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jicfa@yahoo.com

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Executive Secretary
This paper attempted to understand the situation of Civil Society
(CS) in Oman and suggest a way forward through answering four
questions:
I.
II.
III.
IV.

Why Civil Society? i.e. What is the need for CS? Why is this
current discourse and advancement of CS causes?
Is the CS concept foreign to the Omani society and its
culture?
What challenges face Civil Society Organizations (CSO)?
How could we advance CS forward?

The paper identified two categories of challenges facing CSOs:

A. Internal, which includes:
Ambiguity of the CS concept, its mission, role and
applications vis--vis the society at large. Also, the absence
of a written and clear strategic framework for a group of
CSOs in Oman.
Limited financial resources and funding including the
dialectic of funding and independence; and the absence of
clear appropriate financial policies within several CSOs.
Generational gap including the absence of proper transfer of
leadership from one generation to another and the limited
supply of young leaders in society.
B. External, which includes:
The general political context including the overall perception
of CSOs, and the mental association between CS, irreligious
secularism and western form of democracy.
Limited regulatory and legal frameworks including the
narrow procedural interpretation of pertinent legislation,
and the absence of some CSO enabling legal frameworks,
which might lead to growth and development.
26 4

The paper came with a group of recommendations in three areas:

(1) Regulatory and legal framework, most notably to facilitate the
establishment and formation of CSOs, and to transfer
regulatory and supervisory responsibilities to the National
Committee for Human Rights.
(2) Financial Resources, most notably to exempt contributions by
private sector companies to CSO from taxation and to
establish a national endowment to support CS initiatives.
(3) Leadership, Society and Knowledge, most notably to launch
incubators for future CS leaders, and to create joint work
projects between government agencies, the private sector and
CSOs.

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(Keane, 2009)

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CIVICUS-Civil Society Index (CSI) Civil Society Strength Index (CSSI)

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Centre for Civil

Society London School of Economics

0221

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http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/EXTARABICHOME/EXTTOPICSARAB
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Heinrich, V. F. (2010, January). An Innovative Approach to Conceptualising, Measuring and
Analyzing The Strength of Civil Society in 43 Countries. THE FERNUNIVERSITT HAGEN.
Keane, J. (2009). Civil Society, Definitions and Approaches. In K. Jayaraja, Civil Society
Encyclopedia. Berlin Heidelberg: Springer-Verlag.
Lester M. Salamon .)0223( .Toward an Enabling Legal Environment for Civil Society; Statement
of the Sixteenth Annual Johns Hopkins International Fellows in Philanthropy Conference,
Nairobi, Kenya .The International Journal of Not-for-Profit Law.02-1 )0( 8

26 26