Better Aid

ISSN :
2074-3599 (online)
ISSN :
2074-3602 (print)
DOI :
10.1787/20743599
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This series of books examines strategies for making aid more effective.
Also available in: French
 
Civil Society and Aid Effectiveness

Civil Society and Aid Effectiveness

Findings, Recommendations and Good Practice You do not have access to this content

Authors:
OECD
Publication Date :
03 Feb 2010
Pages :
156
ISBN :
9789264056435 (PDF) ; 9789264056794 (print)
DOI :
10.1787/9789264056435-en

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In the Accra Agenda for Action (2008), donors and developing country governments commit to deepening their engagement with civil society organisations (CSOs). Better aid requires a broader understanding of the aid effectiveness agenda and a place for CSOs as development actors in their own right and as aid donors, recipients and partners. This book is a resource for implementing the recommendations on civil society and aid effectiveness emerging from the Accra High Level Forum and its preparatory process. These recommendations address a broad community, including developing country governments, donors, and CSOs from developing and developed countries.

Also available in: French
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Expand / Collapse Hide / Show all Abstracts Table of Contents

  • Mark
  • Foreword
    A distinguishing feature of the process leading up to the Third High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness held in Accra from 2-4 September 2008 (HLF-3), and of the Accra Agenda for Action (AAA) emerging from that process, was the degree of importance accorded to civil society. Civil society organisations (CSOs) were actively involved, and the AAA contains numerous references to civil society and citizen participation.
  • Acknowledgements
    The documents constituting this volume drew on national, regional, and international consultations sponsored by the Advisory Group on Civil Society and Aid Effectiveness (AG-CS) in the 18 months preceding the Accra High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness in September 2008. Over 5 000 individuals and 3 600 organisations participated in these various consultations. Results came together in the International Forum on Civil Society and Effectiveness in Gatineau, Canada, in February 2008, and were incorporated in the Synthesis of Findings and Recommendations.
  • List of Acronyms
  • Executive Summary
    Part I of this volume reproduces the Synthesis of Findings and Recommendations of the Advisory Group on Civil Society and Aid Effectiveness (AG-CS). These findings and recommendations are the result of analytical work, multi-stakeholder consultations and case study work. They are aimed at a broad community of stakeholders, including developing country governments, donors and civil society organisations (CSOs) from developing and developed countries.
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  • Expand / Collapse Hide / Show all Abstracts Synthesis of Findings and Recommendations

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    • Introduction
      The Paris Declaration of March 2005 was a landmark achievement that brought together a number of key principles and commitments in a coherent way. It also included a framework for mutual accountability and identified a number of indicators for tracking progress. There is general recognition that the Paris Declaration is a crucial component of a larger aid effectiveness agenda that could engage civil society actors in a more direct manner.
    • Recognition and Voice
      What are CSOs and what makes them different? This book defines CSOs as nonmarket and non-state organisations outside of the family in which people organise themselves to pursue shared interests in the public domain. The emphasis in this book is on CSOs characterised by relationships of social solidarity with marginalised populations and concern for social justice. CSOs fill a number of significant roles as development actors and as aid donors, channels and recipients. The Advisory Group on Civil Society and Aid Effectiveness recommends formal recognition of the importance and diversity of CSOs and proposes that CSOs be brought systematically into the development and aid policy dialogue.
    • Civil Society and the Paris Declaration
      Recognition of CSOs as agents of development and change in their own right calls for a deeper understanding and application of the international aid effectiveness agenda to facilitate CSOs’ engagement in that agenda. This chapter offers recommendations for enriching each of the five Paris Declaration principles from a perspective inclusive of CSOs.
    • CSO Effectiveness
      This chapter argues that the effectiveness of CSOs is conditioned by the whole community of development actors including: developing country governments, donors, and CSOs themselves. Enhancing CSO effectiveness is therefore a collective endeavour. This chapter recommends actions to strengthen the enabling environment for civil society, improve donor models of support and strengthen CSO partnerships. It concludes with proposals for further multi-stakeholder work on CSO effectiveness and for incorporating CSOs in future processes and agreements on development and aid.
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  • Expand / Collapse Hide / Show all Abstracts Exploration of Experience and Good Practice

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    • Illustrations on Recognition and Voice

      This chapter illustrates how CSOs engage as development actors in four areas:

      1. civic engagement;
      2. service delivery, self-help and innovation;
      3. humanitarian assistance; and
      4. as international aid donors, channels and recipients.

      Examples are provided of official recognition of CSOs in policy statements and of how regular and systematic spaces have been established for CSOs to participate in policy dialogue.

    • Illustrations on Civil Society and the Paris Declaration

      This chapter looks at examples of aid effectiveness practices involving CSOs, including the following:

      1. how CSOs contribute to more democratic ownership in government-led programmes, and apply the ownership principle in their own programmes;

      2. alignment with priorities of CSOs and their constituents;

      3. harmonisation efforts in which CSOs and governments play complementary roles;

      4. CSO approaches to results management that promote iterative learning and accommodate indicators of social and institutional change; and

      5. CSO initiatives to promote social accountability or their own accountability.

    • Illustrations on CSO Effectiveness
      This chapter provides examples of how developing country governments, donors and CSOs themselves can work together to ensure that CSOs reach their full potential as development and aid actors. It explores how an enabling environment can be provided to enhance the vibrancy and diversity of civil society; discusses different models and facets of donor support; and concludes with examples of how CSO partnerships can be enhanced.
    • The Forward Agenda
      This chapter addresses recommendations on how to pursue the CSO effectiveness agenda following HLF-3 in Accra. It draws attention to a number of current efforts by the stakeholder community, including work at the country level, the incorporation of CSOs into the WP-EFF, and an international CSO-led process on CSO effectiveness.
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  • Bibliography
  • ANNEX A - The Accra Agenda for Action
    Ministers of developing and donor countries responsible for promoting development and Heads of multilateral and bilateral development institutions endorsed the following statement in Accra, Ghana, on 4 September 2008 to accelerate and deepen implementation of the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness (2 March 2005).
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