CONFERENCE Gerking: Citizens do not participate enough in shaping their society

“On behalf of the International Civil Society Centre, in 2015 we developed the Civic Charter as a global framework for people’s participation, recognizing that in a growing number of countries around the world human rights and fundamental freedoms are being increasingly violated”, said Brandy Gerking, representative of the International Civil Society Centre (Berlin, Germany) at the conference “Civic Charter – The Global Framework for People’s Participation”.

She added that people and their organizations are facing various restrictions and are deprived of their right to participate in shaping their society, whereas activists are faced with threats, they are tortured, imprisoned and prosecuted as a result of their beliefs.

“Civil society organizations are stigmatized as foreign agents and extremists, and even in countries with a strong democratic track record, such as the United States or the United Kingdom, people’s participation in public decision-making is quite restricted. Yet, unless people have the ability to genuinely participate, the world will be unable to overcome its most threatening challenges”, stressed Gerking.

Маја Ivanovska

Editing: Еrmin Klimenta

Camera: Аtanas Petrovski

Photo: Biljana Jordanovska