The Online Interactive Guidance (coming in 2021)

October 2020

2020 marks the Decade of Action remaining to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. The scale and ambition of the SDGs call for global synergies and joint action in the form of multi-stakeholder partnerships, inclusive of civil society, as advocated by the Task Team. Simultaneously, if we are to reach more people and achieve greater complementarity of action by 2030, digital forms of communication, tools, and knowledge products are needed. This is only accelerated by the ongoing COVID-19 crisis. As such, the Task Team aims to broaden its dissemination and awareness raising initiatives by translating its knowledge and evidence into accessible online products. These products will be presented in the form of an Online Interactive Guidance on CSO Development Effectiveness and Enabling Environment. This Online Interactive Guidance is informed by the Task Team’s Guidance and Good Practice, including the practical four-part framework. The Online Guidance will include animated videos, in-depth readings, good practice examples, insights from the field, and practical online activities. We hope to launch this Online Interactive Guidance in early 2021, so be sure to watch this space!

Bi-annual Task Team Meeting November 2020

September 2020

The next bi-annual Task Team meeting will take place on Monday 23 November & Tuesday 24 November (1.30 – 4pm CET). In light of the current COVID-19 developments it was decided that the meeting will take place virtually via the platform Zoom. Preparatory meetings for the 3 constituency groups will be organized the week preceding the 23^rd of November to ensure full use of the time available for the Task Team Meeting itself.

Task Team Side Event 2020 HLPF

July 2020

On Thursday 16 July, the Task Team organized a virtual side event on the margins of the 2020 UN High-Level Political Forum titled “Delivering on SDG 17: Going Further, Together”. The side event was co-hosted by the Government of Ireland, as Co-chair of the Task Team, with contributions from the UN, Kenya, Canada, the OECD and the CSO Partnership for Development Effectiveness (CPDE). The session welcomed more than 80 participants covering many corners of the globe, comprising of representatives from government, civil society, and academia. The side event focused on the crucial role civil society organizations (CSOs) must play in the implementation of SDG 17 (multi-stakeholder partnerships), and with that, all SDGs. The press statement highlights the key outcomes of the session as well as opportunities for partnering to advance this issue. For the full recording of the session, please visit the Task Team’s YouTube channel.

Research Studies – CSO participation in the SDGs

July 2020

An independent research study commissioned by the Task Team, focusing on identifying factors in a country’s environment that help and hinder CSO participation in SDG-related processes, has now been published.

The study was undertaken by the International Institute of Social Studies (ISS), under the leadership of the principle researchers Professors Kees Biekart and Alan Fowler. The report synthesizes evidence from 21 case studies in six countries, selected because of differences in their freedom or ‘space’ available for CSOs. The countries are: Costa Rica, Ghana, Hungary, Lao PDR, Nepal & Tanzania.

The research design applied an ‘SDG’ lens as the empirical way to find out about CSO experiences when facing different degrees of constraint. Please click here for the key messages, summary of findings and full synthesis report.

Side-event ‘Delivering on SDG 17: Going Further, Together’

June 2020

The Task Team is co-hosting a virtual side event with The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Ireland on Thursday 16 July (11:00am – 12:30pm EDT/ 5:00 – 6:30pm CEST) on the margins of the UN High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF 2020): “Delivering on SDG 17: Going Further, Together”. 

For more information on the side-event and registration, please click here.

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