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EU COUNTRY ROADMAPS FOR

ENGAGEMENT WITH CIVIL SOCIETY

2014 - 2017

GUIDANCE

VERSION 1.0 - DECEMBER 2013

Introduction

This guidance has been developed to guide EU Delegations and Member States in developing EU

Country Roadmaps for a more strategic engagement with civil society.

The Roadmaps have been devised to translate the priorities of the September 2012 EU

Communication on civil society into concrete actions on the ground

1. The priorities are:

1. To enhance efforts to promote a conducive environment for CSOs in partner countries;

2. To promote a meaningful and structured participation of CSOs in domestic policies of

partner countries, in the EU programming cycle and in international processes; and

3. To increase local CSOs' capacity to perform their roles as independent development actors

more effectively.

1 COM(2012) 492: The roots of democracy and sustainable development: Europe's engagement with Civil Society in external

relations;

2

In addition the Guidance takes into account the related October 2012 Council conclusions

(14535/12) and the October 2013 European Parliament Resolution on local authorities and civil

society (N. 2012/2288(INI)).

The Roadmap should be developed building on existing analysis including the EU Human Rights

Country Strategies and the Concept Notes prepared in the context of the future Thematic

Programme Civil Society Organisations and Local Authorities (CSO-LA).

The Roadmap should be drafted using the clean Template while carefully considering the points

and questions in this Guidance. Still, the questions should be adapted to the specific country

context.

The Roadmap comprises of five interlinked sections: Sections 1 and 2 provide the analytical

foundation of the Roadmap by looking at the state of civil society and current EU engagement.

Sections 3 and 4 in turn set direction by defining EU priorities and actions for engagement with

civil society in the period 2014-2017 – and beyond. Finally, Section 5 provides a framework for

tracking the Roadmap process. The five sections are briefly described below:

1. Analysis of the state of civil society. A clear understanding of the CSO arena and the

environment, in which civil society operates is a prerequisite for a more strategic

engagement at the country level;

2. Assessment of current EU engagement. This involves an assessment of EU Delegations

and Member States’ current engagement with civil society (including any existing

coordination or division of labour). Where relevant this concerns also coordination with

other donors;

3. Definition of priorities for engagement with civil society. The priorities should be set

at country level based on the analysis and informed by the main priorities for EU support

as defined by the Communication;

4. Formulation of actions. This section allows EU Delegations and Member States to agree

on and formulate concrete actions in support of the priorities identified. Actions may

involve analysis, policy and political dialogue and funding; and

5. A dashboard to keep track of performance at process and outcome level.

This Guidance and the associated Template should be shared with Member States present in the

country with a view to engaging them from the very outset. Non-EU donors with substantial civil

society engagement should also be involved as appropriate.

Dialogue and involvement of local civil society is key to the ensuring ownership, quality and

relevance of the Roadmap process. The basic principle is that each country is specific and

approach to consultations should respect that. Still, it is recommended that the following

principles guide the dialogue and consultations with civil society:

A calendar should be developed specifying when and how the inputs of local civil society

will be ensured;

Access to relevant documents and information should be provided well in advance to allow

those consulted to prepare themselves;

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The consultations should capture the diversity of civil society with due attention paid to

actors’ relevance, representativeness, and inclusiveness, so that participants are valid and

representative interlocutors of concrete sectors/actors with specific demands;

The range of CSOs consulted should go well beyond beneficiaries of EU external

assistance and to the extent possible include representation of both urban and rural

organisations; secular and faith based organisations and organisations representing

minorities and marginalised groups. Outreach to research institutions, foundations,

cooperatives, professional and business organisations, trade unions and employers’

organisations should also be promoted to the extent possible. Finally, international NGOs

with a strong country presence will also be useful partners in the process;

Outreach of consultations should be increased to the extent possible by using multiple

platforms and media including websites, social media etc.; and

The Consultations should include provisions for feed-back and follow-up.

Where feasible, it is also recommended to consult with national and local authorities not least in

view of their important role in defining, respecting and facilitating the legal, regulatory and

institutional framework for civil society.

The Roadmap should be approved at country level by the Head of Delegation and Member States

or, where relevant and feasible, by an enlarged group of donors. The Roadmaps do not require

approval from DECVO or EEAS but should, once approved, be shared with DEVCO and EEAS

for information, reporting and capitalisation purposes. The validity of the first version of the

Roadmap is for the period 2014-2017. Still, the Roadmap should be seen as a continuous process

and they should be updated each year in January and when major changes in the context take place.

Once approved, Roadmaps are as stated in the Communication to be made public where

appropriate. Still in come contexts full disclosure may be judged as counterproductive. The

recommendation is that each country summarises the agreed priorities and actions in a brief

version thus paving the way for improved visibility and predictability of EU actions. In addition

Delegations and Member States are strongly encouraged to make use of press releases, websites

etc.

Internal reporting against the roadmap will be done through the annual updates of the Roadmap.

More details on how to fill out five main sections of the Country Roadmap are provided in the

following pages. Specific questions on the guidance and the process ahead can be directed to

DEVCO B2 using the e-mail address: EUROPEAID-B2@ec.europa.eu.

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1 STATE OF CIVIL SOCIETY

A clear understanding of the CSO arena and the wider context in which civil society operates, is a

prerequisite for a more strategic engagement at the country level. Hence, the purpose of the first

section is to analyse the following critical aspects, which represent the three main priorities of the

Civil Society Communication: i) Enabling environment; ii) Participation of CSOs in public life;

and iii) Local CSOs' capacity to perform their roles as independent development actors.

1.1 ENABLING ENVIRONMENT

As pointed out in the Communication, the ability of CSOs to operate depends on a functioning

democratic legal and judicial system – giving them the right in law and in practice to associate and

secure funding, coupled with freedom of expression, access to information and participation in

public life. The primary responsibility to ensure and facilitate these basic conditions lies with the

state.

The purpose of this section is for EU Delegations and Member States to analyse these dimensions

drawing on existing analyses notably the EU Human Rights Country Strategies. The points listed

below should be considered and adapted to the country context when drafting this section.

Basic legal rights

What is the situation in law and in practice for civil society to exercise the freedoms of expression, assembly and association? This includes rights for CSOs such as formalised, transparent and non-discriminatory registration procedures, free and independent operation and cooperation between citizens and the absence of disproportionate or unwarranted state interference.

Organisational and financial sustainability

What procedures exist for obtaining foreign or domestic funding - in law and in practice?

To what extent have the authorities taken positive measures to create provisions for volunteering, public funding for CSOs or (fiscal) incentives to mobilise local funds such as favourable tax rules for private donations, membership fees and philanthropy?

Participation in public life

How open are the authorities to effectively involve civil society in the elaboration of national and sectoral policies? Are there functioning platforms and mechanisms set up by national and local authorities allowing for a result-oriented multistakeholder dialogue?

Do authorities guarantee in law and in practice free, clear and accessible flows of information on matters of public interest?

Other contextual factors

According to the specific country context, refer to other important factors related to enabling environment including any specific concerns in fragile states and/ or conflict prone countries.

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1.2 PARTICIPATION AND ROLES

The purpose of this section is to identify the key civil society interlocutors for EU engagement in

terms of dialogue and operational support. The intention is to indicate broadly in which areas there

are critical mass and evidence of impact. It is suggested to look at the following broad areas:

Participation in public policy formulation and reform including budget processes;

Transparency and accountability;

Service delivery;

Inclusive and sustainable growth; and

Conflict prevention, peace building and state building.

The purpose is to understand in which areas civil society is a force for change and, conversely,

where civil society is marginalised but may have an unrealised potential.

When looking at the roles of CSOs, it is important to take the diversity of actors into account: The

EU considers CSOs to include all non-State, not-for-profit structures, non-partisan and non–

violent, through which people organise to pursue shared objectives and ideals, whether political,

cultural, social or economic. Operating from the local to the national, regional and international

levels, they comprise urban and rural, formal and informal organisations including non-

governmental organisations, faith-based organisations, foundations, research institutions, trade

unions and employers' organisations, cooperatives, professional and business associations, and the

not-for-profit media. New and more fluid forms of movements are also important to take into

account.

The following questions should be considered and adapted to the local context:

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Participation in public policy formulation

What is the level and quality of CSO participation in political reform processes and elaboration of public policies and budgets at central and local level? This includes also policy areas outside development cooperation such as trade, climate change, and migration policies. To what extent can CSOs exercise an effective leverage through analysing and contributing to these processes?

Transparency and accountability

How active are CSOs in the field of domestic transparency and accountability (i.e. through information provision, monitoring effective implementation of laws, monitoring state compliance with international human rights priovision, tracking public revenues and expenditures, etc.)? How effective are these actions at local and central level?

Service delivery

To what extent are CSOs involved in service delivery including humanitarian support where relevant? To what extent is their work in this area embedded in multi-actor partnerships that recognise the primary responsibility of the state (central and local) regarding service provision?

Inclusive and sustainable growth

To what extent have CSOs become active players in the economic realm, with initiatives having an impact on the (social) economy This may involve looking at the roles of cooperatives, foundations and NGOs in promoting entrepreneurship and job creations by mobilising grassroots communities, delivering services and stimulating income generating activities for the poor and marginalised.

Conflict prevention, peace-building and state-building

What is the role of civil society in fostering peace, in conflict resolution and in state-building?

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1.3 CAPACITY

Another key priority of the Communication is for the EU to reinforce its support to the capacity

development of CSOs, particularly local actors, as part of a long-term, demand-driven and flexible

approach, giving particular consideration to constituency building and representativeness.

To that effect, the purpose of this section is to identify the areas in which capacity development is

most needed including limitations in technical management and leadership skills, internal

governance or capacity to dialogue with government authorities, to influence policy and to

monitor public policies and compliance with human rights commitments.

Reference can here be made to various self-regulatory initiatives, such as the Istanbul CSOs

Development Effectiveness Principles and other actor-specific charters of accountability or

national codes of conduct (2)

.

The following questions should be considered:

2 The Istanbul CSOs Development Effectiveness Principles are available through the following link: http://cso-

effectiveness.org/istanbul-principles,067

Legitimacy, credibility and internal governance

How legitimate and credible are the various categories of CSOs in terms of constituency building, representativeness, leadership, independence, and internal governance?

Programme and project management

How effective are the various categories of CSOs in fundraising, programme formulation, definition of results frameworks, financial management, evaluation, etc.?

Research and advocacy

To what extent is the local civil society equipped to conduct research and engage in effective advocay? This encompasses a range of different skills including research techniques, case building, legal expertise, lobbying, negotiation and communication skills, which together should enable CSOs to better define, understand, analyse, present and follow-up on policy and budget issues

Organisation, coordination and collaboration

To what extent is the local civil society organised in thematic and general platforms and alliances at sub-national and national level? Do links exist with regional and global networks, research communities and platforms?

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2 CURRENT EU ENGAGEMENT

The purpose of the second section is to reflect on the relevance and effectiveness of the current

EU engagement with civil society with a view to take this into account when defining priorities

and actions for future EU engagement at country level.

The assessment should focus on the entire engagement of the EU including Member States. Where

feasible and relevant, non-EU donors should also be taken into account.

The assessment should consider the quality of EU dialogue with civil society as well as current

support in terms of policy dialogue and operational support. Here it will be particularly important

to reflect on progress in mainstreaming civil society across sectors and instruments as well as in

Finally, a particularly important part is the assessment of coordination between policy dialogue.

the EU Delegations, Member States and other relevant donors including the assessment of

potential for a better coordinated support to CSOs.

2.1 STRUCTURED EU DIALOGUE WITH CIVIL SOCIETY

2.2 POLICY DIALOGUE FOR AN ENABLING ENVIRONMENT

2.3 MAINSTREAMING CIVIL SOCETY

Stuctured dialogue

What mechanisms are used for EU consultations and dialogue with local CSOs? What level of information is provided in advance? How inclusive are the consultations? Who participates typically? Who sets the agenda - and does it include broader policy issues including those linked to Policy Coherence for Development? What are the typical outcomes? And how is follow-up ensured?

Nature of current engagement

What is the current EU engagement in terms of promoting an enabling environment for CSOs in the country? To what extent has the EU used its political position and leverage to defend the space for the independent action of CSOs? What concrete actions have been undertaken in recent years and how effective were these?

Mainstreaming across EU cooperation

To what extent has the local civil society been effectively “mainstreamed” in EU cooperation processes (e.g. programming), sectors and instruments of cooperation (including budget support operations)? To what extent has the EU been able to enhance the complementarity between geographic and thematic instruments in support of civil society? Provide specific examples where relevant.

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2.4 COORDINATION

2.5 LESSONS LEARNT

Member States and other key players

Which Member States are active and how many of these have substatial activities with regard to civil society? Are there other potential key players to consider among the international donor community when it comes to civil society?

Existing coordination mechanisms

Do the EU Delegation and Member States (and other international actors) coordinate regularly on civil society matters at the level of Heads of Cooperation, Heads of Political Sections, Heads of Mission? What types of issues are discussed in these meetings?

Information exchange

To what extent have the EU Delegation and Member States (and other international actors) developed systems and tools to facilitate joint action and coordination (e.g. effective platforms for information exchange on projects funded, partners supported, calendar of events, good practices, studies made, etc.)?

Joint action Are there joint initiatives, particularly with Member States: Joint analysis (e.g. mappings), search for complementarirty of interventions at geographic and thematic levels? Joint funding schemes for capacity development?

Division of labour

Is a rationalization of support or any division of labour discussed/proposed between EU Delegation, Member States and other donors?

Lessons learnt What are the main lessons learnt (positive and less positive) with EU engagement towards civil society so far?

Do no harm What are the most problematic areas in terms of current donor approaches and support modalities towards the local civil society? What practices may have a potential negative impact on the consolidation of civil society as an independent development actor?

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3 PRIORITIES

A long-term vision underpinning the engagement with civil society is the third building block of

the roadmap. The Civil Society Communication identifies several areas where civil society actors

can make a vital contribution to enhanced development and governance outcomes.

The task at hand for EU Delegations and Members States is to contextualize the three priorities of

the civil society Communication to the realities of each country, drawing on the analysis put

forward in sections 1 and 2.

As a case in point, it may be that the analysis of the enabling environment (Section 1.1) has led to

the conclusion that lack of access to information is a particularly important constraining factor for

increased CSO participation. Similarly, it could be that the analysis of roles of CSOs (section 1.2)

has led to the identification of a specific area in which there is unrealised potential for CSO

contributions that the EU in turn could contribute to realising.

Contextualisation is crucial considering that the roadmaps will cover a wide number of regions

(Africa, Caribbean, Pacific, Asia, Latin America, and Neighbourhood) as well as a wide range of

situations including highly volatile political contexts. Contextualisation is also key to ensuring

ownership of the Roadmap.

Defining policy priorities requires a process of consultations at different levels: within the EU

Delegation, with Member States, host country, other international actors and not least with civil

society itself.

It is for the Delegation and Member States in each country to decide on the number of priorities to

be selected. Still, to increase the likelihood of impact, it is advisable to carefully prioritise and

select only those priorities that are likely to be both relevant and feasible, considering the range of

stakeholders involved and the possibility for the EU Delegation, the Member States and other

actors to support concrete reform and capacity development processes.

The priorities should be formulated in a long-term perspective. As a case in point contributing to

strengthening civil society and state-society relations will take time and the EU support strategies

should be aligned to this ambition. The proposal is to formulate priorities that can be contributed

to in a meaningful way in the period 2014-2017. The time horizon may also go beyond that if

justified by the nature of the challenges at hand. This may be the case for example in fragile states

or in states with restrictive environments.

Finally, the definition of priorities needs to go hand in hand with identifications of indicators

measuring the desired change. How can the achievement of the priorities be measured? What

specific change is likely to happen and how can this be measured? When is this change likely to

happen? Here it will also be important to refer to means of verification and indicate when the

expected change is likely to happen.

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4 ACTIONS

The fourth section involves the formulation of actions to achieve the priorities. The Roadmap

should be a navigation instrument to guide the EU Delegation and the Member States in their

engagement with civil society. Actions are therefore meant to reflect a strategic vision and an

analysis of realities on the ground.

Actions can involve all measures at the disposal of the EU Delegation and Member States,

including:

Analysis: Generation of knowledge through studies, mappings and research to

properly understand the realities on the ground including identification of relevant

interlocutors.

Policy and political dialogue, consultation and facilitation. This may cover

dialogue and consultations with civil society, diplomacy and political dialogue with

central and local authorities, and engagement with other domestic and international

stakeholders. The promotion of a enabling environment for civil society is a

particularly salient issue to be pursued.

Funding using geographic and thematic instruments (all aid modalities). Tailored

funding constitutes an important component of the EU's engagement with CSOs.

Importantly funding does not only involve support to civil society but may also

involve engagement with authorities – especially with a view to support an enabling

environment. As stated in the Civil Society Communication, the EU will seek to

scale up public authorities' capacity to work constructively with civil society,

increasing trust and competencies to build up dialogue and opportunities for

partnerships.

It will be particularly important to identify opportunities for mainstreaming a more strategic

engagement with CSOs in policy dialogue and in all instruments and programmes across all

sectors of cooperation including budget support.

Actions should be carried out jointly by the EU Delegations and Member States to the extent

possible. Other donors should also be involved where relevant and feasible. In practice roadmaps

should therefore be used as “a trigger” to enhance (internal and external) coordination and sharing

of best practices (including a rationalisation/division of labour and joint programming) between

EU Delegations, Member States and other international actors.

Actions towards achieving the priorities should be concretized in the table overleaf. A table should

be filled out for each priority.

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Action tables

Priority 1

[Insert priority from previous section (Priorities)]

Indicator(s)

[Insert relevant indicator(s) from previous section (Priorities)]

Actions:

A. Analysis: Studies, mappings and research

[E.g. mappings, studies or analyses to be carried out]

[Indicate who is responsible (EUD, Member States, other donors and stakeholders) stressing

joint actions where relevant]

A. Policy dialogue, consultation and facilitation

[E.g. list key messages, stakeholders, partners, suitable platforms and coordination efforts]

[Indicate who is responsible (EUD, Member States, other donors and stakeholders) stressing

joint actions where relevant]

B. Funding: Operational support including mainstreaming

1) List instruments and programmes to be mobilized including mainstreaming

2) Make reference to specific working modalities where relevant

[Indicate who is responsible (EUD, Member States, other donors and stakeholders) stressing

joint actions where relevant]

Priority 2, 3, 4…: Same approach applies

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5 DASHBOARD

The purpose of the fifth section is to have, in one page, an overview of progress at process and

outcome level. Achievement towards these indicators is to be updated each year in January

together with the update of the Roadmap.

Process-level indicators refer to the efforts of the EU Delegations and the Member States to

implement the Roadmap. They focus on concrete actions taken by the Delegation in cooperation

with Member States and other relevant donors.

Outcome level indicators, on the other hand, will be defined in each country to reflect the specific

priorities of the Roadmap.

Country:

Process

Area Indicator Achievement

Involvement of Member States

in Roadmap elaboration

Member States present in the

country are actively involved

in the elaboration of the

Roadmap

Consultation with local civil

society

The Roadmap has been

prepared on the basis of

consultations with a broad

range of local CSOs respecting

principles of access to

information, sufficient advance

notice, and clear provisions for

feedback and follow-up.

Joint actions Member States present in the

country are actively involved

in the implementation of the

Roadmap priorities

Outcome

Priority Indicator Achievement

Insert … Insert …

Insert … Insert …

To be continued as relevant… …