Civic Education

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Programs: Civic Education

Civic education is a critical component to ensuring the development and maintenance of a democratic society. Through civic education, people come to understand not only their rights but their responsibilities and the role they play as members of civil society. Civic education programs help citizens learn about:

the importance of voting and staying informed;
the need to temper partisanship with respect for opposing parties and viewpoints;
the means through which grievances and needs can be brought before elected officials, both directly and through the mass media;
the techniques by which communities can organize themselves to achieve common ends; and
a working, practical knowledge of how their own electoral system, legislature, bureaucracy, local governments, and legal system work.

Civic education requires the provision of information, but that alone is not enough. What is learned must be internalized through repeated practice. In the end, citizens learn by doing: by associating together for problem-solving, by meeting frequently to discuss issues and hear the views of others, by teaching these practices and the necessary skills to others, by repeatedly being exposed to civilized, substantive and productive debates on issues of national importance, by keeping actively informed, and by creating new organizations of their own to represent their interests.

Working in both formal and informal educational settings, ADF provides training, technical assistance, and other resources to enable civil society organizations, professional teacher organizations, PTAs, government institutions, and others to promote understanding of democratic values and processes, including citizens rights and responsibilities. Assistance includes support for a range of activities such as development of school curriculum in civic education, informal civic education training programs for civil society organizations, and mass-media educational/informational campaigns. Also, ADF has undertaken national surveys and assessments of citizen democratic values and understanding of democratic processes.

Programs in civic education have been conducted in Guatemala, Haiti, Iraq, Ivory Coast, Mali, Nicaragua, Panama, and Romania.

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Iraq Civil Society and Independent Media Program

The Iraq Civil Society and Independent Media Support Program (ICSP), supported by USAID/Iraq contract #GEW-C-00-04-00001-00 from September 2004 through June 2007 is implemented by America’s Development Foundation (ADF). ICSP fosters participatory and democratic governance in Iraq by strengthening civil society’s role in the country’s economic, political and social development. ADF works directly with Iraqi civil society organizations (CSOs) to bolster their capacity to be effective citizen-based interest groups and claim a leading role in enhancing local governance and participating in national policy-making processes. Almost 2000 Iraqi CSOs have directly participated and benefited from ICSP programs and these CSOs have in turn engaged many more thousands of other Iraqi citizens, organizations and government institutions. This successful U.S. NGO-managed program supports Iraqi efforts to strengthen civil society and promote democratic governance...

Program: Advocacy, Civic Education, Civil Society Building and Institutional Development, Community Mobilization and Development

Country: Iraq

Highlights: Project Summary for Romanians for Serbian Democracy

ADF implemented the Romanians for Serbian Democracy program, locally referred to as the Regional Partnership for Democracy (RPD), with support from USAID/Romania in 2000-2001...

Program: Advocacy, Civic Education, Civil Society Building and Institutional Development, Community Mobilization and Development, Electoral Processes, Local Democratic Governance

Country: Romania, Serbia

Highlights Haiti: Civic Education

With funding from the NED and USAID, ADF developed partnerships with a number of Haitian CSOs to conduct civic education from 1985–1991. The first phase of this activity took place prior to the departure of Jean Claude Duvalier...

Program: Civic Education

Country: Haiti

Highlights of ADF’s Work in Guatemala

Nongovernmental organizations in Guatemala had an explicit and vital role in the peace process. Not only could NGOs influence the growth of democracy through educating the public about the benefits and responsibilities that come with it...

Program: Civic Education

Country: Guatemala

Highlights: ADF Activities in Croatia 1994-2000

Legal Assistance and Human Rights Programs Benefiting Refugee and Displaced Populations and other Vulnerable Groups in Croatia. 1994-1997.
ADF/Croatia’s original program, begun in 1994, served to strengthen the capabilities of Croatian NGOs to assist refugees and displaced populations through the provision of legal assistance services and human rights protection...

Program: Advocacy, Civic Education, Human Rights, Legal Assistance and Rule of Law, Refugee Return and Reintegration

Country: Croatia

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ADF CRDA-E Final Report

ADF CRDA-E Final Report PDF

Program: Advocacy, Civic Education, Civil Society Building and Institutional Development, Community Mobilization and Development, Local Democratic Governance

Country: Serbia

Type: Project Final Report