The post apartheid period has seen the weakening of civil society structures due to a host of factors. In addition, civil society in South Africa reflects the inequalities in our society large. This translates into a civil society sector where some organisations are well resourced and located primarily in the cities as opposed to community based ‘survivalist’ organisations, which work at grassroot level, are poorly resourced and often lacking in capacity. In the competitive world of donor funding which is underpinned by stringent technical and administrative requirements the well resourced and urban organisations benefit the most. The challenge for the Foundation has been to address this divide so that the poorly resourced and rural organisations are able to access funding.

The objectives of this result area are:

• Improving the capacity of civil society organisations in order to improve performance and delivery in the human rights sector
• Building the capacity of the paralegal and advice office sector
• Promoting networking and partnerships in the human rights sector
• Strengthening human rights networks in the region.

Capacity Building
The Foundation believes that good governance and the building of a human rights culture requires that role-players be equipped
to manage and implement effective human rights programmes. The Foundation supports programmes that focus on the
promotion of good governance; skills development; development of indicators; human rights training; monitoring and evaluation
of impact and the promotion of sustainability for the sector.

Networking
Networking is essential for information sharing and developingf best practice. The Foundation supported networking through
funding Civil Society Delegations to attend the World Social Forums in 2004 and 2005. A workshop on common issues affecting farm workers in the region was hosted by Khanya College in 2004. The Foundation has provided ongoing support to the National
Consortium on Refugee Affairs, a network of refugee organisations and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, working to highlight the plight of refugees.

Supporting Public Institutions
Chapter Nine of South Africa’s Constitution creates a number of institutions to support and enhance democracy. The Foundation has supported a number of projects of public institutions. These include support to the SAHRC for human rights day celebrations, the socio-economic rights report and an inquiry into human rights abuses in farming communities.

The Foundation supported the CGE in lobbying and advocacy activities around the Communal Land Rights Bill. The Foundation
funded the IEC and the SA Civil Society Coalition. The funding to the IEC was to conduct civic education and voter awareness
campaigns to improve the participation of specifically women and youth in rural areas. The SA Civil Society Coalition trained
observers for the election.

The Foundation contributed towards the annual human rights awards, which is an event hosted jointly by the Chapter Nine
Institutions in recognition of outstanding contributions made in the promotion and respect of human rights in various sectors.
The Public Dialogue project is a joint collaboration between the Centre for Conflict Resolution (CCR), the Centre for Policy
Studies (CPS) and the Democracy and Governance Unit of the Human Sciences Research Council. This project aims to provide
a forum for public debate and to stimulate discussion between civil society and government that will strategically and coherently
inform interventions and priorities within the human rights sector. It will also explore concerns related to the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) and civil society in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region more generally.