Presentation at the European Seminar on CSO Development

Presentation at the European Seminar on CSO Development Effectiveness, Vienna, 10 and 11 March 2010

Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness • Signed by donors and governments in 2005 • Sets out five principles: harmonisation, alignment, ownership, mutual accountability, managing for results • Paris Declaration is an important agreement to improve management of bilateral aid flows • CSOs in the Open Forum argue that (a) there is a need for a more holistic agreement and that (b) the Paris Declaration is not directly applicable to them

What is the Open Forum? • A global CSO-led initiative to promote an effectiveness framework specifically for CSOs (development effectiveness not aid effectiveness) • A series of consultations and multi-stakeholder dialogues around the globe • Led by a Global Facilitation Group of 25 member organisations • CONCORD is one of the GFG members and acts as global Secretariat • Governments and international donors are key partners (i. e. multi-stakeholder working group at OECD DAC)

What is CSO Development Effectiveness? Development effectiveness is promoting sustainable positive change, within a democratic framework, that addresses the causes as well as the symptoms of poverty, inequality and marginalisation, through the diversity and complementarity of instruments, policies and actors. From the Open Forum Toolkit

What defines CSO development effectiveness? • Internal factors that are shaped by CSOs themselves: – – – North-South CSO partnerships Internal governance and management Monitoring and evaluation methodologies Accountability mechanisms Organisational capacities Collective structures (coordination and exchange through platforms and networks) • External factors that are shaped by governments and other stakeholders and make up the enabling or disabling environment in which CSOs operate: – – – Overall regulatory and political framework Effective enforcement of human rights standards Funding for CSOs and regulations attached to it Space for policy dialogue Mechanisms to promote philanthropy

Three objectives • A robust and appropriate global framework for CSO development effectiveness • To promote and facilitate a learning environment on CSO development effectiveness • Engage in a multi-stakeholder dialogue with governments and donors to build understanding and support for an enabling environment for CSOs

Context • CSO have started many initiatives to define and promote their effectiveness, but have not yet defined their effectiveness collectively as a stakeholder group • CSOs have acknowledged that the changing aid architecture provides challenges to their effectiveness and that there are issues to their effectiveness • Clamp-down on civil society in many countries despite commitments in the Accra Agenda for Actions

A global consultative process 2009 Start of the process Regional preparatory workshops to initiate and trigger process Country-level and thematic consultations to define a CSO development effectiveness framework Political dialogue and outreach at all levels 2010 First Global Assembly To start consensus-building on the CSO development effectiveness framework Further consensus-building and mobilistation for the HLF-IV 2011 Second Global Assembly Stock-taking and evaluation of the process; CSOs mobilise for the 4 th High-Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness

Who is behind the Open Forum? • Global Facilitation Group – 25 member organisations from all world regions – Provides political leadership, representation and overall guidance for the Open Forum – Engages in political dialogue at the international level with the Working Party on Aid Effectiveness (OECD DAC) and UN bodies and institutions – Two Co-Chairs represent the GFG • Consortium of supporting organisations – 6 CSOs, each one in charge of a specific world region – In charge of outreach, communication, administration, fund raising and technical assistance to implement consultation process and political dialogue

Your participation is crucial! How you can engage in the process: Platform/network level: • Reach out to your constituency and launch internal discussions on the principles guiding CSO development effectiveness (tools are available on www. cso-effectiveness. org) • Contact and inform the organisation in charge of your region about your interest in the process. Clarify with them your needs and the level of (financial and other) support that is available (visit www. csoeffectiveness. org for contact details) Individual CSOs: • Make sure your platform/network is involved in the process • Start discussions on CSO development effectiveness with your colleagues and across departments (policy, programming, management) Donors/governments: • Inform your colleagues and peers about the process • Participate in multi-stakeholder dialogues of the Open Forum • Support CSOs in organising consultations within the Open Forum framework

More information www. cso-effectiveness. org cso-eff@concordeurope. org