CORT Newsletter July 2010

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From mid-March to the last week of April, consultations were made

with several civil society organizations (CSOs) in Central and South

Latin American countries on the Reality of Aid (RoA) country

outreach program on the broad implementation of the Accra Agenda

for Action (AAA). The objectives of each of these consultations was

to: (a) introduce/orient country CSOs on the RoA Better Aid

program, country CSO processes, and country research to engage

AAA implementation, and (b) agree on next steps (activities,

schedules) for country activities.

Colombia. On 22 March, several Latin American CSOs from

Colombia and Ecuador that participated in the High Level Event on

South-South Cooperation in Bogota came to a side meeting where

discussion on country outreach was initiated. These organizations

included the Corporacion Region, CIASE, CCONG and La Alianza

from Colombia, and the Observatorio de la Cooperacion al

Desarollo from Ecuador.

Contact Details of

Outreach Officers

Country Outreach in

Bishkek

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Continue to page

CountryEngagement

for

Aid and Development

Effectiveness

NEWSLETTERIssue 1 July 2010

Inside Facilitating countryprocesses on aid

effectiveness

in Latin AmericaLead Organisations for

Completed Country Plans 5

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International

IBON


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Country Outreach Newsletter Issue 1 July 2010

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The meeting started with a background on CSO initiatives

in aid effectiveness and the Central Asia regional CSO

workshop and multi-stakeholder consultation on AAA in

2008. This was followed by a brief discussion on the AAA

country outreach programme. The working group

reviewed its initial indicative plan submitted earlier to the

RoA country outreach secretariat. Agreements were made

regarding changes in the schedules of the country

consultations. In addition, other activities were proposed

such as provincial CSO consultations on aid effectiveness

and development. Funding will be raised separately by

members of the working group.

Another discussion focused on the country researches. The

working group has signified its intent to conduct a country

research on the impact of CSO involvement in the PD and

AAA monitoring. Likewise, there were suggestions for the

members of the working group to submit relevant articles

and information on CSO initiatives in aid effectiveness and

have these uploaded to the RoA website.

During the peoples revolt, two members of the working

group expressed possible changes in the CSO country

plan, particularly schedules of the CSO-government

consultations and the multi-stakeholder consultations

given the current political instability in the country.

Country Outreachin Bishkek, Kyrgystan

On April 6, seven members of the Kyrgyz

Working Group on Aid Effectiveness attended a

meeting chaired by Nurgul Djanaeva of the

Forum of Womens NGOs of Krygyzstan and

discussed proposed Kyrgyz CSO initiatives on aid

effectiveness for 2010.

There were no indications of any

forthcoming political upheaval during

the consultation. In fact, a member of

the Parliament officiated the opening

of the multi-stakeholder consultation

and government representatives,

including an officer from thePresidents office, attended the said

consultation.

The peoples revolt was a spontaneous

response to the arrest of several

opposition leaders in the afternoon of

April 6. Apparently, the CSO working

group either has neither the

knowledge of the arrest nor of the

growing unrest in the two provinces or

did not find the issues very important

while in the thick of discussing theiraid effectiveness plan.

Our CSO partner stated that her

group has no involvement in the mass

protest and would come out with a

statement addressed to the

interim/caretaker government on

issues such as poverty, human rights,

and good governance.

Observations on the

Bishkek Peoples Revolt


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Continued from page 1

There was general interest in the country level AAA implementation, which

the participants deemed important but challenged by many events. In

Colombia, there would be the presidential elections and the Open Forum

national consultations, among other ongoing national and regional

activities. In Ecuador, CSOs and the government are engaged in discussions

on an emerging development model called buen vivir or vivir bien. In

other countries, CSOs were concerned about the need for a CSO platform

that will carry the aid effectiveness advocacy to a more sustained mode.

In another meeting organized by the RoA in Latin America and the

Caribbean, participants discussed observatories on international

cooperation, primarily based on the experience of La Alianza

Observatorio a la Cooperacion Internacional. Discussion points included

the history and rationale of the observatorio, the elements/parts of thesystem, and the issues that challenge the project.

What ensued in the following weeks were consultation meetings with CSOs

in five other Latin American countries, namely, Peru, Ecuador, Guatemala,

Honduras, and Bolivia.

Per. In Per, a meeting on the RoA country outreach program was held

with representatives of ANC and CONADES last 30 March. To

contextualize the discussion, they shared a broad description of the

national aid situation in Per and in the Latin American region:

1. Downward trend of official development aid (ODA) to LatinAmerica and Peru.

2. Redirection of aid to Africa and poor countries in Asia and LatinAmerica.

3. Peru has lost importance as a destination for international aidcompared to other countries in the region. However, in spite of

being a middle-income country, Peru still maintains a significant

position.

4. Concentration of European aid in 10 countries in the region: ElSalvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua Honduras, Per, Bolivia,Colombia, Brazil, Hait, and Cuba.

5. In total, aid from European private agencies is concentrated inPer, Bolivia, Brazil, and Nicaragua.

6. Tendency of donors to work with fewer NGOs that are larger andmore specialized.

7. Some Latin American countries emerging as donors.In this context and with the theme of international cooperation, the

Upcoming

Activities in

Bangladesh

Capacity Building for CSOs(Monitoring Foreign Funded

Projects)

August 10-11

CSO Consultation

on Aid Effectiveness

August 21

Multi Stakeholder

Consultation on PD and AAA

August 25

Contact

Ahmed Swapan Mahmud

of VOICE for more details at

[email protected] or

+8801711881919


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activities of ANC and CONADES, together with other Peruvian

CSOs, have included country researches, conduct of CSO forums at

national and sub-national levels, and coordination with regional

civil society networks. A national forum on CSO development

effectiveness was also planned for May as a country level expression

of the parallel process on CSO development effectiveness and

organized through the cooperation of ANC, ALOP, Latindadd, and

Mesa de Articulacion. Peruvian CSOs advocacy work included

engagement with the Agencia Peruana de Cooperacion

Internacional(APCI).

Mr. Romulo Torres, representing Latindadd as Coordinator, shared

that the regional network is concerned with the development of

indicators on human rights and democracy in the face of poverty in

a middle-income country. Latindadd was also preparing for a

meeting in July in Nicaragua.

Integrated into the conversation was the relevance of CSO advocacy

work on aid effectiveness, which ANC suggested could be a topic

for discussion during the national workshop on CSO development

effectiveness. The RoA call for country researches was also

introduced.

Ecuador. Meetings among CSOs based in Quito were convened by

the Observatorio de la Cooperacin al Desarrollo en Ecuador. The

agenda in the meeting of 8 April included discussion on the

workshop on CSO development effectiveness scheduled in June and

a brief introduction of the RoA program for CSOs on engaging the

implementation of AAA at country level. Facilitated by Ms.

Gabriela Weber and Mr. Camilo Molina of Centro de

Investigaciones CIUDAD (Coordinator of Observatorio), the meeting

was attended by 23 CSO representatives.

There were also points presented on the issue of development

effectiveness, particularly three thematic blocks that may help

define the effectiveness of various CSOs. These were:

1. El buen vivir possibly a new, more effective developmentmodel of good living and development as a right. Principles

integral to the model include plurinationality, law of nature,

economic solidarity, and social equity. The plan around

this model may be a tool to improve the effectiveness of

CSOs.

2. Public policy and the new role of CSOs This wasdiscussed in the light of a new national policy framework

About AccraAgenda for Action

(AAA)

The third High Level Forum in

Accra in 2008 established a

foundation for moving towards

development effectiveness and more

equitable international aid

architecture. The Accra Agenda for

Action (AAA) broadened thedefinition of country ownership to

include civil society organisations

(CSOs) and parliamentarians, and

recognised that aid will be effective

if it demonstrates development

impact. The AAA likewise made

advances in bringing CSOs into

the tentby deepening engagement

with CSOs as independent

development actors in their own

right whose efforts complement

those of governments and theprivate sector. AAA further

commits that donors and

governments will work with CSOs

to provide an enabling environment

that maximizes their contributions

to development [20c]

However, One of the major concerns of

CSOs- regarding the AAA is the lack of

time-bound commitments and

indicators to monitor progress. Thismakes it imperative to ensure effective

implementation at country level.

Further, CSOs need to build upon the

AAA with more far-reaching reforms

and commitments in a new agreement

that replaces the Paris Declaration

(PD).


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(i.e., Decree 982) for relations between the state and CSOs, covering

the areas of public participation, legality and legitimacy, financing

structures, accountability mechanisms, and CSO effectiveness.

3. Relations between Northern and Southern NGOs, national andinternational South-South networks, and relations between donors

and governments.

In the open discussion that ensued, the CSO participants commented that the

buen vivir concept was not so new and needed concrete application to make

it meaningful. They also raised a few principles that should guide civil society

action, one of which is ensuring that international cooperation is based on

international social justice. This would also relate to the principles of

plurinationality and linking national actions to international processes.

Emphasis was also placed on the imperatives of transparency and

accountability among CSOs.

On 9 April, there were further informal discussions with CIUDAD on CSO

advocacy and country research related to aid effectiveness. While the CSOs

were focused on preparing for and conducting the workshop on CSO

development effectiveness, CSO discourse and engagement strategies for

policy reforms on aid effectiveness would be continued. Ideas for potential

activities included the formation of a CSO platform and CSO workshops that

would link the CSO priority thematic blocks to the issue of aid effectiveness.

To forward this agenda, CIUDAD and other CSOs have begun communicating

with AGECI, the government agency for international cooperation. They also

consulted with SENPLADES, the countrys central planning secretariat, to

promote the role of CSOs in engaging government on aid effectiveness in the

country.

Guatemala. It was favorable that the meeting with CSOs in Guatemala City

was scheduled a day after a workshop with small coffee growers who

discussed the recent trade agreement between Central American countries

and the European Commission (EC). In this workshop sponsored by the

CONGCOOP last 12 April, representatives from the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung

and the International Gender and Trade Network delivered presentations on

the economic, political, cultural, and environmental situation of Guatemala

and the impact on the coffee production industry and small producers.A small after-dinner gathering on 13 April was held with colleagues from

CONGCOOP, CEMAT, and ASINDES-ONG - CSOs that were active in

development work in Guatemala. They shared the situation of CSOs in the

country and the changing CSO-government relations. They were familiar with

the basic advocacy on the Paris Declaration and the AAA and were interested

to work on this with RoA since they were involved in the consultation process

on CSO development effectiveness. There was discussion on the wisdom of

creating a new CSO platform on aid effectiveness in the face of different CSO

LeadOrganisations

for Completed

Country Plans

Cameroon

Collectif des Organisations pour la

Scurit Alimentaire et le

Dveloppement Rural (COSADER)

Contact Person:

Christine Andela

Coordinator in Chief

[email protected]

GSM: 237 99591750

Office: 237 22 22 76 94

Lesotho

Economic Justice Network (EJN)

Lesotho

Contact Person:

Tsepo Letsoela

Maseru, Moshoeshoe Road P.O. Box

0523, Maseru West 105Office Tel No: +266 22314124


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networks focusing on topics such as enterprises, environment,

cooperatives, human rights, and agriculture, among others.

Similar to the suggestion in Ecuador, CSO discourse and engagement

strategies for policy reforms on aid effectiveness would be continued

and integrated into the country-level process on CSO development

effectiveness.

Honduras. A short meeting last 15 April with representatives of

Tegucigalpa-based FOSDEH provided the venue for introducing the

global and country-level CSO processes on aid effectiveness. They

shared the research experience of the organization and its assessment

that the national government may be open to dialogs with CSOs

regarding the theme.

Bolivia. After the preoccupation of most CSOs in the ConferenciaMundial de los Pueblos sobre el Cambio Climatico (CMPCC), a

conversation was set with Ms. Susana Erostegui of UNITAS last 23

April in La Paz, Bolivia. Ms Erostegui shared valuable insights on the

current government in Bolivia and its relationship with CSOs and

social movements in the country. The discussion proceeded to

include Bolivian CSO activities that ran parallel to the global

processes on CSO development effectiveness and on aid

effectiveness.

A general trend among the CSOs consulted in the six (6) countries

was the focus on completing the national workshops on CSO

development effectiveness so that by the second half of the year,

greater attention could be given to advocacy and engagement with

country governments and donors on aid effectiveness. Overall, in the

region, most CSOs in the aid effectiveness and development

effectiveness arena were planning to develop a Latin American

strategy for AAA that would be presented in the Fourth High Level

Forum on Aid Effectiveness in Korea in 2011.

Included in all the conversations was the RoA plan to compile reports

on the implementation of the AAA in each country from a CSOperspective. The CSOs involved in the above meetings will help

produce the country reports and send these to RoA by year-end. To

assist this course of action, IBON/RoA will provide and share a

monitoring guide on AAA implementation.

About IBON/RoAs

Country Outreach

The IBON/Reality of Aid country

outreach program for the broad

implementation of AAA seeks to

achieve greater and more

meaningful involvement of CSOs in

bringing change in aid effectiveness

policy and practice. The strategy

towards this is capacity

development of CSOs in order for

them to initiate policy dialogue

spaces that allow for broader and

inclusive participation of various

kinds of CSOs at country and local

level, and contribute to changes in

policy and for a developmenteffectiveness approach.

Country outreach work will be

based on the country-level plans of

CSOs who are involved in aid

effectiveness and development

effectiveness advocacy. A broad

range of CSOs will be encouraged to

participate and work together to

engage their respective

governments, parliaments and

development partners in the

implementation and monitoring of

AAA implementation.

RoA is the partner agency of the

BetterAid in this programme.

IBON International is

implementing the outreach through

the RoA network.


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IBON Center

114 Timog Avenue, Quezon City 1103

Philippines

http://iboninternational.org

www.realityofaid .org

Country

for

Aid and Development

Effectiveness

Engagement

Contact us

Interested in

participating in country

processes? Do you want

your country stories

disseminated? The

following members of the

Country Outreach Team

are ready to work with

you:

Ava Danlog

Outreach Officer

for Asia Pacific

[email protected]

Carla Santos

Team Leader and

Outreach Officerfor Latin America

[email protected]

Myrna Maglahus

Outreach Officerfor Africa

[email protected]

Aoux Santos

Communications Officer

[email protected]

Documents

CORT Newsletter July 2010