Release new study – DAC Members and Civil Society

May 2020

The OECD Development Assistance Committee released their new study providing a comprehensive review of the DAC members’ work with civil society. The Working Paper for this study was first presented at the 2019 Civil Society Days in Paris that marked the Task Team’s 10 year anniversary.

The study provides a review of the various ways in which DAC members support and engage with civil society. It argues that they can do more to make their civil society policies and practices effective. To that end, the study provides action points for further discussion with DAC members, CSOs, and others, to be developed into a guidance or a recommendation for how members can improve the effectiveness of their work with civil society, and, by extension, make environments for CSOs more enabling. Please find the full report on the website of the OECD: Development Assistance Committee Members and Civil Society

Concluding Statement TT Touch Base 11 & 12 May 2020

May 2020

In a virtual get together, The Task Team showed its continued commitment to create a conducive environment for CSOs to operate (CSO enabling environment) and its commitment to the effectiveness and accountability of CSOs themselves (CSO development effectiveness) as key actors in this unprecedented Covid-19 pandemic.

With active participation from its three constituencies: development cooperation providers (donors), partner country governments, and CSOs (affiliated with the CSO Partnership for Development Effectiveness), each group within the Task Team reported and discussed their own efforts and challenges in dealing with the Covid-19 situation. In this respect, the Task Team reinforces one of its key messages – calling for multi-stakeholder approaches as a shared responsibility for development and to protect the most vulnerable worldwide.

Under these complex and unpredictable circumstances, the Task Team urges all stakeholders to work together to mitigate the pandemic and calls for continued efforts of the international community to uphold their commitments to provide a CSO enabling environment and ensure CSO development effectiveness, in order to facilitate CSOs’ vital contribution to the Covid-19 response. This includes an essential role for CSOs in the health sector, humanitarian assistance, service-delivery, research, policy development, and pursuing accountability from governments and other stakeholders in dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic.

Virtual TT “Touch base”

April 2020

A Virtual TT “Touch base” has been scheduled for May 11 & 12. This virtual meeting will provide an opportunity for our partners to stay connected with each other and to share, update and discuss the current situation. In addition, the TT Secretariat will use this meeting to provide an update on the Task Team’s digitalization process, the TT Studies, and work with Agenda 2030 and the GPEDC.

Staying Connected, Together!

COVID-19 implications

March 2020

With the outbreak of COVID-19, an increasing number of countries, populations and individuals are affected by this global pandemic. In these tumultuous times, the Task Team on the CSO Development Effectiveness and Enabling Environment stands in solidarity with its partners and affiliates across the globe. We express our support, comradery, as well as gratitude to those in the front lines who continue to battle the fight against COVID-19; from the brave individuals working in healthcare to those ensuring essential resources remain available across the globe, as well as the important research initiatives that are emerging. The Task Team continues its work in these difficult times and salutes its partners in their efforts to raise awareness on the implications, challenges, but also opportunities in the face of this global threat. We refer to the websites of some of our Task Team participants for more information: Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD); European Commission; CSO Partnership for Development Effectiveness (CPDE); International Center for Not-for-Profit Law (ICNL); ACT Alliance. For the full list of Task Team participants. Please visit our homepage.”

“Going Further, Together” Workshop – Uganda (TBC)

March 2020

The Task Team Secretariat will visit Kampala, Uganda for a multi-stakeholder dialogue workshop taking place towards the end of 2020 and focuses on the role of civil society in development. The Task Team co-organizes this event with the National Bureau for NGOs of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Uganda, the Embassy or Ireland in Kampala (TBC) and the Uganda National NGO Forum.

Second Task Team Studies Workshop

February 2020

The second Task Team Studies Workshop is taking place on Tuesday 25 & Wednesday 26 February 2020, at the International Institute of Social Studies of Erasmus University Rotterdam (ISS), in The Hague, The Netherlands and will be organized under the guidance of the Principle Researchers  Alan Fowler (emeritus professor at ISS) and Kees Biekart (Associate Professor at ISS).