{"id":2780,"date":"2019-07-24T10:25:37","date_gmt":"2019-07-24T08:25:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/weekly.uhm.org.mt\/?post_type=article&#038;p=2780"},"modified":"2019-07-24T12:09:46","modified_gmt":"2019-07-24T10:09:46","slug":"ir-rwol-tas-socjeta-civili-llum","status":"publish","type":"article","link":"http:\/\/weekly.uhm.org.mt\/en\/article\/ir-rwol-tas-socjeta-civili-llum\/","title":{"rendered":"The role of civil society today"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-2783\" src=\"http:\/\/weekly.uhm.org.mt\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/iStock-1068737260.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2121\" height=\"1414\" srcset=\"http:\/\/weekly.uhm.org.mt\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/iStock-1068737260.jpg 2121w, http:\/\/weekly.uhm.org.mt\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/iStock-1068737260-300x200.jpg 300w, http:\/\/weekly.uhm.org.mt\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/iStock-1068737260-768x512.jpg 768w, http:\/\/weekly.uhm.org.mt\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/iStock-1068737260-1024x683.jpg 1024w, http:\/\/weekly.uhm.org.mt\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/iStock-1068737260-480x320.jpg 480w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2121px) 100vw, 2121px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Civil society\u00a0<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">fulfils a very important role in modern society, to help bridge the gaps in services provided by Government and the commercial sector, as well as to call for change.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Civil society has the power to influence the actions of those who have been\u00a0<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">e<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">lected to Parliament as well as\u00a0<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">of people in business. The nature of civil society \u2013 what it is and what it does \u2013 is evolving due to technological developments and other significant changes in society.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">The definition<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">\u00a0of civil society\u00a0<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">is<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">\u00a0changing as civil society is\u00a0<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">starting to be recognised as covering more than one sector that is dominated by NGOs. Civil society today comprises a wide range of organised groups and others that are not as organised.\u00a0 The activities of civil society are varied, among them, making sure that Government and institutions take responsibility for their actions; promoting transparency; raising awareness on social issues; ensuring education, health and security services; taking professional advice to develop strategies and policies; giving a voice to those who are marginalised and encouraging active involvement of citizens.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Civil society groups\u00a0<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">have started to use technology and social media platforms to raise awareness about their causes. They are also using technology to operate more efficiently.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">People sometimes ask<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">\u00a0who can participate in civil society. For those who live in a democracy, the answer is we can all participate. But there is a big gulf between talk and action. The hard work done by civil society groups does not always see the light of day because of governmental interference and shortcomings.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">However, civil society cannot give up.\u00a0<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Working to raise<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">\u00a0concern and influence or criticise Government policy through constructive dialogue is never in vain.<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">\u00a0Thanks to the power of technology, civil society can now more than ever inform Government on what it thinks is its shortcomings and the initiatives that it deems to be worthwhile.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Maybe, instead of asking what civil society encompasses, the time has come for\u00a0 more individuals to get involved.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-ccp-props=\"{\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-ccp-props=\"{\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-ccp-props=\"{\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-ccp-props=\"{\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp; Civil society\u00a0fulfils a very important role in modern society, to help bridge the gaps in services provided by Government and the commercial sector, as well as to call for [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":2783,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"spay_email":""},"issuem_issue":[120],"issuem_issue_categories":[7],"issuem_issue_tags":[],"translation":{"provider":"WPGlobus","version":"2.8.8","language":"en","enabled_languages":["mt","en"],"languages":{"mt":{"title":true,"content":true,"excerpt":false},"en":{"title":true,"content":true,"excerpt":false}}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/weekly.uhm.org.mt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article\/2780"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/weekly.uhm.org.mt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/weekly.uhm.org.mt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/article"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/weekly.uhm.org.mt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/weekly.uhm.org.mt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2780"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/weekly.uhm.org.mt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article\/2780\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2796,"href":"http:\/\/weekly.uhm.org.mt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article\/2780\/revisions\/2796"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/weekly.uhm.org.mt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2783"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/weekly.uhm.org.mt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2780"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"issuem_issue","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/weekly.uhm.org.mt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/issuem_issue?post=2780"},{"taxonomy":"issuem_issue_categories","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/weekly.uhm.org.mt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/issuem_issue_categories?post=2780"},{"taxonomy":"issuem_issue_tags","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/weekly.uhm.org.mt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/issuem_issue_tags?post=2780"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}