A new report has been released by NCVO and ACEVO ahead of the expected Civil Society Covenant launch later in the year. We prompted ChatGTP to provide a summary of the report. Including key findings and areas for action.
The full report can be read or downloaded from here: https://www.ncvo.org.uk/get-involved/civil-society-covenant/report/
Below you can find our AI summary of the report.
The NCVO and ACEVO report, A New Partnership: Building a Covenant for Civil Society and Government, outlines findings from a 2024 engagement exercise involving over 1,000 civil society organisations. The report aims to reset the relationship between civil society and government through a principles-based Civil Society Covenant.
Key Findings:
- Barriers Identified: Organisations face bureaucratic hurdles, a lack of understanding from government, and diminished trust.
- Enablers for Effective Collaboration: Open communication, mutual understanding, long-term funding, and investment in relationships are crucial.
- Need for Innovation: Civil society can innovate in partnership with government but requires supportive conditions.
- Empowerment and Capacity: Organisations often feel disempowered and lack capacity, though there are steps they can take to improve relations.
- Diverse Experiences: Interactions with local and central government vary, highlighting the need for tailored approaches.
- Support for Draft Principles: There's broad support for the Covenant's draft principles, with calls for specific actionable commitments.
Six Areas for Action:
- Direction: Establish clear commitments, protect the right to campaign, and simplify funding processes.
- Responsibility: Appoint civil society leads in each department and introduce oversight mechanisms.
- Conditions: Reform legislation limiting advocacy and provide fair, flexible funding.
- Support: Invest in training, secondments, and communities of practice to build mutual understanding.
- Mechanisms: Create a Partnership Hub, set up a Treasury civil society unit, and develop formal advisory groups.
- Review: Implement annual reviews and issue reporting to maintain accountability.
The report emphasises the necessity of trust, transparency, and shared purpose to forge a meaningful partnership between civil society and government. The Covenant is expected to be published by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport in Summer 2025.
Would you like to know more or explore the subject further. Why not go to https://chatgpt.com and try it out for yourself - you can set up a free user. Or copy the prompt below into the Chatbot Assistant on our website.
Here is our original prompt:
"Read the civil society covenant report found here https://www.ncvo.org.uk/get-involved/civil-society-covenant/report/ and create a summary. Please include any key findings and areas for action."
Once you have a response why not try the follow-up prompts below:
- How different are these recommendations from previous ones?
- Are the recommendations robust enough?
- Will it crack the deep-seated problems?
- Think ahead to 2028. Has anything actually changed on the ground?
