| abstract
| - The roots of the Social Congress can be traced back to several predecessor organisations that, through mergers or agreements eventually came to contribute to the creation of the Congress as a national grassroots organisation. Five different groupings of organisations can be identified, listed here in no particular order: 1.
* Community / Residents' Associations in coastal areas (Coastal Community Associations) 2.
* Urban-based "Town Hall" Residents' Associations 3.
* Urban-based Multi-Faith Activist Groups, some of which included humanist or "non-faith" individuals 4.
* Civil Society groups 5.
* Trade Unions & Community Employer Groups The Augustus & Hinterland Coastal Community Association in Egato - established in the late 29th century - was one of the first organisations of its type in Cobura, and instrumental in setting up the Coastal Citizens Confederation of Cobura (4C). A largely conservative association that tended to represent pensioners, fishermen and the Tourism industry, 4C blossomed as a national pressure group in the late 30th century, although its presence in Tokundi was never impressive. In 3028, 4C would form the National Civil Association with many other groups (see below) before eventually co-founding and being subsumed into the Social Congress of Cobura in 3030. The last Chief Executive of 4C, John Hope, would become the first National President of Congress from 3035 until his untimely death in 3040. The National Confederation of Faith-Based Activism was a loose grouping of multi-faith community groups in Coburan cities. In some areas, such groups were called "Multi-Perspective" groups which included large numbers of non-faith or humanist activists. These groups were especially active in the poorer areas of Cobura's many cities, and the national group existed only to fundraise for specific projects. However, the national group would soon merge with another similar organisation - the "Townhall Foundation" - a registered charity set up to represent and offer financial support on behalf of the Urban-based "Townhall movement" - a loose collection of middle-class Residents' Associations that were particularly active politically. The new national group, "The Coburan Civil Foundation," (CCF) was designed to funnel money raised by the townhall associations into the projects supported by the multi-faith activist groups. However, it soon led to the reform of both groupings, such that each local organisation would focus on a uniform mixture of activism and town-hall deliberation and campaigning. In 3028, it would be the National CEO of the CCF that would put forward the idea of the National Civil Association with 4C and other groupings. Humintrep (standing for Human Interest Representation) was a respected socially conscious think-tank set up and funded by many civil society groups and trade unions during a recession in Cobura in the late 30th century. Humintrep would not join the National Civil Association, but would recieve funding from it in the two years it existed, and then opt to become a section within the Social Congress in 3031. After joining the Social Congress and forming the "Social Policy Section," the organisation would attract the formal affiliation of many small civil society groups. The "Social & Civil Policy Section" of Congress is headed by a Vice-President. The National Civil Association had two further co-founders, the Congress of Coburan Workers' Unions (COCWU), and the National Small Employers' Forum (NASEF). Though often at odds, these two organisations worked productively within the NCA until it constituted the Social Congress in 3030. Following the further integration of groups into the Congress, COCWU pulled out, though several member unions remained, most of which are now merged into the "Social Congress Trade Union" (SOCOTRUN). Both unions and the community employer sector form part of the "Trade, Industry & Production Section" of the Social Congress, headed by two Co-Vice-Presidents.
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