Civic Education - UNDP Practice Note

[This is a sample resource posting, please provide information on others that will be of interest.]

Written in 2004 for UNDP staff, this 40-page four part guide available online in .pdf format is likely to be useful for anyone working in civic education, particularly in developing and gaining agreement to strategy, building partnerships, and developing initiatives. The following description draws on the resource's Executive Summary.

Part One defines Civic Education as learning for effective participation in democratic and development processes at both local and national levels. It goes on to describe the three core elements of Civic Education - Civic Disposition, Civic Knowledge and Civic Skills - and emphasizes the inherent relationship between Civic Education and Human Rights.

Part Two focuses on the practicalities of Civic Education programming. Prior to any programme design the importance of understanding Civic Education needs, and what is being done to address those needs, is stressed. The section then presents six possible ways of engaging in Civic Education: three of these address Civic Education within different thematic areas (electoral assistance, crisis prevention and recovery and HIV/AIDS) and three are modality based. Where possible each engagement option has been supplemented with working examples drawn from a variety of countries. For ease of reference a table setting out sample activities for each of the options has also been produced. This section also identifies capacity development priorities for consideration in Civic Education programming. Part Two concludes with a discussion of the importance of developing mechanisms to measure the impact of Civic Education programmes and presents a checklist of points to consider when programming in this area.

Part Three focuses on building progressive partnerships with a number of different actors. The range of likely partners is set out: national governments, civil society organisations, the private sector, the media and political parties, and some of the principal issues arising from working with them are highlighted.

The final section of the paper, Part Four, signposts additional resources and further reading.