PRESS RELEASE:
Busan Development Partnership pioneers - Civil Society to roll out implementation at national level
(Download in ENGLISH, FRANCAIS and ESPAÑOL)
January February 2012. Just one month after concluding the landmark* international development agreement with governments and donors in Busan, South Korea, civil society organizations (CSOs) worldwide start work with two important resources to implement their people-centered approach to poverty eradication and advocate for more democratic space.
- The Implementation and Advocacy ‘Toolkits’ are now available to guide NGOs, grassroots organizations and other people’s groups to put the International Framework for CSO Development Effectiveness into practice in their local contexts.
- The International Framework is the first ever statement by global civil society on its role in development, developed with input from thousands of CSOs from across the globe, and officially recognized by governments and donors at the 4th High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness in Busan, South Korea.
“ We have been successful in achieving international recognition as embodied in paragraph 22 of the Busan Partnership Agreement. Now is the time for action ”, says Emele Duituturaga, co-chair of the Open Forum - a global and fully inclusive process driven by and for civil society, and which led in the development of the International Framework. “ These global commitments need to be translated into action at the local level so that the impact is felt ‘where the rubber hits the road’ ”, she adds.
Guided by the International Framework, the Implementation Toolkit supports the work of people’s organizations to improve their impact on the lives of the most poor and marginalized around the world and in their own communities.
In its own turn, the Advocacy Toolkit provides tips and advice from fellow CSOs on advocating for a more enabling context for civil society to operate – for example, ensuring the human rights that governments have committed to in law are actually being upheld in practice.
“ We shall challenge our governments to improve enabling environment for CSOs ”, says Vazha Salamadze, co-chair of the Open Forum.
Civil society not only serves but also helps to represent the people most in need in our own communities and around the world. The newly launched Implementation and Advocacy Toolkits will be instrumental in realizing civil society’s vision of development based on people-centered participation and empowerment.
ENDS
For more information, please contact: Olga Kozhaeva - info cso-effectiveness.org; +32 2 743 87 89
Open Forum for CSO Development Effectiveness is a global fully participatory space run by and for civil society organizations worldwide to improve their effectiveness as development actors and advocate a more enabling environment from governments and donors. The Open Forum has finalized the International Framework for CSO Development Effectiveness – that includes the widely known Istanbul Principles - and launched the Implementation and Advocacy Toolkits for its contextualized application around the globe. www.cso-effectiveness.org.
Notes: The Busan Partnership for Effective Development Cooperation (South Korea, 2011) is the first agreement in the history of OECD-led High Level Forums on Aid Effectiveness that is concluded between civil society as a full and equal participant alongside governments and donors. Civil society was recognized as a development actor in its own right at the previous High Level Forum in Accra, Ghana (2008).
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