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Wednesday, May 28, 2008

CONCORD and the aid effectiveness of civil society organisations

Source: Concord Flash 51, April 2008

The aid effectiveness of organisations from civil society (CSOs) is a growing concern for CONCORD and its members. How can we improve the process? How can we implement an efficient and respectful governance process in the field? What quality standards should we adopt?

To find out, CONCORD has circulated a set of “Questions & Answers” on CSO effectiveness to gather preliminary responses to these kinds of questions in the context of the concept note entitled “Framing and Promoting the Effectiveness of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) as Development Actors”. This concept note proposes a global process, owned and driven by CSOs, to improve their effectiveness as development actors.

This global process to improve the effectiveness of CSOs’ work will have the benefit of many existing initiatives, at the local and national levels and also within individual CSOs and CSO networks/platforms. It is expected to yield principles of development effectiveness suitable for guiding CSOs in their efforts to improve their effectiveness as agents of development. These principles should go beyond those laid down in the Paris Declaration which was signed in 2005 by official donors and governments with a view to improving the effectiveness of official development assistance.

With the support of other CSOs and CSO platforms/networks, CONCORD is currently preparing the ground for a successful start to this process. On 29 and 30 June 2008, in Paris, there will be an exploratory meeting on CSO effectiveness which will set the course for the process. This meeting is being organised by CONCORD in close collaboration with Coordination SUD, the French national platform.

For more information contact Franz Josef Berger, CSO Effectiveness assistant

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