About the Issue
This edition of the Reality Check tackles the critical issues of civil society and development effectiveness. In the lead-up to the Accra High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness, CSOs have been challenged to respond to the 2005 Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness in relation to their own effectiveness as aid and development actors. Rejecting the direct application of the Paris Declaration to CSO development roles, CSOs have focused on their roles as innovative agents of change and social transformation. This Reality Check highlights issues of CSO accountability, support for women’s rights organizations in development, political roles, and North/South civil society relationships, among others. In July 2008, about 80 CSOs from around the world launched a two-year Global Forum on CSO Development Effectiveness to discuss these issues and agree upon civil society development effectiveness principles and guidelines to implement these principles.
Contents
- Civil society and development effectiveness: North/South challenges
- Civil society organizations that work for development…and also for democracy
- Reviewing Paris: Draft notes on CSOs and aid effectiveness
- How should we mobilize new resources for building stronger feminist movements and advancing women’s rights worldwide?
- The political context for a CSO-led process on CSO effectiveness
- Issues and principles for the exploratory meeting on the effectiveness of civil society organisations
- Some learning experiences from NGOs’ social accountability processes in Colombia
- An open forum for CSO development effectiveness
Acknowledgements
This Reality Check has been prepared by Brian Tomlinson (CCIC) and Rubén Fernández (ALOP) as a contribution to a growing debate on civil society organizations and their development effectiveness.
Cover Photos by:
Curt Carnemark/World Bank
VJ Villafranca/IRIN
Inside Photos by:
Manoocher Deghati/IRIN
Curt Carnemark/World Bank
Anthony Morland/IRIN
Allan Gichigi/IRIN
Neil Thomas/IRIN
Tim McKulka/UNMIS
APRN
IRIN
Cover Design and Layout by: Florenio Bambao
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