It was a historic moment for civil society and the Open Forum process today as the newly agreed Busan Partnership for Effective Development Cooperation has been made public.
We are enthusiastic to share that both Istanbul Principles and the International Framework for CSO Development Effectiveness are now officially part of the newly formed global consensus between partner governments, donors - and for the first time civil society .
Paragraph 22 of the Busan Partnership states:
Civil society organisations (CSOs) play a vital role in enabling people to claim their rights, in promoting rights‐based approaches, in shaping development policies and partnerships, and in overseeing their implementation. They also provide services in areas that are complementary to those provided by states. Recognising this, we will:
Encourage CSOs to implement practices that strengthen their accountability and their contribution to development effectiveness, guided by the Istanbul Principles and the International Framework for CSO Development Effectiveness.
But it was not an easy task for civil society in our negotiations – “The Busan Outcome is a compromise for the sake of forging a global partnership. More work needs to be done on advancing favorable conditions for civil society” , said Open Forum co-chair Emele Duituturaga at the press conference following the publication of the Busan Partnership Document.
The language on enabling environment in the newly finalized Busan Partnership fails to make the direct link to the rights-based approach:
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 our agreed international rights, that maximises the contributions of CSOs to development.
Civil society was advocating for a stonger language on the international rights standards on which governments can be held accountable, particularly in light of the growing evidence of a crackdown on civil society in many parts of the world.
Implementation of the Open Forum global process outcomes - the Istanbul Principles and the International Framework for CSO Development Effectiveness - on national level will be the opportunity for us to further advance the enabling environment across the world and further our development effectiveness as full and independent development actors.
Download the Open Forum Press Release here
Download the full Busan Partnership for Development Document here.
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