Definition of Civil Society

Civil society is the term used to describe the concept or activity of a country which is not part of the official government, nor is it part of the private business sector. In recent years it has been called the "Third Sector of Society", where the state and private enterprises are the first two.

At the very basic level, each of us, the individual person, make up civil society. But for most purposes, we refer to the organisations, which make up civil society. And because there are so many different types of organisations: foundations, associations, labour unions, student groups, unions, charities, non-lucrative groups; the commonly used catch-all term for all these different types is "non-governmental organisation", or NGO for short.

Essentially, any organisation that is set up and run independently of the government and is not run for profit is a non-governmental organisation. CSDF is of course, an NGO, as are better known organisations such as the Red Cross, Greenpeace, or Oxfam.