A group of people stand on a bridge holding large letters spelling 'Global Goals'. — Citizens gathered on London’s Millennium Bridge in 2015 to call on world leaders to adopt the Sustainable Development Goals.

The Power of Civil Society

Danny Sriskandarajah presented at Progress 2015 on what’s gone wrong in Australia and the world, and how we can steal it back. He argues for the power of civil society and solidarity to create a better future.

Contents

Introduction

Systemic change will only happen if we stand together and see the intersections between our issues to create a collective fight for a better future.

Dr. Dhananjayan (Danny) Sriskandarajah is the Secretary General of CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation, a global network dedicated to strengthening citizen action and civil society throughout the world. Born in Sri Lanka and a national of Australia, Danny lived and worked in the UK for the 15 years before relocating to South Africa with CIVICUS. Before joining CIVICUS, Danny was the first non-British Director General of the Royal Commonwealth Society, a 140-year-old education charity promoting international understanding across the Commonwealth. His previous posts include Interim Director of the Commonwealth Foundation, an inter-governmental organisation, and Deputy Director of the Institute for Public Policy Research, the UK’s largest independent think tank.