Promoting and advocating for a more enabling environment for civil society is an essential element of CSO effectiveness work. Recently, civil society started working on implementation of the Istanbul Principles with the newly launched Toolkit accompanying the International Framework for CSO Development Effectiveness.
However, no matter how hard CSOs work to improve their own effectiveness, without an enabling environment, these efforts will be in vain.
Watch Aung San Suu Kyi Video Address on the occasion of the official launch of the International Framework for CSO Development Effectiveness, October 2011
Evidence shows that harassment of CSO representatives and restrictive political, administrative and financing measures persist in many parts of the world. And the promotion of an enabling environment proved to be a stumbling block for civil society at the 4th High Level Forum in Busan, leading civil society to see the Busan Partnership as a compromise.
To emphasize the importance of the enabling environment at HLF4, the Multi-Stakeholder Task Team on CSO Development Effectiveness and Enabling Environment coordinated a side event on this important aspect for civil society contribution to development.
Speakers at the side-event re-visited commitments made by governments in the Accra Agenda for Action (Paragraph 20): whereas civil society lived up to their responsibility as called upon in the agreement by finalizing the Istanbul Principles and the International Framework, governments were not as successful where enabling environment for civil society is concerned. Thus, Maina Kiai, UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights to Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and of Association, spoke of the lack of civic freedoms that are in fact crucial for "social, economic and political development outcomes".
Watch Maina Kiai speech at the Busan Global Civil Society Forum, November 2011 :
Support of other governments in advocating for best practices to their peers is key. Civil society welcomed the statement by Sweden - who co-chairs the Multi-Stakeholder Task Team – to continue supporting work around enabling environment and "persuade others to do the same" at the side event. Also the government of Finland put forward concrete and forward looking solutions "for donors to engage partner countries in dialogue on enabling conditions."
Read the full side event overview here.
What you can do
The Advocacy Toolkit just launched will provide case studies and tips from fellow CSOs on advancing enabling government policies and practices according to the standards agreed by civil society in the International Framework with contribution from the multi-stakholder task team and including:
- Fulfill their human rights obligations
- Recognise CSOs role as independent development actors
- Foster democratic political and policy dialogue to improve development effectiveness
- Be accountable for transparent and consistent policies for development
- Create enabling financing for CSO development effectiveness
Follow the #EnablingEnvironment dialogue on Open Forum Twitter and share with us your successes and achievements in promoting and securing the space for civil society work in your country, by email (info cso-effectiveness.org) and on this blog!
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