Summary
The 2030 Agenda recognizes that the realization of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) can only be successful with strong global partnerships and cooperation. Civil society organizations (CSOs), due to their direct connection with poor, vulnerable and marginalized communities, are recognized as key partners in the successful implementation and monitoring of the SDGs. In the face of this increasingly urgent agenda, the Task Team on CSO Development Effectiveness and Enabling Environment commissioned a research study with the following research question: “What factors in a country’s environment help or hinder effective CSO participation in SDG-related processes and how is this practically felt/experienced?”

Background
The study was undertaken by the International Institute of Social Studies (ISS), a renowned higher education and research institute of social science that is part of Erasmus University Rotterdam, 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.

The Task Team engages with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) because of their relevance to the Task Team’s work (link to about us). CSOs are expected to play a critical role in the SDGs, both as implementers and as watchdogs for accountability. Every year, progress in the realization of the SDGs is reviewed at global level at the High Level Political Forum (HLPF) in New York. The theme of the 2019 HLPF is empowering people and ensuring inclusiveness and equality. The SDGs that will be subjected to an in-depth review are: SDG 4 (education and lifelong learning), 8 (sustainable economic growth and decent work for all), 10 (reduced inequality), 13 (climate change), 16 (peaceful, just and inclusive societies) and 17 (means of implementation).

Indicator 2 of the GPEDC monitoring framework assesses whether civil society operates within an environment that maximizes its engagement in and contribution to development. The OECD/UNDP Joint Support Team (which oversees the GPEDC monitoring process), in collaboration with the Task Team, held a full-day workshop on 7 April 2017, to refine the GPEDC’s approach to monitoring Indicator 2.

The Task Team organized the session Switching gears: Imagine you are someone else! Shift positions between CSO, donor and partner country government representative at the Stockholm civil Society Days. Incorporating a role-play, the purpose of the session was to create awareness of what drives other actors and what challenges they face in their environments.

Please find more information about HLM2 and the various events and outcomes by clicking on the resources below. For more information about HLM2 please see the website of the GPEDC.

For further news on the GPEDC, including progress in implementing the Nairobi Outcome Document, please see the GPEDC News & Events page.

Global Partnership Initiatives (GPIs) are voluntary initiatives which aim to advance the effective development cooperation commitments under the auspices of the Global Partnership for Effective Development Cooperation (GPEDC). From 2014-2016, the Task Team led Global Partnership Initiative-12 (GPI-12):”CSO enabling environment framework and guidelines”. GPI-12 is referenced in the GPEDC’s Mexico Communiqué.

The Task Team sees value in commissioning studies that may guide or inform its work. The 2016 Comparative Studies on Multi-stakeholder Initiatives (MSI study) examined what makes multi-stakeholder initiatives (MSIs) work well and why. It involved research in 4 countries and resulted a report (comprising 4 volumes), a Policy Summary and two academic articles.

The European Development Days 2015 (EDD2015) were held in Brussels on 3-4 June 2015. For the development sector, 2015 was a historic year as it was the closing year for the Millennium Development Goals. The EDD mobilized the development community around a new, more inclusive and united approach. Sustainability was at the heart of the dialogue, with an important emphasis placed on themes relating to climate change and disaster risks, renewable energy and sustainable consumption and production.

For more information on the European Development Days, including past editions, please see the EDD webpage. 

The 1st High Level Meeting (HLM1) of the Global Partnership for Effective Development Cooperation (GPEDC) was held in April 2014 in Mexico City. More than 1,500 development leaders participated to review progress in making development co-operation more effective, agree on actions to boost progress, and anchor effective development cooperation in the post-2015 agenda. The Task Team organized a focus session at HLM1. 

This Abstract is based on the Task Team’s full length Guidance and Good Practice on CSO Development Effectiveness and Enabling Environment. Using a four-part framework, the abstract offers a quick introduction on the inter-related commitments on the CSO enabling environment and CSO development effectiveness. It explains what the commitments mean in practice for different actors. A limited selection of good practice examples is also included.