CIASA seeks durable change, thus CIASA is a specialized organization that was established as one of the major outcomes of the baseline, needs assessment, and research conducted across Southern Africa. The research was organized in response to the need for solidarity and movement building across Southern Africa, expansion of civic space, lack of proper democratic and economic governance, barriers in accessing comprehensive SRHR integrated with Sexual Gender Based Violence (SGBV) climate change and natural resources governance that primarily affects countries in Southern Africa. The research recommended that an organization should be established immediately to provide training, and oversight, generate scientific knowledge, and think tanks around Southern African communities’ interest in Climate Change, Child Protection, Environmental Sustainability, HIV and AIDs, and democratic and economic governance.

The organization is a non-political non-profit, non-governmental organization formed by human rights defenders with a particular focus on marginalized communities (women and girls, young people and persons with disabilities) The Citizen in Action Southern Africa is there to create and facilitate space for marginalized communities to have a collective voice to challenge oppressive systems and structural barriers and in turn effectively participate in key decision-making processes across the cultural, political, social, environmental, technological and economic spectrum.