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

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!