CIVIL SOCIETY AND THE G8

Southern Civil Society has been entirely absent in G8 dialogue, yet G8 dialogue directly impacts human development in the South. In 2002 FIM initiated the Civil Society and the G8 project, originally funded by the Ford Foundation. In order that G8 governments more fully understand the impact of their discussions and agreements on the poorest people of the world, FIM is working with its partners to establish an ongoing dialogue between G8 organizers and activists/practitioners from Southern Civil Society.
Project objectives are:

• Negotiate agreement of each G8 host to include this dialogue within their G8 planning process.
• Develop a tradition wherein these dialogues are integrated into the most senior level of G8 planning (i.e. Sherpa meetings).
• Establish a tradition wherein this dialogue process is automatically included in the G8 host country budget.

To date, a dialogue process was implemented successfully in five out of six G8 meetings (i.e. Canada, 2002; France, 2003; United Kingdom, 2005; Russia, 2006 and Germany 2007). A tradition is in the process of being established and FIM is playing an active role, building on the lessons learned to date, determining successful practices, and building alliances toward the establishment of a strong Southern civil society voice in the G8 process.

CASE STUDY

The FIM G8 Project - 2002 to 2006. Read More >

This case study appears with the permission of Wilfrid Laurier University Press.

To purchase the book Critical Mass: The Emergence of Global Civil Society, in which the case study appears, please click here >

REPORTS

Civil Society and the G8 – 2002

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