Global Civil Society Quotes & Sayings

At issue is not whether the global economy will pass away. It is passing away. Rising populations and debt combined with depletion of freshwater sources and fossil fuel make the status quo untenable. The only question is whether civil society will survive the transition. — Daniel Suarez

I have for some time urged that a nuclear abolition summit to mark the effective end of the nuclear era be convened in Hiroshima and Nagasaki on the 70th anniversary of the bombings of those cities, with the participation of national leaders and representatives of global civil society. — Daisaku Ikeda

The 21st century will be the Asian century. This also means that Asians will be expected to provide greater leadership to solve global challenges, including environmental challenges. Hence, this multi-disciplinary programme from NUS could not be more timely. It meets a pressing need to educate, train and empower leading players in the public, private and civil society sectors in Singapore, Asia and the world. — Kishore Mahbubani

It has been common to argue that in recent years the transnational nature of global environmental issues has provided new opportunities for civil society actors to address problems which the machinery of geographically delimited states may be inadequate to address. It is thought that the inability of states effectively to deal with transnational environmental problems may have led to the development of an alternative 'world civic politics' to deal with these issues that may bypass state institutions altogether. — Thomas Davies

Today, the established social structures and values are beginning to crumble on a global scale. This is an indication of the deadlock that has been reached by all systems of thought and philosophy that are based on the modern rationalism of Western civil society. The cause of this can be found in modern rationalism's lack of focus on the human being. Without a profound grasp of the true nature of human life, this approach cannot serve as a philosophy that enables people to change themselves on a fundamental level. As a result, society today is steeped in confusion. — Anonymous

The core of human rights work is naming and shaming those who commit abuses, and pressuring governments to put the screws to abusing states. As a result, human rights conventions are unique among international law instruments in depending for their enforcement mostly on the activism of a global civil society movement. — Michael Ignatieff

After the ignominious collapse of the Copenhagen global climate change summit in 2009, Bolivia organised a People's Summit with 35,000 participants from 140 countries - not just representatives of governments, but also civil society and activists. — Noam Chomsky

Business, labor and civil society organizations have skills and resources that are vital in helping to build a more robust global community. — Kofi Annan