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Maintaining CSO Accountability and Relevance in a Changing
Development Context
Katsuji ImataDeputy Secretary General
CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation
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CSOs across the Globe Today
• Major providers of essential services • Influential advocates for marginalised
groups • Knowledgeable advisors on public policy
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Growing Pressure on CSOs
• Are they legitimate? Who are they? Whose voice do they represent?
• Are they accountable? Are their actions justifiable against their claims?
• Are they effective? Do they provide value-for-money?
• After all, are they trustworthy?
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Political Dimension of CSO Accountability Debate
• CSO accountability question tends to revolve around its technical dimension (self-regulation, codes of conduct, certification)
• CSO efforts to pro-actively set standards are commendable
• Important to recognise the political context of the discussion
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Reference to the HLFs on Aid/Development Effectiveness
• Paris Declaration in 2005• Accra Agenda for Action in 2008 (Author: Ministers
of developing and donor countries responsible for promoting development and Heads of multilateral and bilateral development institutions
• Busan Partnership for Effective Development Cooperation in 2011 (Author: Heads of State, Ministers and representatives of developing and developed countries, heads of multilateral and bilateral institutions, representatives of different types of public, civil society, private, parliamentary, local and regional organisations
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Political Context 1:Ownership Question
• Country Ownership is one of 5 principles of the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness
• Often misused to justify restrictions on access to funding and CSOs’ right to operate independently free from unwarranted interference
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Ownership Question – CSO Response
• In Accra, “We will broaden country-level policy dialogue on development” with a reference to parliaments, local authorities and CSOs (Accra Agenda for Action)
• In Busan, “Deepen, extend and operationalise the democratic ownership of development policies and processes (Busan Partnership for Effective Development Cooperation)
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Why focus on Democratic Ownership?
• The space of civil society is volatile, contested, and often limited
• CIVICUS and other groups call it “shrinking civil society space”
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Volatile Civil Society Space (1)
• 47% of respondents in the recent CIVICUS surveys found the legal environment for civil society restrictive.
• Others found new opportunities opening up but contested.
• Some feel that the sector is at a historical moment for decline or renewal
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Volatile Civil Society Space (2)
• CIVICUS report in 2010, “Clampdown is Real”• Post 9/11 security measures and the
clampdown on democratic dissent• Shrinking of civil society space is pervasive
across the global north and south • Threats in over 90 countries tracked by
CIVICUS in 2009 – 2010
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Volatile Civil Society Space (3)
• Legal Restrictions on Civil Society• Policy and Related Measures
(government statements and funding for CSOs)• Imprisonment of Activists and Assassinations• Physical Attacks and Bureaucratic Harassment • Brutal Crackdowns on
Protest Demonstrations
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Political Context 2:Effectiveness Question
• Demand on CSOs to be not only accountable but also effective
• Value-for-money tenet in the post-global financial crisis era,
• Political “shift to the right” in many donor countries
• Age of impact evaluation
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Effectiveness Question – CSO Response
• Accountability framework to include effectiveness dimension
• Building capacity to speak the language of impact
• Open Forum on CSO Development Effectiveness (Istanbul Principles)
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CSOs working on the Effectiveness Question
• It works hand-in-hand with CSOs’ demand for an Enabling Environment
• In Accra, – “We will deepen our engagement with CSOs as independent
development actors in their own right”– We will work with CSOs to provide an enabling environment
that maximises their contributions to development.”
• Open Forum on CSO Development Effectiveness (Istanbul Principles)
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CSOs working on the Effectiveness Question
• In Busan, – “Implement fully our respective
commitments to enable CSOs to exercise their roles as independent development actors, with a particular focus on an enabling environment, consistent with agreed international rights, that maximises the contributions of CSOs to development”
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CSOs across the Globe Today (2)
• Major providers of essential services • Influential advocates for marginalised
groups • Knowledgeable advisors on public policy • Major player in setting international
norms and standards on macro political questions
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CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation
• Established in 1993 in Washington, DC. • Recognised as a broad alliance of CSOs with a
focus on the global south.• Moved its headquarters to Johannesburg,
South Africa in 2002• The CIVICUS alliance is made up of
organisations from across the spectrum of civil society from over 100 countries
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CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation
MissionTo strengthen global citizen action and civil
society throughout the world.Vision
A worldwide community of informed, inspired, committed citizens engaged in confronting the
challenges facing humanity.
