To close InterAction’s Forum 2011, Dr. Muhammad Yunus, Grameen Bank founder and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, led a discussion on NGOs in today’s world, and the pressures on civil society. Yunus explained some of the history of Bangladesh’s founding in 1971 and the reasons why civil society came into existence there during the country’s transition into a new state: as the country was trying to build a government, young people started stepping up to solve the problems that they could see, and their work grew into national NGOs.

Now that the government has established itself, tensions are rising as it tries to take back some of the space where these NGOs have been working. Yunus argued that if ordinary citizens are unable to participate in the national decision-making process, then democracy does not work. “We have the power to change the whole world, each one of us,” he encouraged the audience.

Following Yunus’ remarks, he joined a panel of experts: Doug Rutzen, president & CEO of the International Center for Not-for-Profit Law; Ingrid Srinath, secretary general of CIVICUS; Ken Wollack, president of the National Democratic Institute; and Stacy Rhodes, chief of staff and chief of operations of the Peace Corps. Sam Worthington, InterAction’s president and CEO, moderated the panel.

Rutzen talked about three global trends affecting civil society: the increasing restrictions countries place on NGOs accepting foreign funding; the squeezing of the civic space around advocacy; and the threat to the very existence of civil society. Srinath discussed the shift in the funding arena since the financial crisis. Wollack emphasized the roadblocks that occur when a newly-formed government inherits its predecessor’s problems and the need that civil society has to support and reinforce that new government’s institutions. Rhodes explained how the Peace Corps starts a program on the ground by partnering with the government and community-based organizations so that its volunteers get the technical expertise and access to training that they would otherwise not have.

The takeaway from the panel was that civil society is a crucial part of any community, be it a village, province or country, but that civil society working alone must not be a substitute for functioning leadership.