Dakar – Around 20 civil society organizations participated in a Consultation Workshop sponsored by Africaine De Recherche Et De Cooperation Pour L’appui Au Developpement Endogene (ARCADE) and IBON/Reality of Aid. The workshop was organized to define ways forward for a broader participation of CSOs in the aid effectiveness issue. Present in the two-day activity were representatives of trade unions, the education and agricultural sector, women’s group, media as well as national and district CSOs.
Recently there has been acknowledgement of the important role that CSO’s play with respect to aid effectiveness. As a consequence, an increasing number of women organizations are active in the regional and sub-regional discussions. However, CSO representatives asserted that aid is a burden in spite of CSO participation in Senegal because it fails to include CSOs in major decisions. A prime example was the development of the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) in Senegal, which was defined without proper CSO consultation. CSO representatives also admit that they need to strengthen their capacities, harmonize efforts and identify a common stand to effectively engage with donors and government on issues related to aid effectiveness.