APRODEV and CONCORD RESPONSE to the EC COMMUNICATION ON CIVIL SOCIETY - October 2012 NEW

CONCORD and APRODEV very much welcome the important and timely Communication ‘The roots of democracy and sustainable development: Europe's engagement with Civil Society in external relations’. They welcome in particular the fact that the document is based on a rights based approach viewing civil society as an asset for any democratic system.

They view this Communication as a departure point that should provide the impetus for a more effective partnership between the EU and civil society in all parts of the world including Europe and that now needs to be translated into concrete and effective terms in the upcoming cooperation instruments and their programming and in the spaces and mechanisms of dialogue to be established at all levels (country, regional, European, global).

THE STRUCTURED DIALOGUE WITH THE EU FOR AN EFFICIENT PARTNERSHIP IN DEVELOPMENT

After the publication in the course of 2009 of 3 reports providing a broad based evaluation of relationships and cooperation between the European Commission and non-state actors, the European Commission took the initiative of organising a structured dialogue between the EU institutions and civil society and local authorities with the aims of:

1. Building consensus on the main issues to be addressed concerning the role of CSOs & LAs in development cooperation and,

2. Finding ways to improve the effectiveness of CSO & LA involvement in EC cooperation, to advance and strengthen partnerships and adapt EC strategies and modalities accordingly.

The discussion is organised around 3 main themes to be debated in 3 working groups.The process was launched on 23 March 2010 and will close with a conference to take place in Spring 2011.

Theme 1: Role of CSO and local authorities in external cooperation

Theme 2: complementarity and coherence within the Accra Agenda of Action on Aid effectiveness

Theme 3: EC aid delivery mechanisms

For more information and background documents, consult the Structured dialogue website

APRODEV and other NGDOs' papers

• Shrinking Political Space of Civil Society Action: Members of ACT Alliance have been reporting increasing problems with the authorities shrinking the space for their work. In response to these concerns ACT has conducted a series of case studies to analyse that problem in 10 countries (Brazil, Colombia, Guatemala, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Malawi, Paraguay, Peru and Zimbabwe.) The report is the outcome of a collective effort involving academia, consultants, two working groups of ACT as well as its members and forums in the countries concerned.
• Istanbul CSO Development Effectiveness Principles: CSOs are effective as development actors when they apply the 8 Istanbul principles (Sept. 2010) - for more information consult the Open Forum on CS Development Effectiveness website
• APRODEV briefing paper: Implementation of the Paris Declaration and Accra Agenda of Action: impact of emerging donors' trends on civil society (Oct 2010)
• Background note on harmonisation, pool funding and multistakeholder approach for the second session of working group 2 on 12 July 2010
• Speaking notes by Karine Sohet, APRODEV on behalf of CONCORD at the first session of working group 2 on 27th April 2009 -
• Presentation of the evaluation on CS society as a channel of EC aid at the APRODEV workshop on coordination and cooperation on international fundraising - London  November 2009 - power point presentation by Karine Sohet, APRODEV

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Other documents on civil society participation in EU development policies and programmes

• Bottlenecks to a meaningful participation of civil society in EU development policies and processes (July 2010) - this paper was drafted by APRODEV in consultation with and for the CONCORD Cotonou group. (French version)
• CONCORD’s vision for the European Commission’s Partnership with Civil Society Organisations (November 2005)
• A CONCORD response to the European Commission Communication on “Participation of Non-State Actors in the EC Development Policy” - drafted by APRODEV and CIDSE (November 2003)
• APRODEV comments on the Guidelines on Principles and Good Practices for the Participation of Non-State Actors in the development dialogues and consultations (April 2003)

See also documents relating to Civil Society Participation in the Cotonou Agreement here.