We request your help in a project dealing with an issue that is fundamental to strengthening civil society and deepening democracy in Latin America: regional networks of civil society organizations (CSO) in Latin America and the Caribbean facing the challenges of globalization. The key role of regional networks and their growing linkages to other North American and European networks demonstrate the importance of a phenomenon that although little understood, is very relevant for the future of civil society in the region.
Recognizing the importance of this phenomenon, and in order to evaluate its impact in the region, we have formed a working group that involves researchers and CSO participants interested in analyzing the linkages developed by regional networks in the region and with other international networks. Hence, our project, “Regional Networks of Civil Society Organizations in Latin America,” includes research teams based in different countries of the region:
- Laura Sarvide Alvarez Icaza and Gabriela Sánchez, (Espiral, S.C., México)
- Leilah Landim (Universidade Federal de Rio de Janeiro, Brasil) and Átila Roque (Instituto Brasileiro de Análises Sociais e Econômicos, Brasil)
- Paula Antezana Rimassa and Cecilia Dobles Trejos (Centro para la Participación Organizada, Fundación Arias para la Paz y el Progreso Humano, Costa Rica)
- Gonzalo de la Maza and Carlos Ochsenius (Fundación para la Superación de la Pobreza, Chile)
- Mercedes Botto and Gabriela Rodríguez López (Facultad Latinoamericana de Ciencias Sociales, Argentina)
- Roberto Patricio Korzeniewicz (University of Maryland, USA) and William C. Smith (University of Miami, USA).
The project will create a database that will be published and made available electronically to all those CSOs and researchers interested in obtaining a list of contacts and/or learning about the characteristics (activities, composition, and objectives) of networks active in the region. The database will help promote the development of closer ties between CSOs in the region, and further support their role as key actors in the current transformations of the region.
We believe that the direct participation of CSO members is essential to the success of this exercise, and that is why we request your collaboration by answering the questionnaire below. The reports produced by our research project will not identify the individuals participating in the survey. The survey has been designed to generate some data needed to analyze the structure and linkages characterizing regional networks in the region. As we explain in the questionnaire, the answers to sections A, B and C will be incorporated in a public database, while the answers to sections D and F, in recognition of the confidential character of some of the requested information, will not be included in the general database, and the use of this information will be restricted to strictly academic objectives.
The project will also include workshops held between scholars and OSC representatives aiming to evaluate the role, reach, and impact of regional networks in Latin America. As a product of these workshops and the research project, we will distribute a series of publications evaluating the results of the project. To achieve this objective, we will have the support of the local offices of the Ford Foundation in Brazil, Chile and Mexico.
We would like to thank your help in completing the questionnaire below in the next ten days. We are available to you to answer any questions about our project, and we commit ourselves to maintaining you informed about our future activities. Likewise, we will send you a copy of the database, as well as of the reports produced by the project, once they are completed.
If you wish to participate in this survey but have not received an invitation, please contact us to obtain your Network Code necessary to complete the questionnaire.
The following survey contains 36 questions, divided into 5 main sections. While there are a number of open answer questions, most of the questions require only a brief response.
Please remember to enter the Network Code at the top of the survey page.
If you are unable to complete the survey in one session, please submit the survey as is and continue with the remaining questions in a subsequent session.
It is essential that you enter the Network Code and the Name of your Network again if you complete parts of the survey in a second or third session.
Source: nacionbeta.com