Arab Civic Education Network-ANHRA is a member of the CSM-STAND Consortium (Strengthened Together and Advancing in New Directions)
As part of the efforts of the Arab Network for Civic Education-ANHRE to promote the principles and values of civics education, ANHRE joined a new program launched in 2021 through a consortium of regional and international organizations within a regional program funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) that aims to strengthen independent media and civil society around the world. The program is managed by Pact, which co-leads a consortium of organizations with IREX. The 5-year CSM-STAND consortium is pursuing three key objectives including building civil society and independent media capacity and leadership to constructively engage in civic space; providing the democracy, rights, and governance sector with cutting-edge technical resources and adaptable program options; and operationalizing and effectively managing a broad-based, diverse consortium for program implementation.
The CSM-STAND Consortium includes 9 civil society organizations, international partners, and regional partners from Africa and MENA region including ANRHE as a regional partner. CSM-STAND programming aims to foster independent civic forces enhance civic engagement and build vibrant, resilient, and self-reliant civil society and media sectors. This will be accomplished by strengthening civil society advocacy, monitoring and service delivery, and preserving the space for citizen voice and participation through various modalities tailored to meet context-specific needs and opportunities. Further recognizing the rise of virtual and global threats, CSM-STAND will focus on context-specific responses, including transnational or regional programs as necessary. These efforts will contribute to the overall strengthening of democratic civic culture in USAID partner countries.
In the same context, ANHRE has engaged with 18 other civil society organizations globally to design and test a new space for practice, action, research, and knowledge - Spark. With over 140 learning resources in more than 10 languages, Spark is an online learning space for civil society and media. Spark is funded through USAID support under the CSM-STAND programs, which ANHRE is a member of.
ANHRE has contributed to enriching Spark Space with various educational resources in the field of civic education, which are the result of ANHRE and members’ experiences and efforts over more than 10 years in the field of human rights and democratic citizenship. Spark visitors will find engaging content related to accountability and anticorruption, advocacy and policy reform, civic engagement, combating information pollution, inclusive development, institutional strengthening, media, and journalistic development, and monitoring and evaluation. To date, nine organizations have contributed their resources and Spark will continue to grow its offerings of video and blended learning courses, publications, informational videos, podcasts, and recorded webinars.
