. Governance by indicators guides the formulation of international policies; thus, using that language with a feminist perspective to make the measurement tools more qualified and beneficial to women is a strategy recommended by this report.

This thesis addresses the relationship between civil society and the Nordic Council of Ministers (NCM) within the frame of the Nordic Vision 2030 to become “the most integrated and sustainable region of the world”. It reviews civil society's role in Vision 2030's social sustainability objectives by focusing on integration and social challenge response. As the analysis discovers a dynamic of interdependence between Civil society and the Nordic Council of Ministers, it observes how the NCM attempts to encourage Civil Society action by promoting shared values of a collective “Nordic Identity” and inviting them into policy conversation. The results are drawn qualitatively from policy papers and audio-visual panel discussions of the NCM and Civil Society by following a mixed method of thematic and content analysis. This study concludes that civil society is value-driven and eager to engage in social challenges and participate in policy changes. However, decisions on integration policies are a matter of nations, not the NCM, despite the Nordic Cooperation, which limits their agency to include civil society in policy work. This study contributes to the awareness of civil society being a source of empirical best practices, which has the potential to influence integration policies sustainably.

The Japanese law Fūzoku eigyō tō no kisei oyobi gyōmu no tekiseika tō ni kansuru hōritsu (風俗営業等の規制及び業務の適正化等に関する法律), commonly known as fūeihō prohibited dancing in nightclubs after midnight (or 1 A.M.). This law was rarely enforced at least between the late 1980s to 2010, but suddenly police began to crack down on nightclubs nationwide for violating the law in the early 2010s. This led to a civil society campaign and eventually to a revision of the law in 2016, seemingly letting nightclubs operate freely in the future. However, studies by Ryan Hartley, for example, point out that the law still poses many difficulties for nightclubs and reports show that nightclub crackdowns have continued after the revision (Hadfield 2018). This research aims to identify, analyse and compare discourses in Japanese and international news articles in the 2010s concerning fūeihō crackdowns, the civil society campaign and the revision, following the methodology of critical discourse analysis (CDA) and previous research on the environment in which nightclubs operate in Japan. Four main areas of interest in the articles are: 1) What is the reason mentioned for the 2010s crackdowns, 2) what led to the 2016 revision of the law, 3) fūeihō & the crackdowns in international context, and 4) what does the future look like for Japanese nightclubs. Many of the international articles studied exhibited a lack of researching or possibly deliberate oversimplification of the issue, especially by often stating that the revision has eliminated the “war on dance”. Japanese articles occasionally brought up concerns over issues that the revision of the law could bring including noise pollution and drug trafficking, from which it can be understood that a discourse of nightclubs being apotential source of problems exists. Despite this, all of the articles in one way or another expressed that revising the law is important or would at least bring positive outcomes, for example by increasing tourism.

The worrying global trend of shrinking space for democracy and civil society necessitates a critical reevaluation, even within established democracies. While the urgency of the issue may at first appear less pronounced in a Western context, recent trends suggest a worrying similarity within the EU, particularly when it comes to the future of civil society organizations. This research delves into the potential effects and perceptions of recent changes in Swedish aid policy on civil society organizations. It examines how these changes may affect civil society autonomy, ownership, and overall effectiveness of development cooperation. The study considers the perspectives of civil society organizations using discourse analysis to understand their reasoning and concerns. Kingdon’s policy streams approach is used to provide valuable insights into the policy processes and by examining how CSOs experience access to civic space, how coping responses and autonomy evolve within our own political climate, we can discover potential parallels to experiences where the civil society is impeded. Should such parallels exist, especially with regard to a potential, albeit unlikely, similar experience in Sweden, proactive measures could be identified. Despite the complexities surrounding studying an ongoing phenomenon, this study finds (1) that there is a sense of negativity, especially among civil society groups, about the recent changes in development practices, (2) these changes might break established international agreements and make it harder for these groups to function effectively, (3) the uncertainty surrounding these changes is causing a lot of disruption and makes it difficult for civil society to know how to adapt, and (4) this uncertainty could potentially be a sign that civil society will have less freedom to operate in the future, and we need to be watchful to prevent that from happening.

The aim of this thesis is to examine and analyze different components of the Civil Society in Argentina. Predominantly, two components are at focus: the monitoring process and the vitalization of democracy through the Civil Society. The method conducted to fulfill the purpose of this thesis has been a qualitative approach. Furthermore, primary and secondary sources are used. Primary sources were established through the field study conducted in Argentina, where in-depth interviews with several of NGOs were assembled. Secondary sources were used in order to establish the theoretical approach but also to complement the primary sources in the analytical part. The conclusion in this study is that the component regarding the monitoring process conducted by Civil Society organizations are partially functional, however with several incapacities. Factors explaining the incapacities are due to lack of leverage and resources. The component regarding the vitalization process through the Civil Society has been significant throughout the history of Argentina, and distributing democratic values are essential for the Civil Society. Factors as high degree of polarization amongst citizens and institutions and the extension of governmental authority are however threatening attributes such as moderation, tolerance, compromises, and hence jeopardizing the consolidation phase of democracy.

Dipoma thesis Specifics of human rights organizations in Czech Republic, Austria and Slovakia focuses on human rights organizations in three neighbouring countries. Organisations are assessed along three basic dimensions, structure, activities and relationship to their environment. The goal of the paper is to describe and compare these organisations in their national context and to determine whether there are any significant specifics in this aspect between the countries. To achieve the goal, comparative analysis was used based on analysis of secondary documents and interviews with representatives of organisations. Findings and outcomes summary are placed in the last part of the paper.

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