One of Idasa’s main tenets of consolidating democracy involves the education of citizens and encouragement of their participation in democratic processes. Before the advent of democracy in South Africa, Idasa played a critical role in creating mechanisms for people to participate in discussion and debate around the transformation process. This early work of Idasa included informal bridge-building initiatives involving diverse schools, community organisations, religious bodies and civil society organisations. Idasa also helped to establish and facilitate a number of more formal pre-democracy structures through which citizens and leaders could participate in decision-making around transition in key areas, including policing and local government. The primary programme through which citizen participation is now promoted is the Community and Citizen Empowerment Programme, which encompasses work on citizen leadership, institutional capacity building, and dialogue processes.
Subscribe by RSS