Case Stories of Civil Society Engagement on Aid Effectiveness

8/7/2019 Case Stories of Civil Society Engagement on Aid Effectiveness

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Case Stories of

Civil SocietyEngagement on

Aid Effectiveness


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Introduction

CSO Engagements

Bolivia

Cambodia

Cameroon

Ecuador

Kyrgyzstan

Lesotho

Philippines

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Table of Contents


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Acknowledgments

The Case Stories of Civil Society Engagement on Aid Effectiveness is a compilationof IBON/RoA Country Outreach case stories, written by authors from Southern CSOsand the Country Outreach team whose research draws on experiences from workingdirectly with aid effectiveness issues.

Overall editorial control of the publication lies with IBON International. The viewsexpressed re ect the views of the authors and do not necessarily re ect the viewsof IBON/RoA Country Outreach or IBON International that published these casestories.

IBON International was assisted by Carla Santos; Myrna Maglahus and NicolasGloeckl from the IBON/ RoA Country Outreach, the Cooperation Committee forCambodia and the Forum of Womens NGOs of Kyrgyzstan, as writers and content/copy editors, and Jennifer Padilla as Lay-out artist.

Content and context has been provided by: Union Nacional de Instituciones para alTrabajo de Accion Social (UNITAS), Bolivia; Cooperation Committee of Cambodia(CCC); Collectif des ONG pour la Securite Alimentaire et le Developpement Rural(COSADER), Cameroon; Centro de Investigaciones, (CIUDAD), Ecuador; Forum ofWomens NGOs of Kyrgyzstan (FWNGO); Economic Justice Network Lesotho (EJNL);and AidWatch Philippines.

We would like to thank all those who have generously contributed their knowledgeand advice.

Credits for Pictures:

Bolivia: IBON International 2010

Cameroon: COSADER 2010

Cambodia: CCC 2010

Ecuador: CIUDAD 2010

Kyrgyzstan: IBON International 2010

Lesotho: EJNL 2010

Philippines: Aidwatch 2010


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Introduction

Case Stories of Civil Society Engagement on Aid Effectiveness

At the High Level Forum III (HLF3) in Accra in 2008, the work of CSOs wasstrengthened by the efforts of the International Steering Group (ISG) of the AccraCSO Forum on Aid Effectiveness, whose members individually or in coordination initiated various consultations, seminars, researches and other activities in promotionof CSO positions on aid and development effectiveness, partly as preparation toAccra. National and regional CSO workshops and multi-stakeholder consultationstoo were convened, focusing on the theme of CSOs and aid effectiveness also

implemented by IBON and Reality of Aid (RoA) for the Advisory Group (AG).

After Accra, these initiatives even intensified. The project, Catalysing broad countryimplementation of the AAA: from aid effectiveness to development effectiveness isan on-going activity implemented by IBON/RoA in conjunction with CSO platforms invarious developing countries in Africa, Asia/Pacific and Latin America. Their storiesremain a wealthy resource for stakeholders engaged in the promotion of aid anddevelopment effectiveness.

CSOs around the world struggling with aid and development effectiveness issues havefrequently called for tangible examples and lessons learned by other organizationsfacing similar experiences. Responding to the need, this publication aims to contribute

to the documentation and sharing of CSO experiences, lessons and insights.

IBON/RoA has produced this first of two booklets of case stories that attempts todocument CSO involvement in national aid policy reforms, including, but not limitedto, mechanisms, processes and structures that demonstrate CSO involvement inaid effectiveness policy reform and AAA implementation. Each of the storiesdemonstrates the specific involvement of CSOs, partners and other actors, theissues and challenges they faced and the outcomes of their involvement.

More concretely, the stories in this booklet provide context to CSOs, donorsand governments, build upon a broad range of diverse experiences withinunique settings. Highlighting different coping mechanisms ranging from

direct interventions of CSOs through government and donor channels, to CSOconsultations and workshops, the following case studies provide valuable lessons.In the face of a multitude of challenges for CSOs, including restricted accessto information and participation in aid and development processes, CSOs wereable to build and strengthen their capacities through innovative and resourcefulmeans. This has resulted in elevating their positions broadly at the national andinternational levels, earning them increased recognition as capable and important


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actors in development. Often this new engagement led to their inclusion inprocesses of previously exclusive government and donor decision making.

Case stories in this booklet were chosen and prepared in coordination with CSOsand CSO platforms from countries in the African, Asia/Pacific and Latin Americanregions. Consequently, the development stage of CSOs differ substantially,as does the level of involvement, strengthening the value of this publicationas it offers CSOs diverse insights on how to cope with a variety of differentchallenges on aid and development effectiveness issues, at unique stages ofCSO involvement. While intended for the CSO community, governments anddonors, too, can find valuable lessons and insights in the experiences of thesediverse country examples. Overall, it is hoped that this booklet will be used asa meaningful tool by those engaging in the aid and development effectivenessagenda, and contribute towards real, inclusive ownership of development by thepeople.


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Bolivia

Introduction

Bolivia is a landlocked country in west-central South America. With a GNI percapita of USD1,460, the country remains one of the poorest in all of LatinAmerica. Roughly two thirds of the people live below the poverty line and over 42percent of the population lives on less then USD2 a day. Large income inequalitiespersist within Bolivia making it one of South Americas most economically unequalcountries. The wealthiest 20 percent of the people earn roughly half of Bolivias totalincome, while the poorest 20 percent only shares 4 percent. (www.worldbank.org)

With Evo Morales becoming the countrys first indigenous president in 2005, Boliviahas been set on a new, increasingly more progressive social, political and economiccourse. In January 2006, the government started implementing economic and socialreforms designed to meet the basic needs of the poorest. However, challengesremain including exclusion, especially of the indigenous population, relativelynascent democratic institutions, internal political tensions and a need to diversify

the economy away from a reliance on the export of natural resources.

A heavy debt burden is a continuing drag on the governments budget which compelsthe country to rely heavily on foreign assistance to finance its development projects.As such, Official Development Assistance (ODA) in the country is an importantissue. The Bolivian CSO platform, Union Nacional de Ins tuciones para al Trabajo deAccion Social (UNITAS), began its engagement with ODA issues in 2006. UNITAS isa national platform that brings together 29 diverse development-oriented networksand CSOs with the mission to advance the generation of alternative knowledge andproposals for development. The platform aspires to enable social change towards amore democratic, equitable and just society based on solidarity.

UNITAS has been able to deepen its engagement with the government of Bolivia onseveral levels. Notably the platform was able to provide input and critique on theSecond Phase of the Country Level Evaluation (CLE2) report on the implementationof the Paris Declaration (PD).

These recent steps to include the CSO sector within official aid effectivenessprocesses and issues is a welcome move by the government, especially in


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consideration of the still limited nature of cooperation and coordination between thegovernment and the CSO sector. Bolivias CSO community is therefore hoping tobuild and deepen the level of communication in 2011 to engage in a productive andeffective way striving towards inclusive aid effectiveness in the country.

National PD Evaluation

Under the auspices of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development(OECD), the 2nd High-Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness held in Paris in 2005 producedthe Paris Declaration (PD), which aims to strengthen partnerships between donorsand recipient countries to make aid more effective and ensure development results.The Declaration consists of 56 Partnership Commitments grouped under veoverarching principles, namely, ownership, alignment, harmonization, managing fordevelopment results, and mutual accountability. It speci es indicators, timetablesand targets for actions by donor and recipient governments and has an evolvingagenda for implementation and monitoring progress up to 2010. At the Third High-Level Forum (HLF3) in Accra in 2008, governments con rmed their commitments tothe PD and signed the Accra Agenda for Action (AAA). While the aid effectivenessreforms fall short of needed changes to truly address the problems in the current aidsystem, it is still important for CSOs to hold donors and recipient governments toaccount for the pledges they have made in Paris and Accra.

One OECD mechanism to monitor the success and implementation of the PD is thesecond phase of the evaluation (CLE 2) of the PD. The objective of the CLE2 is tohighlight the effects and results of the implementation of the PD. It will thereforerespond to the key question of whether the long term desired effects are beingreached or advanced in the Paris Declaration (PD). The evaluation is also expected

to analyse the results in context, taking into account the preconditions or enablingconditions that could lead to positive results in development aid.

As CSO representative of the National Reference Group (NRG), UNITAS has beenable to engage on several levels and stages in the CLE 2 process. Implementing acommon framework established at the international level, the Vice Ministry of PublicInvestment and External Financing (VIPFE) formed the NRG. Within this framework,UNITAS participated in different meetings, together with other members of the NRGto orient the national evaluation team, supervise the design and questions of thecountry evaluation and revise the drafts of the reports.

While the drafting stage of the CLE2 report has been more inclusive then past reports,

the report still needs improvement in several aspects. The report should comparethe results of the first and second PD evaluations to clearly see and analyse thechanges that occurred, if any, taking into account the Bolivian national context. Itwould also help to have gender-disaggregated data; and to include a wide range ofstakeholders in development. With such comments and recommendations, UNITASis exploring the need for an independent and alternative civil society report to analysethe implementation of the PD in Bolivia.


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UNITAS and National Consultations

UNITAS is one of Bolivias most recognized and broadly represented nationalplatforms. Its track record spans over 34 years of sustained work with and for themore needy and excluded sectors of society. UNITAS has evolved into a strongand capable point of reference for sustained dialogue with both the internationaldevelopment community and the government. The platforms political independenceallows it to be critical and, hence, sets a benchmark for policy dialogue with otherdevelopment actors. In 2006, UNITAS turned its attention to development and aideffectiveness and has since been involved in the monitoring and evaluation of thePD at international and national level. The aim of the network is to promote therecognition of Southern CSO voices, contribute to the global debate and push for theestablishment of new frameworks of participation to enable real aid effectiveness.

Representing the voices of its partner CSOs in Bolivia, UNITAS participates in debatesat national and international levels. It provides space for the collective analysis of both

content and scope of the PD in order to improve the understanding of aid effectivenessand focus on the real contributions to development. This has mainly been achievedby facilitating discussions among different actors in development, including tradeunions, peasants, indigenous organizations, NGOs and other CSOs. This approachhas resulted in clear recommendations to the government and donor organizations andstrengthened the capacity of CSOs to engage as full development actors, improvingengagement with and ownership of the national development plan.

In the run up to the HLF3 in Accra, two national CSO consultations in 2007 and 2008have provided UNITAS with a rich perspective of the challenges on aid faced byBolivian CSOs. The platform was able to share these views and raise the concerns ofits partner organizations at various international events and meetings in preparation

for Accra. It is clear however, that CSOs are on a long road to make aid moreeffective and achieve real progress in eliminating poverty while generating genuinedevelopment results. The past national CSO consultations helped foster a favourableclimate for more cooperation and coordination with the government. The recentparticipation of UNITAS in the NRG has generated a new level of engagement betweenthe government and Bolivias CSO sector. These favourable conditions could be a

rst step towards strengthened linkages between state and civil society to jointlyface the challenges of development. As a result of these processes, upcoming CSOconsultations will engage the active participation of the VIPFE.

International EngagementTo deepen the engagement further with the government, donor and the CSO sector,UNITAS has been preparing a perception survey on the development effectivenessof civil society, aimed to provide practical guidance and lessons on the role andcontribution of international cooperation and CSOs to national development. A secondfocus lies on transparency and accountability procedures and issues concerningCSOs within the country.


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The above initiative forms part of a larger process of CSO re ection that has developedworldwide through many national consultations informing the Open Forum (OF) for CSODevelopment Effectiveness. The consultations have enhanced dialogue and evokedCSO inputs to a proposed CSO development effectiveness framework, including

principles, indicators, implementation guidelines, good practices for accountabilitymechanisms and minimum standards for enabling conditions. The results of theseconsultations de ne an international framework on CSO development effectiveness thatinforms and structures their identity, visions and mandates while de ning their work and

eld of operation. It furthermore stresses the importance of being accountable to theirtarget groups as well as governments and donors 1.

The OF process has evolved from the HLF3 in Accra in 2008. Accra took the PD a stepfurther by introducing new topics to the discussion such as the need for democraticspace, division of labour, South-South cooperation and conditionality of aid. Unlike theHLF2 in Paris, CSOs in Accra played an important role in deepening the aid effectivenessagenda while succeeding in the adoption of paragraph 20 of the Accra Plan of Actionthat recognizes the role and the voice of CSOs as actors in development.

Post-Accra, the challenge is to ensure the sustained advocacy for deepening of the aidreforms and a strengthening of development effectiveness. On the way to the HLF4 inBusan, it is imperative to involve and engage CSOs, donors and recipient governmentsin a more ambitious dialogue where all actors are treated as equals working togetherfor genuine development results.

Next Steps

Opening up the PD evaluation process to the public is an important step forward to

participation, accountability and transparency. Taking this step further, UNITAS isplanning to disseminate and popularize the results of the CLE2 process with a greatersection of civil society. Its unique stance as part of the NRG enables UNITAS to shareinformation and liaise more effectively among the CSOs, the government and donors. In addition, UNITAS has a bigger opportunity to provide a channel of information toCSOs nationally and internationally.

For 2011 UNITAS plans to deepen its engagement with the government on aideffectiveness issues. The platform proposes to implement a joint national consultationwith the government and the CSO sector in Bolivia, to disseminate the results of theCLE2 report and collect CSOs views, progress and prospects on development and onthe role of official development assistance.

UNITAS further hopes to develop a CSO action plan to engage strategically in the aidand development effectiveness process, while paying special attention to include CSOdevelopment effectiveness issues.

Endnotes1 For more informa on on the Open Forum Process h p://www.cso-e ec veness.org/


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Cambodia

The following case study, prepared for Reality of Aid (ROA), is a snapshot of the effortsof the Cooperation Committee of Cambodia (CCC) and the NGO Forum on Cambodia(NGO Forum) to increase CSO involvement and participation in the implementation ofthe Paris Declaration (PD) and Accra Agenda for Action (AAA) principles in Cambodia.

In order to illustrate the practice of broad participation in aid effectiveness, this casestudy explores the efforts of the CCC and NGO Forum to disseminate information on thePD and AAA principles and to build the capacity of community support organisations(CSOs) to engage with the Royal Government of Cambodia (RGC) and other developmentpartners in the implementation. It also summarises the results of these efforts andoutlines actions undertaken by Cambodia NGOs and community-based organizations(CBOs) such as greater representation in Technical Working Groups (TWGs) input into

the National Strategic Development Plan (NSDP) and contribution to the global dialogueon aid effectiveness.

Civil Society in Cambodia

As a developing nation, Cambodia faces numerous challenges. There is widespreadpoverty with thirty percent (30%) of the population living on less than USD1 a day andthe nation ranks low internationally in health indicators. Cambodia also comes in verylow globally on governance rankings, with the rule of law considered to be very weak. Although the public sector suffers from weak human resources and institutional capacity,Cambodia is enjoying period of rapid economic growth and political stability.

The 1990s saw the emergence of local non-government organizations, mainly fundedby international donors following the United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia(UNTAC) period. From only one NGO registered with the Ministry of Interior in 1991, thesector experienced exponential growth with 2,675 registered NGOs at present. Of these,316 are international NGOs (iNGOs) (CCC, 2010). A consequence of the presence of iNGOs


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and the development of local NGOs was the subsequent emergence of CBOs of manydifferent types. Many of these work informally, are not registered and play an importantrole in service provision. NGOs and CBOs have a significant role in Cambodian civilsociety and are recognized as equal partners by the Government of Cambodia.

Despite the many NGOs and CBOs in the country today which have established astructure for coordination and action, the CSO community as a whole still remainsweak and, to some extent, passive. While many improvements have been madesince the end of the Khmer Rouge period, the general opinion is that the role ofcivil society has actually regressed over the past decade. People are still not fullyaware of their rights and obligations nor are able to act when these are infringedupon. Marginalised groups face many limitations, human rights violations are stillcommonplace and the rule of law is very weak (UNDP, 2010).

Working with or through CBOs is common practice for many NGOs. However, thisengagement is less collaborative and more for the purpose of service delivery rather thandeep engagement. NGOs outsource to CBOs and do not engage on a partnership level. However, the relationships between grassroots organisations and NGOs are vital for theempowerment of local communities and to the development of a strong civil society.

Some key challenges faced by CBOs in Cambodia are limited management andgovernance capacity, lack of representation in development policy dialogue,information gaps, unstable funding coupled with uncoordinated demands fromdonor agencies, difficulty in engaging civil society through community ownershipand participation, and a lack of coordination among NGOs and CBOs leading tofragmentation and overlap in project implementation.

The current space available for democratic engagement of civil society is small andthere is a danger that this space will shrink even further in the near future due to the

entrenched strength of the dominant political party and the planned introduction ofthe NGO Law. This is seen as a mechanism to control and restrict the work of NGOsand CBOs (CCC, 2010).

Despite these limitations, civil society is an important component of effectivedevelopment in Cambodia especially in the areas of service delivery, particularly inthe health and education sectors, policy development and research and advocacy. NGOs continue to fill the gaps in the governments weaknesses in providing neededservices to the public.

Cooperation Committee for Cambodia and

NGO Forum on CambodiaThe NGO Forum on Cambodia and the CCC have been working together to bring theissue of aid effectiveness to the fore of development practice in Cambodia. Relevantprovisions and principles in the PD and AAA are being gradually applied within theNGO sector due in large part to the efforts of these two organisations. They haveadvocated for greater NGO participation at the policy level and have in uenced


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the guidelines and policies of the TWGs. Furthermore, they participate actively inthe meetings of the Government-Development Partners Coordination Committee(GDCC) and the Cambodia Development Cooperation Forum (CDCF).

NGO Forum on Cambodia

The NGO Forum is a membership organisation for local and international NGOs inCambodia, which began to operate in the 1980s and was fully established as a localinstitution in 1993. Its purpose is to facilitate information sharing, encourage debateand advocacy on priority issues affecting Cambodias development. NGO Forumprojects seek to build NGO cooperation for advocacy by facilitating the activities ofan NGO network.

NGO Forum works with NGOs in all sectors to prepare for the annual government-donor Consultative Group meeting, to monitor the National Strategic Development

Plan (NSDP, Cambodias PRSP) and to contribute to other multi-sectoral policyprocesses. NGO Forum has also been trying to increase NGO participation in thedrafting of the NSDP, by encouraging and facilitating NGOs to submit inputs to lineministries. To this end, they collect and collate information for submission to theTechnical Working Groups (TWGs), the GDCC and the CDCF.

Aid Effectiveness Forum Project

In 2007, the Development Issues Program of NGO Forum, in close cooperation withmembers of the Trade and Economic Development Network started work on aideffectiveness in Cambodia with the first Aid Effectiveness Forum held in Phnom Penh

on 13 March 2007. In this forum DFID, World Bank, JICA, USAID, and ADB presentedtheir work to CBOs followed by discussions. The organizing NGOs (Womyns Agendafor Change, Action Aid, Samakum Teang Tnaut, NGOF, NPA, World Vision, NGOEducation Partnership) concluded that this work needs to be continued and that itdeserves the attention of full-time staff member. One full-time staff was hired for thisposition of Aid Effectiveness Officer in early 2008 when the project officially started.

The principal purpose of the Aid Effectiveness Forum Project is to enable NGOs tocooperate across sectors to in uence donor and government policies and practicesso that foreign aid benefi ts poor and vulnerable groups. Since beginning, the projecthas been able to in uence the attitude of the RGC towards NGOs by securing animportant change in the wording of the NSDP update from

government ownership

to country ownership. It is also working to update the ToR for the TWGs to provide aclearer role for NGO participation.

Some of the project outputs are as follows:

The aid allocation and disbursement, with regard to transparency, is monitoredagainst the poverty reduction goals.


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Cambodian citizens and NGOs are able to hold the donors and governmentaccountable for the use of aid and development results through TWGs, GDCC,CDCF, and other fora.

NGOs in Cambodia have contributed to regional and international advocacyefforts in regards to the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness and the AccraAgenda for Action.

Cooperation Committee for Cambodia

The CCC was established in 1990 and plays a major role in engaging NGOs for thedevelopment of Cambodia. Its mission is to act as a professional association ofNGOs, providing high quality services to civil society and in uencing Cambodiasdevelopment partners through a collective voice. The CCC has taken a lead role in onthe aid effectiveness movement and has been working closely with NGOs and CBOs

across the country to promote the principles of the PD and the AAA in order to (a)build awareness on aid effectiveness; and (b) create opportunities for engagementand contribution to national debate on policy issues related to aid effectiveness.

The CCC is active not only in the debate and discussions surrounding aid effectivenessin Cambodia, but also in making a significant contribution at the global level. TheCCC is member of Reality of Aid, Asia Aid Watch Initiatives, Capacity DevelopmentFacility for Development Effectiveness (CDDE), and the Open Forum Global FacilitationGroup (GFG).

Two projects which help to develop an enabling environment for NGO and CBOcapacity development towards their deeper engagement at a policy level are theNGO Good Governance Project and a series of workshops held over the past year onaid effectiveness, implemented in partnership with NGO Forum and other partners.

NGO Good Governance Project

In 2004, the CCC established the NGO Good Governance Project (GGP). The goal ofthe GGP is to professionalize and strengthen the NGO sector, building public trust andaccountability to stakeholders. A Working Group of NGO representatives developeda Code of Ethical Principles and Minimum Standards for NGOs in Cambodia. ThisCode informs the self-certification process by which NGOs can assess and improvetheir performance. Applicant NGOs undergo a process of reviews and those that

are found to be in compliance are awarded a Code of Compliance Certificate. Thosethat have not yet met all the standards receive capacity development to help themimprove. The GGP is an important tool in the movement towards aid effectivenessas it helps NGOs to demonstrate their capacity and willingness to be accountable,thereby enabling the sector to build a good image on a foundation of public trust.It is a voluntary process and driven by NGOs themselves. To date 81 NGOs haveapplied for certification and 23 have been successful in attaining certification.


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National Aid Effectiveness Workshops

Between November 2009 and July 2010, the CCC and NGO Forum along with theirpartners organized and facilitated a series of workshops to enable constructivedialogue on the aid effectiveness principles. Five workshops at the sub-nationallevel led to three high level national workshops attended by NGOs, donors andgovernment representatives. This series of workshops was supported by partnersincluding Alliance 2015, the Open Forum for CSO Development Effectiveness, theAsia Pacific Research Network and UNDPs Multi-Donor Support Program.

The first national workshop was held on November 20 th , 2009. This one-day eventwas attended by 130 participants from 108 NGOs operating in 24 provinces. NGOswere invited to re ect on how they can apply the Paris Declara on principles of aide ec veness

The second national workshop was held on March 23, 2010. This half-day eventwas attended by 66 participants. Thirty-five (35) of these were NGO and CBOrepresentatives, 22 were development partner representatives and four weregovernment representatives. NGOs and development partners were asked tore ect how they can cooperate together to apply the Paris Declara on principles for aid e ec veness...

The third national workshop, entitled Moving from Aid E ec veness towardsDevelopment E ec veness, was held on July 20 th to 22 nd , 2010. This workshop servedas the culmination of the previous workshops, as well as to inform the participantson global discussions on the issue. The event was attended by representatives from68 NGOs and CBOs and on the third day, 18 development partner representativesand 17 government representatives also joined.

Among the key achievements of the workshops were:

1. Increased awareness of aid effectiveness, development effectiveness and thechallenges of achieving these;

2. An affirmation of the NGOs desire to fulfill their role in aid effectiveness as outlinedin the AAA. NGOs want to participate in development planning processes; andthey recognise that their right to participate also comes with responsibilities;.

3. Raised awareness of the Code of Ethics and Minimum Standards of GoodGovernance and the accompanying self-certification process available for useby NGOs in Cambodia;

4. Establishment of strong connections with global debates on aid effectivenessand development effectiveness which can lead to Cambodian CSOs making acontribution to forthcoming international debates.

5. Support for further capacity building was actively sought from developmentpartners and the government.


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Furthermore, commitments have been made by all development actors to further thePD and AAA principles. The RGC has committed to taking NGO recommendationson development policy and planning into account as well as continuing to coordinateand support NGOs and other civil society actors in implementing projects at thesub-national level.

Development partners committed to recognise CBOs and NGOs as importantdevelopment actors and to simplify their funding criteria. They also committed toseek inputs from CBOs and NGOs on effective civil society engagement.

NGOs pledged commitment to continue the discussions on appropriate guidelines,indicators and mechanisms for securing development effectiveness and to continueto advocate for an enabling environment, a stronger voice and greater capacity.

Another outcome of the workshop series was the contribution to the global debateon the issue. A summary report of the experiences and recommendations of allactors was prepared and presented in Istanbul in September 2010.

Achievements

Significant achievements have been made towards building awareness of aideffectiveness issues in Cambodia and to work towards an enabling environment forNGO participation in national level policy dialogue. Over 600 people participatedin formal discussions on aid effectiveness through the workshop series and moreNGOs are now more aware of the PD and AAA principles. NGOs have developedtheir own capacity both in terms of their own governance through the GGP, but alsoin order to be able to engage in development policy and national policy dialogues. The NGO sector in Cambodia is gradually growing stronger as it professionalizesand develops capacity and confidence to engage in high level policy dialogue.

CSOs have increased their membership in some Technical Working Groups andhave developed the capacity to make contributions in some of these (RBMG/VBNK,2010). With the support of NGO Forum, more CBOs have attempted to contributeto the drafting of the NSDP, although this engagement is still limited. Collectively,the Cambodian NGO sector has been able to engage globally in the dialogue onCSO development effectiveness with the submission of a report to the CSO GlobalAssembly at Istanbul, Turkey in September, 2010.

However, at the March, 2010 dialogue, CSOs expressed the opinion that they donot yet feel sufficiently included as real partners with government and developmentpartners in multi-stakeholder efforts to translate aid effectiveness into practice. Theprevailing view of government respondents to the online survey is that key CSOshave been provided with opportunities to engage government representatives anddevelopment partners at all levels of the aid policy dialogue and in the development ofnational and sector strategies through aid coordination mechanisms ranging from theCDCF, GDCC to the TWGs. Development partner respondents, however, were dividedin their views, recognizing on the one hand that space has been created for CSOs


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to have their voices heard, but that they are not as fully engaged as they could be insome sectors and in some TWGs, most notably in the rural development sector.

ConclusionsNGO Forum and CCC have been very active in promoting dialogue on aid anddevelopment effectiveness in Cambodia. This has led to more awareness of the issueon the part of NGOs in Cambodia, particularly through the recent series of workshops. As a result NGOs are eager to fulfill their role and to participate in national leveldevelopment and policy planning in order to ensure the voice of civil society is included. NGOs also have a mechanism, the GGP, through which to improve their organisationalpractices and prove their commitment to good governance, thereby strengtheningtheir position as valuable and responsible representatives of civil society.

Also importantly, with the support of CCC and NGO Forum, there has been significantly

more coordinated NGO effort at the national level (RBMG/VBNK, 2010). NGOs havebeen more actively engaged in aid policy development dialogue, participating inTWGs and making recommendations on sectoral development planning through lineMinistries. However, the process for such NGO input is not yet fully developed asthere is little dialogue or feedback on inputs. This is being addressed by the effortsof NGO Forums Aid Effectiveness Project.

Overall, however, scrutiny over government-donor relations by Cambodian citizensremains weak. While there is some NGO engagement in the Technical Working Groups(TWGs), NGO in uence is still small, and most donor-government processes areheavily geared towards meeting donor requirements for accountability to their owntaxpayers. There are no significant opportunities for Cambodian citizens, CSOs, the

National Assembly, media and other stakeholders to hold donors and government toaccount for ensuring that aid money is used to benefit the Cambodian poor (NGOForum, 2010).

NGO Forum and CCC are looking beyond aid effectiveness and moving towardsdevelopment effectiveness. This requires both agencies, along with their partners,to move the dialogue beyond the policy level to the process and implementation ofaid to ensure the ultimate goal of poverty alleviation is met.

References

Coopera on Commi ee for Cambodia, NGO Forum, MEDiCAM, (2010), Coventry, L. (ed) Moving from Aid

E ec veness to Development E ec veness.

Cambodia Rehabili a on and Development Board, The Cambodia Aid E ec veness Report, May 2010.

Rasmussen, K., (2010) NGO Contribu ons to Cambodias Development 2004-2009.

UNDP (2010), Civil Society Empowerment and Democra c Governance in Cambodia, Dra Final Version,September 2009.

VBNK, RBMG (2010), Cambodia Country Study Report, Phase Two Evalua on of the Paris Declara on.


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Cameroon

Introduction

Cameroon is a Central African country with an estimated population of nearly 19.5million. The country faces significant development challenges with fty percent

(50%) of the population living on less than USD2 a day and life expectancy of only51 years of age. However, having one of the highest literacy rates in Africa and anincreasingly growing base of civil society organizations (CSOs) give it hope for thefuture. (www.data.worldbank.org)

In October 2000, Cameroon became eligible for debt relief under the Heavily IndebtedPoor Countries (HIPC) Initiative. Qualification for debt relief is dependent on thesuccessful implementation of the Poverty Reduction Strategy agreed with donors.Following significant efforts, Cameroon achieved Completion Point in April 2006 andis now eligible for debt relief, enhancing its chance for sustainable growth and asignificant reduction of poverty. The government however, will need to continue itsefforts in transparent governance and fighting corruption. (www.dfid.gov.uk)

Regional and Country-level Processes

In the follow-up to the Paris Declaration (PD) and the implementation of the AccraAgenda for Action (AAA), several international processes of CSO-led consultationswere put in place. Two of these are the BetterAid initiative to capacitate CSOs on theaid effectiveness agenda, and the Open Forum workshop to come up with principlesand mechanisms for CSO development effectiveness. At the regional level, similarinitiatives developed, one of which was a regional workshop on aid effectivenesswith CSOs from countries in Central Africa.

The workshop, facilitated by IBON and Reality of Aid (RoA) from 30 Novemberto 2 December 2009, in Yaounde, Cameroon, was attended by 62 participantsrepresenting 53 CSOs from five of the regions countries, namely, Cameroon, theRepublic of Central Africa, Rwanda, Burundi and Chad. One CSO from Nigeria wasalso represented. Representatives from the Cameroonian Ministry of Finance andMinistry on Economy and Planning as well as the donor community represented by theEuropean Commission, European Union, German Agency for International Cooperation


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(GIZ) and the Embassy of France participated in the multi-stakeholder workshop.

This meeting resulted in three significant outcomes: (1) the establishment of a sub-regional civil society network on aid effectiveness in Central Africa; (2) the formationof a national CSO network on aid effectiveness named AID GROUP Cameroon; and(3) the drafting of national CSO country plans.

The sub-regional civil society network on aid effectiveness in Central Africa iscoordinated by the Collec f des ONG pour la Securite Alimentaire et le Developpement Rural (COSADER), a national network of Cameroon CSOs focusing on advocacy,capacity building and research on the themes of food sovereignty, economicdevelopment, aid effectiveness, human rights and governance. Focal points infive countries in the region were identified and are expected to make updatedinformation on aid and development effectiveness available to national and regionalCSO platforms. COSADER was also recently invited as member to the Reality ofAid-Africa.

As lead convener for the Central African network of CSOs, COSADER participatedin a regional seminar on CSO development effectiveness. The seminar, held inNairobi, Kenya, was organized by the All-African Council of Churches (AACC)which is the focal point for the Open Forum (OF) process for African CSOs. Theseminar brought together organizations from all regions of Africa. COSADER wasthen chosen to host the f irst of 17 national consultations that took place across thecontinent. The recognition of COSADER and the AID GROUP as key actors on aideffectiveness issues also earned them an invitation to participate in the f irst GeneralAssembly of the Open Forum for CSO Development Effectiveness, from 28 to 30September 2010, in Istanbul, Turkey. The Open Forum Global Assembly concludedin the adoption of the Istanbul Principles of Development Effectiveness which wasbased on the results of almost 50 country consultations. Incidentally, the IstanbulPrinciples re ect all eight principles of CSO development effectiveness proposed byCameroon.

National CSO Initiatives

On 22-23 April 2008, and in the run up to the Third High Level Forum (HLF3) in Accrain September 2008, Cameroons civil societies organized a national consultationon its role in the implementation of the PD. This marked the first effective multi-stakeholder dialogue on aid effectiveness that included representatives from thegovernment, development partners, CSOs, parliamentarians and the private sector.

This consultation became the avenue for scaling-up the engagement of CSOs inCameroon with the purpose of sharing information and promoting best practiceswithin civil society. The results of this meeting contributed to the formation of a civilsociety platform on aid effectiveness.

In late 2009, the AID GROUP Cameroon was formed following the result of theCentral Africa CSO Workshop and Multi-Stakeholder Consultations. COSADER tookthe responsibility as secretariat for this national platform. The AID GROUP was


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a response to the call for CSOs to work together and advocate for an enablingenvironment for CSO engagement in the aid agenda in Cameroon. The core groupof AID GROUP Cameroon is composed of ten diverse national CSO networks,ranging from Les Jeudi de Cotonou, a network working on the African, Caribbean andPacific Group of States-European Union (ACP-EU) partnership policy, to FEMNET,focusing on gender advocacy.

The structure of the national platform is also replicated at the regional/sub-nationallevel. Regional/sub-national CSO focal points were assigned to facilitate awareness,ensure broad participation of CSOs and to bring forward the issues of the regionsto the capital. The focal points assigned in the regions are also networks of CSOsrepresenting the 10 regions of Cameroon: Coastal and southwest regions, West andthe North-West regions, Eastern, Central and South regions, Adamaoua, the Northand the far North regions.

AID GROUP Cameroon intends to strengthen the capacity of CSOs to enable themto actively participate in the implementation processes of the PD and AAA at thecountry-level. The CSO country plan developed by this platform during the CentralAfrica Regional Consultations was built upon the realization of five goals, to wit:

a. Promote the PD and AAA process to national CSOs;

b. Adoption of principles of CSO development effectiveness in interventionstrategies by making use of toolkits, national consultations and seminars;

c. Conduct independent monitoring of public policies with respect to aideffectiveness

d. Integrate CSOs into frameworks and mechanisms for multi-stakeholderconsultations; and

e. Coordinate CSOs effectively through the promotion of local, national andinternational networks.

CSO Consultations

On August 2010, the AID GROUP network held the first of a series of CSOconsultations held throughout 2010. This First Restitution Workshop was held inYaounde, participated in by 21 representatives of CSOs from the Central Region,and which resulted in the validation, improvement and a commitment to play anactive role in the implementation of AID GROUP Cameroons action plan. The womenrepresentatives advocated for gender to be seriously considered in the action plan,and suggested the initiation of a gender-led analysis of the data collected from AIDGROUPs planned researches. The youth representatives committed themselves toidentify existing dialogue mechanisms in various government ministries and to link withCSOs that are represented in those mechanisms. Another strong recommendationfrom this Restitution Workshop was the conduct of an independent monitoring of PDand AAA by AID GROUP Cameroon.


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A Restitution Workshop for the West and North West Regions of Cameroon wasorganized in October 2010 to deepen the involvement of CSOs in this region on thenational aid agenda. This workshop revealed that a broad section of the participantshad never heard of the PD. This fact reveals the shocking truth about how inclusivethe process has been made to CSOs in the country, and stresses the importanceof international, regional and local CSO consultations, workshops and trainings thatensure CSO capacity to participate and contribute to real aid effectiveness. TheCSOs indicated their commitments to re ect around sectoral issues in line with thenational policies in Cameroon to generate useful information from the local to thenational level which will hopefully fit into the national consultations in preparation forthe Fourth High Level Forum in Busan in 2011. Major sectors of interest raised at theregional restitution included gender health, youth and inter sector dialogues.

AID GROUP Cameroon is currently mobilizing resources to reach the other regionsand help increase awareness on aid effectiveness issues and build the agenda ofthe national CSO platform.

AID GROUP Cameroons persistence in promoting CSO involvement in the PD andAAA processes and broad aid effectiveness has resulted in significant outcomes.CSOs are now actively involved and contribute to the improvement of nationalprocesses. AID GROUP has been actively engaged on gender-budget tracking. Working with the UN, AID GROUP has also impacted significantly in the monitoringof the public budget and strengthened its contribution to the development ofwomens organizations. Public finance reform is another arena where AID GROUPspresence has been fruitful. AID GROUPs involvement has contributed to reformsby the Ministry of Finance for the public finance sector as a direct response to curbcorruption and to efficiently allocate funds for development projects. Taking stepsfurther, AID GROUP has been closely engaged with the Ministry of Finance to assistin the final stages of the public finance reform agenda and communication strategyto re ect CSO critiques and recommendations. The AID GROUP is also included inthe process of harmonization and alignment facilitated by the comit mul bailleurs(multi-donors committee). Recently, GIZ supported AID GROUP to conduct aseminar for CSO sharing of experiences and information. GIZ has also supportedAID GROUP in its participation in dialogue mechanisms and the implementation ofthe CSO evaluation of the PD.

Monitoring Aid

Acknowledging its role as CSO actor and medium, COSADER and AID GROUP have

been invited by the government and donor community to join the second phase ofthe country level evaluation (CLE 2) of the PD. AID GROUP was able to assert therole of CSOs in national processes and present the work that CSOs in Cameroonhave done in the area of aid effectiveness. While the inclusion of COSADER andAID GROUP are a welcome step forward, there is broad recognition that still a lotmore has to be accomplished for a real participatory process that will ensure fullaid effectiveness. For example, the official results of the CLE2 showed very little


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progress in the poverty, unemployment and infant and maternal mortality indicatorsin Cameroon. 1 The results were aggravated by the fact that recent data was notavailable to inform the official evaluation.

These gaps have compelled AID GROUP to carry out a similar evaluation from theCSO perspective, focusing on the principles of mutual accountability and ownership. Additional resource for the implementation of the research was provided by GIZ. The research was concluded last December 2010 and AID GROUP plans to share theoutcomes with donors and government when opportunities arise.

Aside from monitoring the implementation of the PD, AID GROUP, through the Contrat de dsende ement-dveloppement (C2D), also tracked French aid from 2007 to thepresent. Results of their monitoring provided insights on the inadequate effort placedon harmonizing and aligning of the French Government program with the Cameroondevelopment agenda. The monitoring results also re ect the geopolitical intentionsof the French Government as French aid is only concentrated in the francophoneregions of Cameroon.

Perspectives and Ways Forward

Although CSO engagement is re ected in national processes, there is still plentythat needs to be done in order for CSOs to contribute more effectively in theimplementation of PD and AAA.

There are still impediments that prevent the full participation of CSOs in national andregional processes. For instance, there are still issues of the biased selection ofCSOs in the national processes and dialogues, issue with foreign donors who areunwilling to harmonize and align their programs, and access to information that isstill limited to few CSOs. There are also issues on the continuing marginalization ofwomen and persons with disabilities. There are also questions of capacities of CSOsto engage in advocacy work and research.

For 2011, AID GROUP is pushing for the establishment of independent monitoring ofaid which will include other ODA-funded programs. It also wants to continue with itsresearch, particularly on the impact of French and British aid in the country. In termsof consolidating CSO efforts, AID GROUP is planning to make its presence morevisible in the Central African region, facilitating discussions and bringing forth theissues and agenda of CSOs in Central Africa to the regional and continental process.

1The results of the PD2 Evalua on were presented during the Na onal Dialogue on PD and AAA at Yaoundeon January 18-19, 2011. The presenta on was based on the unpublished document, Evalua on 2010 dela Declara on de Paris et du Programme dAc on dAccra Synthese du Rapport du Gouvernement.


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Ecuador

In spite of the increase of Official Development Aid (ODA) in real terms in 2008,this contribution has been insufficient to win the fight against poverty and toachieve a sustainable impact on development. This insufficient volume of aid hasbeen accompanied by insufficient effectiveness of aid that was intended to improvewith the Paris Declaration (PD).

In Ecuador, taking into account that the country has re ected on the basic principlesof the PD for its new policy on international cooperation, it has become extremelyimportant that the development-oriented civil society organizations (CSOs) areincluded in the process of re ection, debate and redefinition of aid effectiveness,development effectiveness and CSO development effectiveness.

The different CSOs in Ecuador convened to participate actively in a process ofmutual learning through several meetings and workshops.

State Planning and Development Cooperation

The new policies of international development cooperation in Ecuador, approvedin November 2008 were determined based on the principles in the PD. It shouldbe emphasized that this new policy of international development cooperation wasframed within the new regime of development, formed by the new Constitutionof 2008, the National Development Plan (NDP) 2007-2010 and the new regionalfinancial architecture with three axes: the creation of a regional development bank(Banco Sur), a common reserve fund and a regional monetary agreement with thepurpose of achieving macroeconomic sustainability.

The NDP significantly bannered a development paradigm, buen vivir (good living) or sumak kawsay in the local indigenous language, Kichwa as enshrined in the

Constitution. It defined new policies on priority development sectors such as humandevelopment, enterprise development, environment, territorial development andemergency/disaster management. At the national level, the Agencia de CooperacionInternacional (AGECI) and the Secretara Nacional de Plani cacin y Desarrollo(SENPLADES) coordinated the implementation of the NDP.

To implement the NDP and actualize development cooperation meant combining theforces of different stakeholders and establishing a feedback process and constant


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dialogue among CSOs, the agencies of international cooperation and governmententities. This also necessitated an increase in the participation of national NGOsand other CSOs and community beneficiaries.

One such arena was in the implementation of the PD in the country. To help addressthe tendency to reduce the PD to a merely technocratic exercise, an important taskfor Ecuadorian CSOs was to develop their political capacity and technique to guideprocesses that would reinforce the construction of a new aid architecture based onthe right to the development.

Furthering Civil Society Involvement at Local, National,Regional and International Levels

One of the more active national CSOs engaging in national development agenda andprocesses is the CIUDAD Centro de Inves gaciones, a non-government, non-profit

institution that seeks to realize the right to live well in the city, in just and democraticconditions. It promotes the debate on urban and regional problems, the developmentof critical thinking, the formulation of alternative policy for local management andthe strengthening of social and institutional actors. Towards these goals, CIUDADsmain areas of work are (1) research on the problems and the dynamics of Ecuadorianand Latin American urban reality; (2) capacity building of CSOs, social organizations,local governments and political leaders; (3) intervention, technical advice andmicrocredit for housing; and (4) communication and dissemination.

CIUDAD also currently coordinates the Observatorio de la Cooperacion al Desarollo enel Ecuador. The Observatorio offers a tool to serve Ecuadorian civil society, a spacefor meeting, training and coordination of activities of social actors in the field of

public policy related to international development cooperation in Ecuador. It is aninformal space targeting to publicize and consolidate information on cooperationand to promote actions that will improve civil society participation in the f ield of theanalysis and decisions on foreign aid.

At the international level, CIUDAD optimized its participation in several global andregional events in Bogota, Colombia, from 22-25 March 2010. The first in the serieswas the meeting of the Reality of Aid (RoA) Latin America where CSO participantsdiscussed the principles and critique on south-south cooperation; updates on theVenezuela-Cuba relations were also taken up, being a critical occurrence in the region.

Together with other observatorios in Latin America, CIUDAD took part in another

meeting of the directors and/or coordinators of the observatorios on internationaldevelopment cooperation (centros de observacin a la cooperacin internacional al desarrollo).

Another meeting took place among the international CSO delegates and ColombianCSOs regarding the London-Cartagena-Bogota process. This meeting also includeda presentation by the Observatorio de la Cooperacin Internacional de La Alianza on thestatus and methodologies of its work, including the challenges encountered in terms


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of availability, accessibility and accuracy of information and in terms of the valueadded by a CSO-managed observatorio .

The following activity was a forum on south-south cooperation and the participationof CSOs. This meeting was jointly convened with the Directorate of InternationalCooperation of Colombia.

The culmination of this series of activities and meetings was the High Level Event onSouth-South Cooperation hosted by the government of Colombia.

At the regional level, CIUDAD and the Observatorio participated in the Latin AmericanCSO consultation workshop and multi-stakeholder consultation on aid effectiveness,organized by IBON/RoA and the Asociacion La noAmericana de Organizacionesde Promocion al Desarollo (ALOP), and carried out last August 2009 in the city ofMedelln in Colombia. This workshop was a follow-up to the CSO meetings carriedout in Managua, Nicaragua, and La Paz, Bolivia, in October 2007, where there werediscussions on the challenges for the civil society with regard to the debate on

official development aid and the implementation of the PD. These meetings aimedto foment the exchange and communication among the CSOs at the regional andglobal levels towards effecting a change in the behavior and relationships of donorsand partner countries.

At the national level, similar CSO processes took place: In December 2009, a meetingof 12 CSO representatives was convened by CIUDAD in Quito, with the agenda ofdeepening awareness and analysis on the PD and Accra Agenda for Action (AAA)and the role assigned to CSOs. An important discussion was on the initiatives andproposals from CSOs in promoting aid effectiveness and development effectivenesseven as the Decree 982 1 was in effect. Broad agreements included the creationof a national CSO platform that will lead in the agenda on aid and development

effectiveness. Other subjects that provoked reaction and further discussion fromthe participants were on the buen vivir plan, the AGECI process, south-southcooperation and financing for development, among others. While being active inthe national front, the CSOs also intended to practice responsible participation andexplore the implications of international summits on national development and onCSOs in the country.

In April 2010, CIUDAD convened once more over 20 CSO representatives anddevelopment partners to discuss the agenda of CSO development effectiveness,including the context and preparations for a national consultation on the subject. Inthis meeting, a representative from the IBON/RoA presented and shared the contextof the country outreach work of the BetterAid platform towards helping broaden the

participation of CSOs in the debate and process of PD and AAA implementation inthe country. The CSOs in attendance actively engaged in the discussions on thethemes proposed by CIUDAD for further policy discussion and advocacy: the buenvivir development model; the role of CSOs in the new public policy; transparency andaccountability among CSOs; and relations among CSOs north-south and south-south, national and international, and with government and donors.


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In November 2010, a meeting was conducted among the international cooperationoffices of provincial governments and local actors in aid and developmenteffectiveness. The meeting was organized by the Consor o de Consejos Provincialesdel Ecuador (CONCOPE) and the Observatorio to analyze the role of decentralizedautonomous provincial governments and other local actors present in the territory,such as CSOs, in aid and development effectiveness. This initiative was in relationto the country-level implementation of the PD and the AAA. In the meeting, aidand development effectiveness were discussed to re ect on the contribution of thedifferent actors and the management of international cooperation at the decentralizedlevel. Different stakeholders participated at this meeting including, CSOs, provincialofficials and development cooperation units and development partners.

Localizing Development Cooperation

It is worth noting that officials of local provincial governments raised issues and

challenges related to international development cooperation and the participationof CSOs. The development cooperation offices of several provincial governmentsshared that in the past, funds from international cooperation were separately managedby program implementers; in such practice, the project resources were mostly spenton the payment of personnel costs. As a response, one province implemented ascheme in which the local government directly managed international cooperation. This mode was perceived as strengthening the local governments and bridging thegaps between international cooperation and the grassroots communities.

Another difficulty of the decentralized autonomous governments was that interventionthrough programs and projects of development cooperation did not correspond withthe diverse local indigenous cultures. An emerging response was to undertake a new

form of international aid collaboration that works with communities and the localgovernments. One province produced a manual for the management of internationalcooperation that involves the different actors and their processes and mechanismsfor action.

Other issues raised by the local government representatives were the lack ofdocumentation of international cooperation, unorganized citizens participation insome provinces, and the lack of articulation of local governments in internationaldiscussions and platforms, among others.

To partly address these difficulties while supporting greater citizens participation,the local government representatives expressed that international cooperation

should employ all the efforts required to effectively reach grassroots organizations. Capacity building and networking were also identified as key strategies. In thediscussions and interventions, capacity building would include broadening thespace for funding opportunities and learning more about funders and their respectivelines of action. Networking efforts should include building relationship with theSecretaria Tecnica de Cooperacion Internacional (SETECI) especially with respect tomonitoring and evaluating the impacts of interventions. Other recommended actionsfor local governments to take were planning for the international action of local


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governments; greater involvement of sub-national sectors in the international arena;and decentralization and the recognition of the territory as a development actor. Insome cases, decentralization motivated local governments to seek resources fromother types of actors, including international cooperation.

Challenges for CSOs

For CIUDAD as well as for many other Ecuadorian CSOs that involve themselvesin creating and broadening the space for CSOs in the countrys developmentprocesses, several questions may need to be discussed and addressed: one is thequestion of continuing and intensifying civil society initiatives to link internationaladvocacy work and international development cooperation (including south-southcooperation) with local development processes. With the representation of CSOssuch as CIUDAD in international, regional and national debates and advocacies,there is a wealth of knowledge, information and capacities that can be disseminated

for more local development processes.

This would entail greater mobilization and capacity building of grassroots organizationsand other CSOs so that they can more critically participate in the planning and policydevelopment of national and local governments as well as of technical and financialpartners.

Particular to the Observatorio , the CSOs involved in this project, coordinated byCIUDAD, may build on and disseminate research on international developmentcooperation as it impacts on aid and development effectiveness, at both the nationaland local/territorial levels.

References

E cacia de la ayuda, del desarrollo y de las OSC una posible agenda para Ecuador (Documento de trabajo),Gabriela Weber, Ciudad Centro de Inves gaciones.

Report on the La n America Civil Society Regional Workshop and Mul -stakeholder Consulta on on Aid E ec veness, Reality of Aid.

Endnotes

1 Decree No. 982, issued by President Rafael Correa in March 2008, was seen by CSOs as ghtening Ecuadorslaw governing NGOs. Among other restric ons, the decree authorized the Government to dissolve an NGOon discre onary grounds such as compromising the interests of the State; to demand virtually unlimited informa on from an NGO; and to post the names of every member of all registered NGOs on a publicly accessible website. Ecuadoran NGOs have lobbied for changes to the laws and regula ons governing their ac vi es. They have developed a united statement asser ng their rights to engage on ma ers of publicpolicy and sta ng their concerns about the Decree along with recommenda ons for reform.


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Kyrgyzstan

Aid effectiveness and CSOs: the Experience of the Forum ofWomens NGOs of Kyrgyzstan

Kyrgyzstan civil society organisations (CSOs) include diverse organisations ofdifferent sizes and thematic interests from across the country. As such, theyoperate in very different circumstances, engage in varied development programs,projects and advocacies, and have roots in various communities and sectorsincluding women, youth and children, rural communities and others.

Coalition of CSOs on Aid Effectiveness

One of these organizations is the Forum of Womens NGOs of Kyrgyzstan (FWNGO). The FWNGO started its work on aid effectiveness in 2007, and in 2008, it initiated acoalition of CSO networks on aid effectiveness with well-known NGOs in Kyrgyzstan: Citizens against Corruption, Association of Centers for support to civil societyorganizations and Osh Media Resource Center. The coalition has now expandedand includes more than twenty (20) organizations from various sectors and based indifferent provinces of the country.

FWNGO worked not only in Kyrgyzstan but also in other parts of Central Asiawhere it attracted other CSOs for joint work for bettering aid and also to ensuremeaningful participation by CSOs in the Accra High Level Forum follow-up and AAAimplementation.

Start of the Long Road for Partnership

If the fi rst actions were initiated by the FWNGO to raise awareness among CSOs onaid effectiveness, the follow-up actions were done under the auspices of the newinformal coalition on aid effectiveness. FWNGO started its work on aid effectiveness


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through its national and international advocacy and lobbying for inclusion andintegration of gender equality issues in the aid effectiveness agenda. Meaningfulparticipation of womens organizations was key to ensure that the voices, concernsand proposals of women were taken into account.

Forms of Engagement of the Forum of Womens NGOs ofKyrgyzstan (FWNGO)

Being a womens organization, FWNGO started its aid effectiveness engagementthrough the gender equality lens, with focus on womens rights in aid effectiveness. Further engagement was inspired by the chance to start creating inclusive dialogues,discuss aid effectiveness for development results, integrate collective CSOs voiceand recommendations into PD and AAA evaluations and to ensure that human rights,womens rights and gender equality were part of the aid effectiveness agenda. CSOsdecided to set up a sustainable mechanism of consultation and cooperation for this.

Engagement varied from CSO awareness building towards monitoring and advocatingfor the widening of the ownership principle and the implementation of PD and AAAcommitments by different actors. The longer-term objectives of such engagementwere to institutionalize policy dialogue spaces, strengthen the enabling environment forpartnership, advance the CSO effectiveness process, and promote democratic ownershipprocesses. Thus, the coalition participated in and organized CSO consultations on aideffectiveness issues, translated and disseminated international CSOs position paper onownership, held an Open Forum on issues of CSOs own effectiveness as developmentactors, held trainings for CSOs on capacity building actions, and performed monitoringwork. Diverse communication mechanisms were used.

Engagement with decision-makers in the state and donors bodies took variousforms of work such as advocacy and lobbying and organizing of debates, dialoguesand round table discussions among CSOs and diverse stakeholders. These wereintended to bring to their attention such concerns as gender equality, human rights,democratic ownership and mutual accountability.

Through these actions, CSOs have made their voices heard and have increased theimportance of their role in the aid effectiveness dialogue. However, there have notyet been much success in setting up a working mechanism for real partnership fordevelopment. For instance, in promoting equal participation in the monitoring ofofficial development aid (ODA), CSOs have been working on their own capacity withminimum support from the State or donors.

A crucial element in the work of the CSOs was the engagement of international CSOs inthe aid process. Without political and practical spaces and links with the internationaladvocacy of CSOs, the level of the CSOs local work on effectiveness would havebeen lower. To illustrate: the local CSOs were able to deepen their analysis of suchissues as modalities of aid effectiveness reform, the AAA implementation and the roleof local CSOs in the process of development and improving aid effectiveness during


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the regional Central Asian CSOs and multi-stakeholders consultation workshop 1

conducted in October 2008 in partnership with experienced organizations such asIBON International and the Reality of Aid (ROA) Network.

Substance of Engagement ODA and Aid Effectiveness inKyrgyzstan: Issues of CSOs Concerns

It is clear that visible poverty reduction, increased gender equality, fully practicedhuman rights, social justice and ecological sustainability should be major results andmeasures of the aid effectiveness process, but without pressure from the CSOs,these are not possible to achieve. Issues of corruption, debt, rising prices and ahighly formal approach to gender equality remain as challenges to development. Apart from these, there are other more speci c issues in ensuring more effectiveCSO action for aid and development effectiveness.

Transparency and Accountability

The mutual accountability mechanism is under construction and the local CSOsworked for this to be open, transparent and regular, with real room for citizensparticipation. Since 2008, there has been progress but the pace has shown howslow commitments to mutual accountability are being met. It has only been CSOswho have initiated actions to broaden transparency and accountability; no State nordonors initiatives have taken place.

In fact, in the first aid effectiveness meetings, CSOs in Kyrgyzstan agreed that thefunction of a new multi-stakeholder mechanism should be to hold governmentsand donors to account. Such mechanisms have been developed under strong CSOpressure. During the 2010 communication process, the coalition of CSOs on aideffectiveness had difficulties obtaining information from the state and donors, suchas their country plans on AAA implementation or at least the preliminary results of theevaluation of PD and AAA implementation in Kyrgyzstan. The CSOs, for their part,shared the matrix they used for monitoring AAA implementation.

Recommendations from CSOs stressed that (a) all aid effectiveness and countrydevelopment strategy reports related to aid should be published and made availableto the public, and (b) the government should make regular reports to the NationalParliament. The creation of councils on development at various levels in the countrywas also posed as a possible segment of the transparency and accountabilitymechanism, with an aim to control aid effectiveness and AAA implementation. Suchcouncils should include CSOs as members.

1The workshop en tled, Aid e ec veness: further ac ons on aid e ec veness and AAA implementaAid e ec veness: further ac ons on aid e ec veness and AAA implementaon, was held in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.


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Gender Equality in Aid and Development Effectiveness

The FWNGO clearly has seen and challenged the lack of prioritization, synchronizationand proper allocation of resources for gender equality. Gender equality has notbeen financially recognized in the Kyrgyzstan Country Development Strategy as adevelopment goal. The FWNGO made numerous efforts to address the lack ofgender equality in official aid processes and the lack of working mechanisms tochannel CSOs concerns on womens rights into official development projects andprograms.

Official development assistance has not been geared to strengthen gender equality,social justice and human rights in Kyrgyzstan. After the Fourth High Level Forum(HLF4) in Accra in 2008, there were no policy changes with regard to the developmentof women as a disadvantaged group in the country. In Kyrgyzstan and Central Asia,initiatives to promote womens health, womens participation in political processes,reduction of poverty among women and the struggle with violence against womenhave not enjoyed an enabling environment.

At the multi-stakeholders meeting of the Open Forum country consultation on CSOdevelopment effectiveness held last April 2010 in Bishkek, neither the State nor thedonors were ready to share their AAA action plans, because such action plans toimplement AAA commitments do not exist in reality in Kyrgyzstan. The local CSOshave tried to put gender equality and human rights issues in the ODA agenda, withlittle success, and have even made an issue of joint multi-stakeholders discussionand revisiting country development priorities.

The CSOs have also been struggling to stop the practice of funding womens rights andgender equality programs through the international system, for example, the UN. Thewomens CSOs are advocating for a gender equality State Plan being funded by ODAthrough the state budget, leading to a stronger national gender equality machinery.

Issues of Ownership

One of the participants in a CSO meeting said, We dont have any in uence overdonors and their funding, but without civil society, the donors are nothing. It hasalready been five years since the Paris Declaration, but nothing has changed. Weneed to go back to our villages and tell the people about the Accra Agenda for Action.

One of the effective ways to increase CSOs ownership over aid effectiveness in thecountry is to create an effective and relevant independent monitoring and evaluationsystem of the Paris Declaration and the AAA and their impact on developmentoutcomes. To be able to do this, a training workshop was held in October 2010 forCSOs from various sectors and provinces on the basics of aid and on the matrix ofindicators to monitor PD and AAA. In this activity, participants from the state anddonor agencies were invited to discuss a new multi-stakeholder mechanism thatwould increase the voice and consider the recommendations of CSOs to direct ODAtowards poverty eradication and the promotion of human rights.


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CSOs and Issues of Enabling Environment

The CSO coalition under the leadership of the FWNGO of Kyrgyzstan started toadvocate for the strengthening of the enabling environment for partnership. Creating or improving the enabling environment for partnership was noted by CSOsas an area for joint action by all stakeholders. It was envisioned to include thedevelopment of CSOs capacity as partners in the promotion of aid effectiveness,in AAA implementation and in other aid and development-related processes. Thiswould also include the CSOs capacity to engage the state and donors in PD andAAA implementation and monitoring, analyze aid effectiveness and developmenteffectiveness, broaden CSOs awareness on PD and AAA, and finally, strengthenCSOs own effectiveness.

Apparently, the role and plans of the donors for contributing to the enablingenvironment for partnership with CSOs were not clear even to the state and donorsthemselves, despite their commitments in the AAA. To help improve this situation,the CSO coalition on aid effectiveness has been undertaking different ways andmeans for the effective involvement and participation of CSO representatives in thecountry teams on aid monitoring and other relevant groups. The CSOs have alsobeen employing various modes to integrate their recommendations into the countryaid and AAA implementation and evaluation processes.

In relation to an enabling environment for CSOs working in the aid agenda, the keychallenges identified by CSOs are the following: the existing level of legislationrelated to CSOs (e.g., laws governing NGOs, laws on peaceful assemblies, onreligion, on TV and radio); selectiveness or favoritism in working with or partneringwith CSOs; pressure related to the activities of CSOs; official decision-makingwithout taking into account the opinions and recommendations from CSOs; falseunderstanding of charity; lack of resources and of information about CSOs amongdonors and the state; lack of trust on CSOs by business; and lack of tax benefits forbusinesses that support CSOs.

Challenges Faced

At another level, the challenges faced by CSOs in their advocacy for better aid in thecountry include the lack or difficulty of access to country donors and state bodiesinformation on aid processes and results. Another challenge is for CSOs to ensurethat their voice and their recommendations are substantially re ected in the PD andAAA evaluation, to stress the focus on human rights, womens rights and gender

equality and ecological sustainability. To overcome these challenges, the CSOs arecreating a multi-stakeholders communication and partnership mechanism, whichstill has to be realized. One of the steps is the involvement of CSO representativesin the countrys aid monitoring team.


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More strategically, there is a need to continue an awareness raising process onthe PD and AAA in the country for CSOs. This is coupled with the need to intensifythe capacity development of CSOs to enable them to work effectively as partnersin this process. An asset or positive side of the CSO coalition is its wide links withgrassroots organisations and NGOs in the country. But despite continuous effortsto broaden the space for CSOs, the implementation of PD and AAA in the countryhas not substantially changed the access to and availability of information, hasnot really strengthened the enabling environment for CSOs, and has not improvedaccountability and transparency from a CSO perspective. Development results which CSOs are looking for are not visible and aid results are still a mystery to CSOs. CSOs efforts play a crucial role to make governments and donors accountable andtransparent, to reach real democratic ownership of ODA. Challenges confrontingCSOs in Kyrgyzstan for making aid more effective and development results-orientedrequire complex measures from all stakeholders, including the State and donors.The CSO coalition on aid effectiveness in Kyrgyzstan also plans to work with localgovernments and the Parliament to strengthen democratic ownership. The work of

CSOs towards strengthening comprehensive partnership mechanisms for making aidbetter will continue.

Where We are Now

While ODA is still blind and non-sensitive to the voice of CSOs, the consolidationof CSOs, under the leadership of the FWNGO of Kyrgyzstan, for bettering aid andmaking development effective has led to a stronger civil society formation andgreater awareness on aid and development issues. The CSOs are exerting efforts tooptimise broad stakeholders policy dialogues on the implementation and review ofthe PD and AAA to make aid more transparent in the short term, and to bring a better

life for poor people in the long term.


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Lesotho

Overview of the Aid Situation in Lesotho

The Mountain Kingdom of Lesotho is a landlocked country entirely surrounded bythe Republic of South Africa. It is a small country with a population of 2,067,000 anda land area of 30,355 km 2. Lesotho is one of the Least Developed Countries in theworld, and is hampered by the AIDS epidemic, diaspora, malnutrition and decreasinggovernment revenues.

Lesothos economy is dependent on remittances from miners working in neighboringSouth Africa and on customs duties from the Southern Africa Customs Union (SACU).Most of Lesothos products are imported, except for diamonds which are exportedto many parts of the world, and water which is sold to South Africa. Majority of thepopulations income is sourced from the agricultural sector mostly through cropcultivation or animal husbandry although droughts have decreased agricultural

activity. There is an extreme gap in terms of income distribution with forty percentof the population living below the poverty line, subsisting on USD1.25 a day.

The net ow of official development assistance (ODA) to the Kingdom of Lesothois on a downward trend. This indicates a hardening of the terms of assistanceto Lesotho, which has adverse effects on the health, education and other basicsectors. Aid is also hampered by bureaucracy in the government, coupled withheavy dependence on neighboring South Africa, which does not encourage roomfor initiative and innovation. Furthermore, the Government of Lesotho has yet toestablish a national development plan to guide development programmes.

Advocacy for aid reform is limited as the community of active civil society

organizations (CSOs) is small and aid effectiveness advocacy is still in its infancystage . However, with the recent implementation of regional and national processeson aid effectiveness, CSOs in Lesotho are showing increased signs of vigilance andare starting to engage in the national aid agenda.

Lesotho ratified the Paris Declaration (PD) in 2008 and participated in and endorsedthe Accra Agenda for Action (AAA) as a result of which aid coordination is receivingincreased attention. However, the aid coordination structure requires more investment


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and an infusion of capacity. Much of aid coordination in the past has taken placeat the sector level led by sector ministries and agencies. Considerable effortshave been made on the side of the donors in aligning priorities with governmentpolicies. At present, the government is working on its National Development Planas a successor to the Poverty Reduction Strategy (PRS), which expired in 2008(after being extended in 2007). This new plan will provide the basis for the partnersCountry Assistance Programmes.

National Process on Aid Effectiveness

Although Lesotho was a signatory to the PD and AAA, domestic CSOs were onlyencouraged to participate in the discussion of the aid agenda during the SouthernAfrica Civil Society Regional Workshop and Multi-Stakeholder Consultation on AidEffectiveness in September 2009. In this workshop, the Kingdom of Lesotho wasrepresented by the Economic Justice Network Lesotho (EJNL), PELUM Lesotho,

Lesotho Council of NGOs and Lesotho Youth Federation. A key result of this workshopwas the development of an indicative CSO plan on aid effectiveness advocacy. TheEJNL was nominated to lead this process at the country level. 1

\The work plan on the implementation of the Paris Declaration and AAA in Lesothowas an attempt to raise the awareness of CSOs in Lesotho on the aid effectivenessagenda and encourage their active participation in monitoring PD and AAAimplementation. It also aimed to jumpstart tripartite discussion (CSOs, governmentand donors) to clarify roles, establish baselines, and develop a framework and roadmap for key aid actors in Lesotho. The work plan had three objectives:

1. to establish a well-functioning national platform on aid;

2. to raise the awareness of CSOs and media houses on the aid effectivenessagenda; and

3. to open dialogues with donors, government ministries, parliamentarians on theframework for cooperation and roadmap towards aid effectiveness

After the realization that little had been done in Lesotho after the AAA, the first-of-its-kind dialogue on aid was held in the Kingdom. The National Dialogue on AidEffectiveness in Lesotho was hosted by the EJNL from the 29th to the 30th of November2010, at Maseru Sun Cabanas. Participants represented a variety of stakeholdersthat included NGOs, institutions of higher learning, community-based organizations(CBOs), government officials, media houses, community representatives, politicalparties and development partners, bringing the total number of participants to 72.

Prior to the national dialogue, EJNL took the initiative to hold pre-visits to the threeregions in Lesotho. The aim of the pre-visits was to raise awareness on the aidsituation in the country and to work up and encourage the CSOs to participate in thenational process. This process also ensures that issues in the three regions wereincluded in the national discussions.


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This bold move from the CSOs reverberated to the capital and reached nationalagencies and the donor community. The Office of the Ministry of Finance andDevelopment Planning, Office of the Auditor General, wanted to be involved in theprocess. The donor community, led by UNDP, also took interest and committedto participate in the CSO process. Thus, during the National Dialogue on theImplementation of PD and AAA in Lesotho, the first CSO-led multi-stakeholderconsultation in the country, a remarkable representation from key actors wasachieved. Key agreements of this workshop were as follows: (1) active advocacyfor the inclusion of the Aid Policy in the National Development Plan; (2) inclusion ofCSO representatives in national mechanisms; and (3) formation of a CSO platformon aid effectiveness.

Aiming for an Aid Policy in Lesotho

Case Stories of Civil Society Engagement on Aid Effectiveness

Documents

Transcript of Case Stories of Civil Society Engagement on Aid Effectiveness