VISION

A region whose citizens live above the line of poverty, where economic growth primarily serves human development needs such as household food security and access to health and education, and where there is a greater ability on the part of citizens to enjoy socio-economic rights.

MISSION

To contribute towards social organization in the countries of the region, for the purposes of advocating for, and monitoring, universal citizen access to socio-economic rights and human development needs.

PURPOSE OF THE PROGRAMME

• OSISA believes that the single most important threat to the realisation of open society is poverty. Communities and individuals cannot have the means, knowledge, independence, time, and motivation to participate effectively in the social project of building an open society if they are hungry, malnourished, lack education, assets, and sustainable livelihoods. In that state poor people remain manipulable, are abused, and lack the means to protect and defend their own rights. Statistics glaringly show that poverty and inequality have in fact worsened over the last two decades. The programme primarily seeks to empower citizen groups to campaign against policies that make and keep them poor. It is a deliberate emphasis by OSISA on the importance of social and economic rights, in addition to civil and political liberties.

• Economic injustice prevails in the countries of the region, with ordinary citizens discounted and/or left out in economic decisions at municipal, national and international levels. Examples of critical decision-making points where citizens ought to be empowered to effectively participate include –

  • Public budget formulation, and monitoring at national and municipal and other local government levels.

  • Economic policy design at local government level limits citizens to their role as ratepayers, and no more.

  • Public borrowing policy and monitoring – as increasingly unsustainable debts are incurred in their name.

  • Corruption, at organisational and national levels. Corruption effectively taxes poor people and subverts economic activity.

In all these the key to effective citizen participation is information, knowledge and social organisation. The programme seeks to contribute towards effective citizen participation in economic decisions, with a view to making economic decisions people centred.

• The area of economic justice is increasingly defining itself as a growth point of public action and advocacy in the global south, including in Southern Africa. A number of networking and collaborative opportunities and imperatives present themselves for OSISA and its partners. Again there is need for capacity to do this.

• It is a method to deliver in the important area of social and economic (human) rights – to afford regional citizens dignity, which in turn gives citizens the ability to create spaces and means to fight for themselves for civil and political rights.

GOAL

To support the strengthening of ordinary citizens’ participation in, and influence over, budget and economic planning, public expenditure and service delivery.

To ensure that debt, corruption, trade, and investment processes do not diminish poor communities’ human rights, labour and consumer protective rights.

OSISA also seeks to support the strengthening of citizens’ participation in local economic governance and public expenditure at municipal and village levels