Deliberative democracy: Citizens' Juries

A citizens' jury can be a good model of participatory decision making that allows the voices of the most marginalised, and yet most affected by development policies, to be heard and included. But to be truly valuable and to ensure that the citizens’ jury succesfully influences policy, it must be set up with painstaking efforts to ensure its integrity, inclusiveness and credibility.

In any given society it is important to ask whose perspectives, knowledge and aspirations are embedded in policies, and whose are excluded. Recognising that policies usually reflect and reinforce the interests of the powerful, citizens’ juries are attempts to foster greater inclusion and democratic pluralism in policy making.

This project page sheds light on the process of policy making and how a citizens’ jury can influence it. It looks at the policy impacts of two citizens’ juries and highlights the factors which enabled civil society empowerment to change policy.

Citizens Space for Democratic Deliberation on GMOs and the future of farming in Mali:

As indicated by its name, this Citizens' Jury is a space to share knowledge, dialogue and inform decisions on genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in relation to the future of farming in Mali. This event involved farmers, -men and women-, from all districts of the Sikasso region in Mali.  The Citizens' Jury on GMOs took place in Sikasso between 25 and 29 January 2006.

The Citizens' Jury on GMOs was organised by the Regional Assembly of Sikasso, with conceptual and methodological support by the Réseau Interdisciplinaire Biosécurité (RIBios) of the Institut Universitaire d’Etudes du Développement in Geneva and by the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) in London. This project has been supported by funds from the Swiss Development Cooperation (SDC) and the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs (DGIS). A Steering Committee was set up in June 2005 to develop and plan the Citizens' Jury. This Steering Committee was made of approximately 15 members representing the following institutions:

* Regional Assembly of Sikasso
* Centre Djoliba
* Jubilé 2000
* Institut d’Economie Rurale (IER)/Comité Régional de la Recherche Agronomique
* (CRRA)
* Compagnie Malienne de Développement des Textiles (CMDT)
* Association des Organisations Professionnelles Paysannes (AOPP)
* Union Rurale des Radios et Télévisions (URTEL)/Radio Kene
* Comité Régional de Concertation des Ruraux (CRCR)
* Coordination Régionale des ONG (CR/ONG)
* Jekasy/Intercoopération
* Chambre d’agriculture
* Commission Régionale des Utilisateurs de la Recherche (CRU)
* Syndicat des Producteurs de coton et vivriers (SYCOV)
* Syndicat pour la Valorisation des Cultures Cotonnières et Vivrières (SYVAC)
* International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) de Londres
* Réseau Interdisciplinaire Biosécurité (RIBios)/IUED Genève