Case Stories of

Civil Society
Engagement on
Aid Effectiveness
Copyright

@IBON International 2011

All Rights Reserved

IBON International holds the rights to this publication. The publication may be cited in parts as
long as IBON is properly acknowledged as the source and IBON is furnished copies of the final work
where the quotation or citation appears.

IBON International is the international division of IBON Foundation, Inc. As an international NGO,
IBON Foundation responds to international demand to provide support in research and education
to peoples’ movements and grassroots empowerment and advocacy and links these to international
initiatives and networks.

The IBON/Reality of Aid country outreach program for the broad implementation of Accra Agenda
for Action (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 and sustain 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 practice for aid and development effectiveness.

IBON Center
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ISBN 9789710483686
Table of Contents

Introduction 1

CSO Engagements

Bolivia 3

Cambodia
7

Cameroon
14

Ecuador
19

Kyrgyzstan
24

Lesotho 30

Philippines
35
Acknowledgments

The Case Stories of Civil Society Engagement on Aid Effectiveness is a compilation

of IBON/RoA Country Outreach case stories, written by authors from Southern CSOs
and the Country Outreach team whose research draws on experiences from working
directly with aid effectiveness issues.

Overall editorial control of the publication lies with IBON International. The views
expressed reflect the views of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views
of IBON/RoA Country Outreach or IBON International that published these case
stories.

IBON International was assisted by Carla Santos; Myrna Maglahus and Nicolas
Gloeckl from the IBON/ RoA Country Outreach, the Cooperation Committee for
Cambodia and the Forum of Women’s NGOs of Kyrgyzstan, as writers and content/
copy editors, and Jennifer Padilla as Lay-out artist.

Content and context has been provided by: Union Nacional de Instituciones para al
Trabajo de Accion Social (UNITAS), Bolivia; Cooperation Committee of Cambodia
(CCC); Collectif des ONG pour la Securite Alimentaire et le Developpement Rural
(COSADER), Cameroon; Centro de Investigaciones, (CIUDAD), Ecuador; Forum of
Women’s NGOs of Kyrgyzstan (FWNGO); Economic Justice Network Lesotho (EJNL);
and AidWatch Philippines.

We would like to thank all those who have generously contributed their knowledge
and advice.

Credits for Pictures:

Bolivia: IBON International 2010

Cameroon: COSADER 2010
Cambodia: CCC 2010
Ecuador: CIUDAD 2010
Kyrgyzstan: IBON International 2010
Lesotho: EJNL 2010
Philippines: Aidwatch 2010
Introduction

Case Stories of Civil Society Engagement on Aid Effectiveness

A t the High Level Forum III (HLF3) in Accra in 2008, the work of CSOs was
strengthened by the efforts of the International Steering Group (ISG) of the Accra
CSO Forum on Aid Effectiveness, whose members – individually or in coordination –
initiated various consultations, seminars, researches and other activities in promotion
of CSO positions on aid and development effectiveness, partly as preparation to
Accra. National and regional CSO workshops and multi-stakeholder consultations
too were convened, focusing on the theme of CSOs and aid effectiveness also
implemented by IBON and Reality of Aid (RoA) for the Advisory Group (AG).

After Accra, these initiatives even intensified. The project, “Catalysing broad country
implementation of the AAA: from aid effectiveness to development effectiveness” is
an on-going activity implemented by IBON/RoA in conjunction with CSO platforms in
various developing countries in Africa, Asia/Pacific and Latin America.  Their stories
remain a wealthy resource for stakeholders engaged in the promotion of aid and
development effectiveness. 

CSOs around the world struggling with aid and development effectiveness issues have
frequently called for tangible examples and lessons learned by other organizations
facing similar experiences. Responding to the need, this publication aims to contribute
to the documentation and sharing of CSO experiences, lessons and insights.

IBON/RoA has produced this first of two booklets of case stories that attempts to
document CSO involvement in national aid policy reforms, including, but not limited
to, mechanisms, processes and structures that demonstrate CSO involvement in
aid effectiveness policy reform and AAA implementation. Each of the stories
demonstrates the specific involvement of CSOs, partners and other actors, the
issues and challenges they faced and the outcomes of their involvement.

More concretely, the stories in this booklet provide context to CSOs, donors
and governments, build upon a broad range of diverse experiences within
unique settings. Highlighting different coping mechanisms ranging from
direct interventions of CSOs through government and donor channels, to CSO
consultations and workshops, the following case studies provide valuable lessons.
In the face of a multitude of challenges for CSOs, including restricted access
to information and participation in aid and development processes, CSOs were
able to build and strengthen their capacities through innovative and resourceful
means. This has resulted in elevating their positions broadly at the national and
international levels, earning them increased recognition as capable and important

1
 actors in development. Often this new engagement led to their inclusion in
processes of previously exclusive government and donor decision making.

Case stories in this booklet were chosen and prepared in coordination with CSOs
and CSO platforms from countries in the African, Asia/Pacific and Latin American
regions. Consequently, the development stage of CSOs differ substantially,
as does the level of involvement, strengthening the value of this publication
as it offers CSOs diverse insights on how to cope with a variety of different
challenges on aid and development effectiveness issues, at unique stages of
CSO involvement. While intended for the CSO community, governments and
donors, too, can find valuable lessons and insights in the experiences of these
diverse country examples. Overall, it is hoped that this booklet will be used as
a meaningful tool by those engaging in the aid and development effectiveness
agenda, and contribute towards real, inclusive ownership of development by the
people.

2
Bolivia

Introduction

B olivia is a landlocked country in west-central South America. With a GNI per

capita of USD1,460, the country remains one of the poorest in all of Latin
America. Roughly two thirds of the people live below the poverty line and over 42
percent of the population lives on less then USD2 a day. Large income inequalities
persist within Bolivia making it one of South America’s most economically unequal
countries. The wealthiest 20 percent of the people earn roughly half of Bolivia’s total
income, while the poorest 20 percent only shares 4 percent. (www.worldbank.org)

With Evo Morales becoming the country’s first indigenous president in 2005, Bolivia
has been set on a new, increasingly more progressive social, political and economic
course. In January 2006, the government started implementing economic and social
reforms designed to meet the basic needs of the poorest. However, challenges
remain including exclusion, especially of the indigenous population, relatively
nascent democratic institutions, internal political tensions and a need to diversify
the economy away from a reliance on the export of natural resources.

A heavy debt burden is a continuing drag on the government’s budget which compels
the country to rely heavily on foreign assistance to finance its development projects.
As such, Official Development Assistance (ODA) in the country is an important
issue. The Bolivian CSO platform, Union Nacional de Instituciones para al Trabajo de
Accion Social (UNITAS), began its engagement with ODA issues in 2006. UNITAS is
a national platform that brings together 29 diverse development-oriented networks
and CSOs with the mission to advance the generation of alternative knowledge and
proposals for development. The platform aspires to enable social change towards a
more democratic, equitable and just society based on solidarity.

UNITAS has been able to deepen its engagement with the government of Bolivia on
several levels. Notably the platform was able to provide input and critique on the
Second Phase of the Country Level Evaluation (CLE2) report on the implementation
of the Paris Declaration (PD).

These recent steps to include the CSO sector within official aid effectiveness
processes and issues is a welcome move by the government, especially in

3
 consideration of the still limited nature of cooperation and coordination between the
government and the CSO sector. Bolivia’s CSO community is therefore hoping to
build and deepen the level of communication in 2011 to engage in a productive and
effective way striving towards inclusive aid effectiveness in the country.

National PD Evaluation
Under the auspices of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development
(OECD), the 2nd High-Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness held in Paris in 2005 produced
the Paris Declaration (PD), which aims to strengthen “partnerships” between donors
and recipient countries to make aid more effective and ensure development results.
The Declaration consists of 56 “Partnership Commitments” grouped under five
overarching principles, namely, ownership, alignment, harmonization, managing for
development results, and mutual accountability. It specifies indicators, timetables
and targets for actions by donor and recipient governments and has an evolving
agenda for implementation and monitoring progress up to 2010. At the Third High-
Level Forum (HLF3) in Accra in 2008, governments confirmed their commitments to
the PD and signed the Accra Agenda for Action (AAA). While the aid effectiveness
reforms fall short of needed changes to truly address the problems in the current aid
system, it is still important for CSOs to hold donors and recipient governments to
account for the pledges they have made in Paris and Accra.

One OECD mechanism to monitor the success and implementation of the PD is the
second phase of the evaluation (CLE 2) of the PD. The objective of the CLE2 is to
highlight the effects and results of the implementation of the PD. It will therefore
respond to the key question of whether the long term desired effects are being
reached or advanced in the Paris Declaration (PD). The evaluation is also expected
to analyse the results in context, taking into account the preconditions or enabling
conditions that could lead to positive results in development aid.

As CSO representative of the National Reference Group (NRG), UNITAS has been
able to engage on several levels and stages in the CLE 2 process. Implementing a
common framework established at the international level, the Vice Ministry of Public
Investment and External Financing (VIPFE) formed the NRG. Within this framework,
UNITAS participated in different meetings, together with other members of the NRG
to orient the national evaluation team, supervise the design and questions of the
country evaluation and revise the drafts of the reports.

While the drafting stage of the CLE2 report has been more inclusive then past reports,
the report still needs improvement in several aspects. The report should compare
the results of the first and second PD evaluations to clearly see and analyse the
changes that occurred, if any, taking into account the Bolivian national context. It
would also help to have gender-disaggregated data; and to include a wide range of
stakeholders in development. With such comments and recommendations, UNITAS
is exploring the need for an independent and alternative civil society report to analyse
the implementation of the PD in Bolivia.

4
UNITAS and National Consultations
UNITAS is one of Bolivia’s most recognized and broadly represented national
platforms. Its track record spans over 34 years of sustained work with and for the
more needy and excluded sectors of society. UNITAS has evolved into a strong
and capable point of reference for sustained dialogue with both the international
development community and the government. The platform’s political independence
allows it to be critical and, hence, sets a benchmark for policy dialogue with other
development actors. In 2006, UNITAS turned its attention to development and aid
effectiveness and has since been involved in the monitoring and evaluation of the
PD at international and national level. The aim of the network is to promote the
recognition of Southern CSO voices, contribute to the global debate and push for the
establishment of new frameworks of participation to enable real aid effectiveness.

Representing the voices of its partner CSOs in Bolivia, UNITAS participates in debates
at national and international levels. It provides space for the collective analysis of both
content and scope of the PD in order to improve the understanding of aid effectiveness
and focus on the real contributions to development. This has mainly been achieved
by facilitating discussions among different actors in development, including trade
unions, peasants, indigenous organizations, NGOs and other CSOs. This approach
has resulted in clear recommendations to the government and donor organizations and
strengthened the capacity of CSOs to engage as full development actors, improving
engagement with and ownership of the national development plan.

In the run up to the HLF3 in Accra, two national CSO consultations in 2007 and 2008
have provided UNITAS with a rich perspective of the challenges on aid faced by
Bolivian CSOs. The platform was able to share these views and raise the concerns of
its partner organizations at various international events and meetings in preparation
for Accra. It is clear however, that CSOs are on a long road to make aid more
effective and achieve real progress in eliminating poverty while generating genuine
development results. The past national CSO consultations helped foster a favourable
climate for more cooperation and coordination with the government. The recent
participation of UNITAS in the NRG has generated a new level of engagement between
the government and Bolivia’s CSO sector. These favourable conditions could be a
first step towards strengthened linkages between state and civil society to jointly
face the challenges of development. As a result of these processes, upcoming CSO
consultations will engage the active participation of the VIPFE.

International Engagement
To deepen the engagement further with the government, donor and the CSO sector,
UNITAS has been preparing a perception survey on the development effectiveness
of civil society, aimed to provide practical guidance and lessons on the role and
contribution of international cooperation and CSOs to national development. A second
focus lies on transparency and accountability procedures and issues concerning
CSOs within the country.

5
 The above initiative forms part of a larger process of CSO reflection that has developed
worldwide through many national consultations informing the Open Forum (OF) for CSO
Development Effectiveness. The consultations have enhanced dialogue and evoked
CSO inputs to a proposed CSO development effectiveness framework, including
principles, indicators, implementation guidelines, good practices for accountability
mechanisms and minimum standards for enabling conditions. The results of these
consultations define an international framework on CSO development effectiveness that
informs and structures their identity, visions and mandates while defining their work and
field of operation. It furthermore stresses the importance of being accountable to their
target groups as well as governments and donors1.

The OF process has evolved from the HLF3 in Accra in 2008. Accra took the PD a step
further by introducing new topics to the discussion such as the need for democratic
space, division of labour, South-South cooperation and conditionality of aid. Unlike the
HLF2 in Paris, CSOs in Accra played an important role in deepening the aid effectiveness
agenda while succeeding in the adoption of paragraph 20 of the Accra Plan of Action
that recognizes the role and the voice of CSOs as actors in development.

Post-Accra, the challenge is to ensure the sustained advocacy for deepening of the aid
reforms and a strengthening of development effectiveness. On the way to the HLF4 in
Busan, it is imperative to involve and engage CSOs, donors and recipient governments
in a more ambitious dialogue where all actors are treated as equals working together
for genuine development results.

Next Steps
Opening up the PD evaluation process to the public is an important step forward to
participation, accountability and transparency. Taking this step further, UNITAS is
planning to disseminate and popularize the results of the CLE2 process with a greater
section of civil society. Its unique stance as part of the NRG enables UNITAS to share
information and liaise more effectively among the CSOs, the government and donors.
In addition, UNITAS has a bigger opportunity to provide a channel of information to
CSOs nationally and internationally.

For 2011 UNITAS plans to deepen its engagement with the government on aid
effectiveness issues. The platform proposes to implement a joint national consultation
with the government and the CSO sector in Bolivia, to disseminate the results of the
CLE2 report and collect CSOs views, progress and prospects on development and on
the role of official development assistance.

UNITAS further hopes to develop a CSO action plan to engage strategically in the aid
and development effectiveness process, while paying special attention to include CSO
development effectiveness issues.

Endnotes
1
For more information on the Open Forum Process http://www.cso-effectiveness.org/

6
Cambodia

T he following case study, prepared for Reality of Aid (ROA), is a snapshot of the efforts
of the Cooperation Committee of Cambodia (CCC) and the NGO Forum on Cambodia
(NGO Forum) to increase CSO involvement and participation in the implementation of
the Paris Declaration (PD) and Accra Agenda for Action (AAA) principles in Cambodia.

In order to illustrate the practice of broad participation in aid effectiveness, this case
study explores the efforts of the CCC and NGO Forum to disseminate information on the
PD and AAA principles and to build the capacity of community support organisations
(CSOs) to engage with the Royal Government of Cambodia (RGC) and other development
partners in the implementation. It also summarises the results of these efforts and
outlines actions undertaken by Cambodia NGOs and community-based organizations
(CBOs) such as greater representation in Technical Working Groups (TWGs) input into
the National Strategic Development Plan (NSDP) and contribution to the global dialogue
on aid effectiveness.

Civil Society in Cambodia

As a developing nation, Cambodia faces numerous challenges. There is widespread
poverty with thirty percent (30%) of the population living on less than USD1 a day and
the nation ranks low internationally in health indicators. Cambodia also comes in very
low globally on governance rankings, with the rule of law considered to be very weak.
Although the public sector suffers from weak human resources and institutional capacity,
Cambodia is enjoying period of rapid economic growth and political stability.

The 1990s saw the emergence of local non-government organizations, mainly funded
by international donors following the United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia
(UNTAC) period. From only one NGO registered with the Ministry of Interior in 1991, the
sector experienced exponential growth with 2,675 registered NGOs at present. Of these,
316 are international NGOs (iNGOs) (CCC, 2010). A consequence of the presence of iNGOs

7
 and the development of local NGOs was the subsequent emergence of CBOs of many
different types. Many of these work informally, are not registered and play an important
role in service provision. NGOs and CBOs have a significant role in Cambodian civil
society and are recognized as equal partners by the Government of Cambodia.

Despite the many NGOs and CBOs in the country today which have established a
structure for coordination and action, the CSO community as a whole still remains
weak and, to some extent, passive. While many improvements have been made
since the end of the Khmer Rouge period, the general opinion is that the role of
civil society has actually regressed over the past decade. People are still not fully
aware of their rights and obligations nor are able to act when these are infringed
upon. Marginalised groups face many limitations, human rights violations are still
commonplace and the rule of law is very weak (UNDP, 2010).

Working with or through CBOs is common practice for many NGOs. However, this
engagement is less collaborative and more for the purpose of service delivery rather than
deep engagement. NGOs outsource to CBOs and do not engage on a partnership level.
However, the relationships between grassroots organisations and NGOs are vital for the
empowerment of local communities and to the development of a strong civil society.

Some key challenges faced by CBOs in Cambodia are limited management and
governance capacity, lack of representation in development policy dialogue,
information gaps, unstable funding coupled with uncoordinated demands from
donor agencies, difficulty in engaging civil society through community ownership
and participation, and a lack of coordination among NGOs and CBOs leading to
fragmentation and overlap in project implementation.

The current space available for democratic engagement of civil society is small and
there is a danger that this space will shrink even further in the near future due to the
entrenched strength of the dominant political party and the planned introduction of
the NGO Law. This is seen as a mechanism to control and restrict the work of NGOs
and CBOs (CCC, 2010).

Despite these limitations, civil society is an important component of effective

development in Cambodia especially in the areas of service delivery, particularly in
the health and education sectors, policy development and research and advocacy.
NGOs continue to fill the gaps in the government’s weaknesses in providing needed
services to the public.

Cooperation Committee for Cambodia and

NGO Forum on Cambodia
The NGO Forum on Cambodia and the CCC have been working together to bring the
issue of aid effectiveness to the fore of development practice in Cambodia. Relevant
provisions and principles in the PD and AAA are being gradually applied within the
NGO sector due in large part to the efforts of these two organisations. They have
advocated for greater NGO participation at the policy level and have influenced

8
the guidelines and policies of the TWGs. Furthermore, they participate actively in
the meetings of the Government-Development Partners Coordination Committee
(GDCC) and the Cambodia Development Cooperation Forum (CDCF).

NGO Forum on Cambodia

The NGO Forum is a membership organisation for local and international NGOs in
Cambodia, which began to operate in the 1980s and was fully established as a local
institution in 1993. Its purpose is to facilitate information sharing, encourage debate
and advocacy on priority issues affecting Cambodia’s development. NGO Forum
projects seek to build NGO cooperation for advocacy by facilitating the activities of
an NGO network.

NGO Forum works with NGOs in all sectors to prepare for the annual government-
donor Consultative Group meeting, to monitor the National Strategic Development
Plan (NSDP, Cambodia’s PRSP) and to contribute to other multi-sectoral policy
processes. NGO Forum has also been trying to increase NGO participation in the
drafting of the NSDP, by encouraging and facilitating NGOs to submit inputs to line
ministries. To this end, they collect and collate information for submission to the
Technical Working Groups (TWGs), the GDCC and the CDCF.

Aid Effectiveness Forum Project

In 2007, the Development Issues Program of NGO Forum, in close cooperation with
members of the Trade and Economic Development Network started work on aid
effectiveness in Cambodia with the first Aid Effectiveness Forum held in Phnom Penh
on 13 March 2007. In this forum DFID, World Bank, JICA, USAID, and ADB presented
their work to CBOs followed by discussions. The organizing NGOs (Womyn’s Agenda
for Change, Action Aid, Samakum Teang Tnaut, NGOF, NPA, World Vision, NGO
Education Partnership) concluded that this work needs to be continued and that it
deserves the attention of full-time staff member. One full-time staff was hired for this
position of Aid Effectiveness Officer in early 2008 when the project officially started.

The principal purpose of the Aid Effectiveness Forum Project is to enable NGOs to
cooperate across sectors to influence donor and government policies and practices
so that foreign aid benefits poor and vulnerable groups. Since beginning, the project
has been able to influence the attitude of the RGC towards NGOs by securing an
important change in the wording of the NSDP update from ‘government ownership’
to ‘country ownership’. It is also working to update the ToR for the TWGs to provide a
clearer role for NGO participation.

Some of the project outputs are as follows:

• The aid allocation and disbursement, with regard to transparency, is monitored

against the poverty reduction goals.

9
 • Cambodian citizens and NGOs are able to hold the donors and government
accountable for the use of aid and development results through TWGs, GDCC,
CDCF, and other fora.

• NGOs in Cambodia have contributed to regional and international advocacy

efforts in regards to the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness and the Accra
Agenda for Action.

Cooperation Committee for Cambodia

The CCC was established in 1990 and plays a major role in engaging NGOs for the
development of Cambodia. Its mission is to act as a professional association of
NGOs, providing high quality services to civil society and influencing Cambodia’s
development partners through a collective voice. The CCC has taken a lead role in on
the aid effectiveness movement and has been working closely with NGOs and CBOs
across the country to promote the principles of the PD and the AAA in order to (a)
build awareness on aid effectiveness; and (b) create opportunities for engagement
and contribution to national debate on policy issues related to aid effectiveness.

The CCC is active not only in the debate and discussions surrounding aid effectiveness
in Cambodia, but also in making a significant contribution at the global level. The
CCC is member of Reality of Aid, Asia Aid Watch Initiatives, Capacity Development
Facility for Development Effectiveness (CDDE), and the Open Forum Global Facilitation
Group (GFG).

Two projects which help to develop an enabling environment for NGO and CBO
capacity development towards their deeper engagement at a policy level are the
NGO Good Governance Project and a series of workshops held over the past year on
aid effectiveness, implemented in partnership with NGO Forum and other partners.

NGO Good Governance Project

In 2004, the CCC established the NGO Good Governance Project (GGP). The goal of
the GGP is to professionalize and strengthen the NGO sector, building public trust and
accountability to stakeholders. A Working Group of NGO representatives developed
a Code of Ethical Principles and Minimum Standards for NGOs in Cambodia. This
Code informs the self-certification process by which NGOs can assess and improve
their performance. Applicant NGOs undergo a process of reviews and those that
are found to be in compliance are awarded a Code of Compliance Certificate. Those
that have not yet met all the standards receive capacity development to help them
improve. The GGP is an important tool in the movement towards aid effectiveness
as it helps NGOs to demonstrate their capacity and willingness to be accountable,
thereby enabling the sector to build a good image on a foundation of public trust.
It is a voluntary process and driven by NGOs themselves. To date 81 NGOs have
applied for certification and 23 have been successful in attaining certification.

10
National Aid Effectiveness Workshops
Between November 2009 and July 2010, the CCC and NGO Forum along with their
partners organized and facilitated a series of workshops to enable constructive
dialogue on the aid effectiveness principles. Five workshops at the sub-national
level led to three high level national workshops attended by NGOs, donors and
government representatives. This series of workshops was supported by partners
including Alliance 2015, the Open Forum for CSO Development Effectiveness, the
Asia Pacific Research Network and UNDP’s Multi-Donor Support Program.

The first national workshop was held on November 20th, 2009. This one-day event
was attended by 130 participants from 108 NGOs operating in 24 provinces. NGOs
were invited to ‘reflect on how they can apply the Paris Declaration principles of aid
effectiveness…’

The second national workshop was held on March 23, 2010. This half-day event
was attended by 66 participants. Thirty-five (35) of these were NGO and CBO
representatives, 22 were development partner representatives and four were
government representatives. NGOs and development partners were asked to
‘reflect how they can cooperate together to apply the Paris Declaration principles for aid
effectiveness...’

The third national workshop, entitled Moving from Aid Effectiveness towards
Development Effectiveness, was held on July 20th to 22nd, 2010. This workshop served
as the culmination of the previous workshops, as well as to inform the participants
on global discussions on the issue. The event was attended by representatives from
68 NGOs and CBOs and on the third day, 18 development partner representatives
and 17 government representatives also joined.

Among the key achievements of the workshops were:

1. Increased awareness of aid effectiveness, development effectiveness and the

challenges of achieving these;

2. An affirmation of the NGOs’ desire to fulfill their role in aid effectiveness as outlined
in the AAA. NGOs want to participate in development planning processes; and
they recognise that their right to participate also comes with responsibilities;.

3. Raised awareness of the Code of Ethics and Minimum Standards of Good

Governance and the accompanying self-certification process available for use
by NGOs in Cambodia;

4. Establishment of strong connections with global debates on aid effectiveness

and development effectiveness which can lead to Cambodian CSOs making a
contribution to forthcoming international debates.

5. Support for further capacity building was actively sought from development
partners and the government.

11
 Furthermore, commitments have been made by all development actors to further the
PD and AAA principles. The RGC has committed to taking NGO recommendations
on development policy and planning into account as well as continuing to coordinate
and support NGOs and other civil society actors in implementing projects at the
sub-national level.

Development partners committed to recognise CBOs and NGOs as important

development actors and to simplify their funding criteria. They also committed to
seek inputs from CBOs and NGOs on effective civil society engagement.

NGOs pledged commitment to continue the discussions on appropriate guidelines,

indicators and mechanisms for securing development effectiveness and to continue
to advocate for an enabling environment, a stronger voice and greater capacity.

Another outcome of the workshop series was the contribution to the global debate
on the issue. A summary report of the experiences and recommendations of all
actors was prepared and presented in Istanbul in September 2010.

Achievements
Significant achievements have been made towards building awareness of aid
effectiveness issues in Cambodia and to work towards an enabling environment for
NGO participation in national level policy dialogue. Over 600 people participated
in formal discussions on aid effectiveness through the workshop series and more
NGOs are now more aware of the PD and AAA principles. NGOs have developed
their own capacity both in terms of their own governance through the GGP, but also
in order to be able to engage in development policy and national policy dialogues.
The NGO sector in Cambodia is gradually growing stronger as it professionalizes
and develops capacity and confidence to engage in high level policy dialogue.

CSOs have increased their membership in some Technical Working Groups and
have developed the capacity to make contributions in some of these (RBMG/VBNK,
2010). With the support of NGO Forum, more CBOs have attempted to contribute
to the drafting of the NSDP, although this engagement is still limited. Collectively,
the Cambodian NGO sector has been able to engage globally in the dialogue on
CSO development effectiveness with the submission of a report to the CSO Global
Assembly at Istanbul, Turkey in September, 2010.

However, at the March, 2010 dialogue, CSOs expressed the opinion that they do
not yet feel sufficiently included as real partners with government and development
partners in multi-stakeholder efforts to translate aid effectiveness into practice. The
prevailing view of government respondents to the online survey is that key CSOs
have been provided with opportunities to engage government representatives and
development partners at all levels of the aid policy dialogue and in the development of
national and sector strategies through aid coordination mechanisms ranging from the
CDCF, GDCC to the TWGs. Development partner respondents, however, were divided
in their views, recognizing on the one hand that space has been created for CSOs

12
to have their voices heard, but that they are not as fully engaged as they could be in
some sectors and in some TWGs, most notably in the rural development sector.

Conclusions
NGO Forum and CCC have been very active in promoting dialogue on aid and
development effectiveness in Cambodia. This has led to more awareness of the issue
on the part of NGOs in Cambodia, particularly through the recent series of workshops.
As a result NGOs are eager to fulfill their role and to participate in national level
development and policy planning in order to ensure the voice of civil society is included.
NGOs also have a mechanism, the GGP, through which to improve their organisational
practices and prove their commitment to good governance, thereby strengthening
their position as valuable and responsible representatives of civil society.

Also importantly, with the support of CCC and NGO Forum, there has been significantly
more coordinated NGO effort at the national level (RBMG/VBNK, 2010). NGOs have
been more actively engaged in aid policy development dialogue, participating in
TWGs and making recommendations on sectoral development planning through line
Ministries. However, the process for such NGO input is not yet fully developed as
there is little dialogue or feedback on inputs. This is being addressed by the efforts
of NGO Forum’s Aid Effectiveness Project.

Overall, however, scrutiny over government-donor relations by Cambodian citizens

remains weak. While there is some NGO engagement in the Technical Working Groups
(TWGs), NGO influence is still small, and most donor-government processes are
heavily geared towards meeting donor requirements for accountability to their own
taxpayers. There are no significant opportunities for Cambodian citizens, CSOs, the
National Assembly, media and other stakeholders to hold donors and government to
account for ensuring that aid money is used to benefit the Cambodian poor (NGO
Forum, 2010).

NGO Forum and CCC are looking beyond aid effectiveness and moving towards
development effectiveness. This requires both agencies, along with their partners,
to move the dialogue beyond the policy level to the process and implementation of
aid to ensure the ultimate goal of poverty alleviation is met.

References

Cooperation Committee for Cambodia, NGO Forum, MEDiCAM, (2010), Coventry, L. (ed) Moving from Aid
Effectiveness to Development Effectiveness.

Cambodia Rehabilitiation and Development Board, The Cambodia Aid Effectiveness Report, May 2010.

Rasmussen, K., (2010) NGO Contributions to Cambodia’s Development 2004-2009.

UNDP (2010), Civil Society Empowerment and Democratic Governance in Cambodia, Draft Final Version,
September 2009.

VBNK, RBMG (2010), Cambodia Country Study Report, Phase Two Evaluation of the Paris Declaration.

13
 Cameroon

Introduction

C ameroon is a Central African country with an estimated population of nearly 19.5

million. The country faces significant development challenges with fifty percent
(50%) of the population living on less than USD2 a day and life expectancy of only
51 years of age. However, having one of the highest literacy rates in Africa and an
increasingly growing base of civil society organizations (CSOs) give it hope for the
future. (www.data.worldbank.org)

In October 2000, Cameroon became eligible for debt relief under the Heavily Indebted
Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative. Qualification for debt relief is dependent on the
successful implementation of the Poverty Reduction Strategy agreed with donors.
Following significant efforts, Cameroon achieved Completion Point in April 2006 and
is now eligible for debt relief, enhancing its chance for sustainable growth and a
significant reduction of poverty. The government however, will need to continue its
efforts in transparent governance and fighting corruption. (www.dfid.gov.uk)

Regional and Country-level Processes

In the follow-up to the Paris Declaration (PD) and the implementation of the Accra
Agenda for Action (AAA), several international processes of CSO-led consultations
were put in place. Two of these are the BetterAid initiative to capacitate CSOs on the
aid effectiveness agenda, and the Open Forum workshop to come up with principles
and mechanisms for CSO development effectiveness. At the regional level, similar
initiatives developed, one of which was a regional workshop on aid effectiveness
with CSOs from countries in Central Africa.

The workshop, facilitated by IBON and Reality of Aid (RoA) from 30 November
to 2 December 2009, in Yaounde, Cameroon, was attended by 62 participants
representing 53 CSOs from five of the region’s countries, namely, Cameroon, the
Republic of Central Africa, Rwanda, Burundi and Chad. One CSO from Nigeria was
also represented. Representatives from the Cameroonian Ministry of Finance and
Ministry on Economy and Planning as well as the donor community represented by the
European Commission, European Union, German Agency for International Cooperation
14
(GIZ) and the Embassy of France participated in the multi-stakeholder workshop.

This meeting resulted in three significant outcomes: (1) the establishment of a sub-
regional civil society network on aid effectiveness in Central Africa; (2) the formation
of a national CSO network on aid effectiveness named AID GROUP Cameroon; and
(3) the drafting of national CSO country plans.

The sub-regional civil society network on aid effectiveness in Central Africa is

coordinated by the Collectif des ONG pour la Securite Alimentaire et le Developpement
Rural (COSADER), a national network of Cameroon CSOs focusing on advocacy,
capacity building and research on the themes of food sovereignty, economic
development, aid effectiveness, human rights and governance. Focal points in
five countries in the region were identified and are expected to make updated
information on aid and development effectiveness available to national and regional
CSO platforms. COSADER was also recently invited as member to the Reality of
Aid-Africa.

As lead convener for the Central African network of CSOs, COSADER participated
in a regional seminar on CSO development effectiveness. The seminar, held in
Nairobi, Kenya, was organized by the All-African Council of Churches (AACC)
which is the focal point for the Open Forum (OF) process for African CSOs. The
seminar brought together organizations from all regions of Africa. COSADER was
then chosen to host the first of 17 national consultations that took place across the
continent. The recognition of COSADER and the AID GROUP as key actors on aid
effectiveness issues also earned them an invitation to participate in the first General
Assembly of the Open Forum for CSO Development Effectiveness, from 28 to 30
September 2010, in Istanbul, Turkey. The Open Forum Global Assembly concluded
in the adoption of the Istanbul Principles of Development Effectiveness which was
based on the results of almost 50 country consultations. Incidentally, the Istanbul
Principles reflect all eight principles of CSO development effectiveness proposed by
Cameroon.

National CSO Initiatives

On 22-23 April 2008, and in the run up to the Third High Level Forum (HLF3) in Accra
in September 2008, Cameroon’s civil societies organized a national consultation
on its role in the implementation of the PD. This marked the first effective multi-
stakeholder dialogue on aid effectiveness that included representatives from the
government, development partners, CSOs, parliamentarians and the private sector.
This consultation became the avenue for scaling-up the engagement of CSOs in
Cameroon with the purpose of sharing information and promoting best practices
within civil society. The results of this meeting contributed to the formation of a civil
society platform on aid effectiveness.

In late 2009, the AID GROUP Cameroon was formed following the result of the
Central Africa CSO Workshop and Multi-Stakeholder Consultations. COSADER took
the responsibility as secretariat for this national platform. The AID GROUP was

15
 a response to the call for CSOs to work together and advocate for an enabling
environment for CSO engagement in the aid agenda in Cameroon. The core group
of AID GROUP Cameroon is composed of ten diverse national CSO networks,
ranging from Les Jeudi de Cotonou, a network working on the African, Caribbean and
Pacific Group of States-European Union (ACP-EU) partnership policy, to FEMNET,
focusing on gender advocacy.

The structure of the national platform is also replicated at the regional/sub-national

level. Regional/sub-national CSO focal points were assigned to facilitate awareness,
ensure broad participation of CSOs and to bring forward the issues of the regions
to the capital. The focal points assigned in the regions are also networks of CSOs
representing the 10 regions of Cameroon: Coastal and southwest regions, West and
the North-West regions, Eastern, Central and South regions, Adamaoua, the North
and the far North regions.

AID GROUP Cameroon intends to strengthen the capacity of CSOs to enable them
to actively participate in the implementation processes of the PD and AAA at the
country-level. The CSO country plan developed by this platform during the Central
Africa Regional Consultations was built upon the realization of five goals, to wit:

a. Promote the PD and AAA process to national CSOs;

b. Adoption of principles of CSO development effectiveness in intervention

strategies by making use of toolkits, national consultations and seminars;

c. Conduct independent monitoring of public policies with respect to aid

effectiveness’

d. Integrate CSOs into frameworks and mechanisms for multi-stakeholder

consultations; and

e. Coordinate CSOs effectively through the promotion of local, national and

international networks.

CSO Consultations
On August 2010, the AID GROUP network held the first of a series of CSO
consultations held throughout 2010. This First Restitution Workshop was held in
Yaounde, participated in by 21 representatives of CSOs from the Central Region,
and which resulted in the validation, improvement and a commitment to play an
active role in the implementation of AID GROUP Cameroon’s action plan. The women
representatives advocated for gender to be seriously considered in the action plan,
and suggested the initiation of a gender-led analysis of the data collected from AID
GROUP’s planned researches. The youth representatives committed themselves to
identify existing dialogue mechanisms in various government ministries and to link with
CSOs that are represented in those mechanisms. Another strong recommendation
from this Restitution Workshop was the conduct of an independent monitoring of PD
and AAA by AID GROUP Cameroon. 

16
A Restitution Workshop for the West and North West Regions of Cameroon was
organized in October 2010 to deepen the involvement of CSOs in this region on the
national aid agenda. This workshop revealed that a broad section of the participants
had never heard of the PD. This fact reveals the shocking truth about how inclusive
the process has been made to CSOs in the country, and stresses the importance
of international, regional and local CSO consultations, workshops and trainings that
ensure CSO capacity to participate and contribute to real aid effectiveness. The
CSOs indicated their commitments to reflect around sectoral issues in line with the
national policies in Cameroon to generate useful information from the local to the
national level which will hopefully fit into the national consultations in preparation for
the Fourth High Level Forum in Busan in 2011. Major sectors of interest raised at the
regional restitution included gender health, youth and inter sector dialogues.

AID GROUP Cameroon is currently mobilizing resources to reach the other regions
and help increase awareness on aid effectiveness issues and build the agenda of
the national CSO platform.

AID GROUP Cameroon’s persistence in promoting CSO involvement in the PD and

AAA processes and broad aid effectiveness has resulted in significant outcomes.
CSOs are now actively involved and contribute to the improvement of national
processes. AID GROUP has been actively engaged on gender-budget tracking.
Working with the UN, AID GROUP has also impacted significantly in the monitoring
of the public budget and strengthened its contribution to the development of
women’s organizations. Public finance reform is another arena where AID GROUP’s
presence has been fruitful. AID GROUP’s involvement has contributed to reforms
by the Ministry of Finance for the public finance sector as a direct response to curb
corruption and to efficiently allocate funds for development projects. Taking steps
further, AID GROUP has been closely engaged with the Ministry of Finance to assist
in the final stages of the public finance reform agenda and communication strategy
to reflect CSO critiques and recommendations. The AID GROUP is also included in
the process of harmonization and alignment facilitated by the comité multi bailleurs
(multi-donors committee). Recently, GIZ supported AID GROUP to conduct a
seminar for CSO sharing of experiences and information. GIZ has also supported
AID GROUP in its participation in dialogue mechanisms and the implementation of
the CSO evaluation of the PD.

Monitoring Aid
Acknowledging its role as CSO actor and medium, COSADER and AID GROUP have
been invited by the government and donor community to join the second phase of
the country level evaluation (CLE 2) of the PD. AID GROUP was able to assert the
role of CSOs in national processes and present the work that CSOs in Cameroon
have done in the area of aid effectiveness. While the inclusion of COSADER and
AID GROUP are a welcome step forward, there is broad recognition that still a lot
more has to be accomplished for a real participatory process that will ensure full
aid effectiveness. For example, the official results of the CLE2 showed very little

17
 progress in the poverty, unemployment and infant and maternal mortality indicators
in Cameroon.1 The results were aggravated by the fact that recent data was not
available to inform the official evaluation.

These gaps have compelled AID GROUP to carry out a similar evaluation from the
CSO perspective, focusing on the principles of mutual accountability and ownership.
Additional resource for the implementation of the research was provided by GIZ.
The research was concluded last December 2010 and AID GROUP plans to share the
outcomes with donors and government when opportunities arise.

Aside from monitoring the implementation of the PD, AID GROUP, through the Contrat
de désendettement-développement (C2D), also tracked French aid from 2007 to the
present. Results of their monitoring provided insights on the inadequate effort placed
on harmonizing and aligning of the French Government program with the Cameroon
development agenda. The monitoring results also reflect the geopolitical intentions
of the French Government as French aid is only concentrated in the francophone
regions of Cameroon.

Perspectives and Ways Forward

Although CSO engagement is reflected in national processes, there is still plenty
that needs to be done in order for CSOs to contribute more effectively in the
implementation of PD and AAA.

There are still impediments that prevent the full participation of CSOs in national and
regional processes. For instance, there are still issues of the biased selection of
CSOs in the national processes and dialogues, issue with foreign donors who are
unwilling to harmonize and align their programs, and access to information that is
still limited to few CSOs. There are also issues on the continuing marginalization of
women and persons with disabilities. There are also questions of capacities of CSOs
to engage in advocacy work and research.

For 2011, AID GROUP is pushing for the establishment of independent monitoring of
aid which will include other ODA-funded programs. It also wants to continue with its
research, particularly on the impact of French and British aid in the country. In terms
of consolidating CSO efforts, AID GROUP is planning to make its presence more
visible in the Central African region, facilitating discussions and bringing forth the
issues and agenda of CSOs in Central Africa to the regional and continental process.

1
The results of the PD2 Evaluation were presented during the National Dialogue on PD and AAA at Yaounde
on January 18-19, 2011. The presentation was based on the unpublished document, Evaluation 2010 de
la Declaration de Paris et du Programme d’Action d’Accra Synthese du Rapport du Gouvernement.

18
Ecuador

I
n spite of the increase of Official Development Aid (ODA) in real terms in 2008,
this contribution has been insufficient to win the fight against poverty and to
achieve a sustainable impact on development. This insufficient volume of aid has
been accompanied by insufficient effectiveness of aid that was intended to improve
with the Paris Declaration (PD).

In Ecuador, taking into account that the country has reflected on the basic principles
of the PD for its new policy on international cooperation, it has become extremely
important that the development-oriented civil society organizations (CSOs) are
included in the process of reflection, debate and redefinition of aid effectiveness,
development effectiveness and CSO development effectiveness.

The different CSOs in Ecuador convened to participate actively in a process of

mutual learning through several meetings and workshops.

State Planning and Development Cooperation

The new policies of international development cooperation in Ecuador, approved
in November 2008 were determined based on the principles in the PD. It should
be emphasized that this new policy of international development cooperation was
framed within the new regime of development, formed by the new Constitution
of 2008, the National Development Plan (NDP) 2007-2010 and the new regional
financial architecture with three axes: the creation of a regional development bank
(Banco Sur), a common reserve fund and a regional monetary agreement with the
purpose of achieving macroeconomic sustainability.

The NDP significantly bannered a development paradigm, buen vivir (“good living”)
– or sumak kawsay in the local indigenous language, Kichwa – as enshrined in the
Constitution. It defined new policies on priority development sectors such as human
development, enterprise development, environment, territorial development and
emergency/disaster management. At the national level, the Agencia de Cooperacion
Internacional (AGECI) and the Secretaría Nacional de Planificación y Desarrollo
(SENPLADES) coordinated the implementation of the NDP.

To implement the NDP and actualize development cooperation meant combining the
forces of different stakeholders and establishing a feedback process and constant

19
 dialogue among CSOs, the agencies of international cooperation and government
entities. This also necessitated an increase in the participation of national NGOs
and other CSOs and community beneficiaries.

One such arena was in the implementation of the PD in the country. To help address
the tendency to reduce the PD to a merely technocratic exercise, an important task
for Ecuadorian CSOs was to develop their political capacity and technique to guide
processes that would reinforce the construction of a new aid architecture based on
the right to the development.

Furthering Civil Society Involvement at Local, National,

Regional and International Levels
One of the more active national CSOs engaging in national development agenda and
processes is the CIUDAD Centro de Investigaciones, a non-government, non-profit
institution that seeks to realize the right to live well in the city, in just and democratic
conditions. It promotes the debate on urban and regional problems, the development
of critical thinking, the formulation of alternative policy for local management and
the strengthening of social and institutional actors. Towards these goals, CIUDAD’s
main areas of work are (1) research on the problems and the dynamics of Ecuadorian
and Latin American urban reality; (2) capacity building of CSOs, social organizations,
local governments and political leaders; (3) intervention, technical advice and
microcredit for housing; and (4) communication and dissemination.

CIUDAD also currently coordinates the Observatorio de la Cooperacion al Desarollo en

el Ecuador. The Observatorio offers a tool to serve Ecuadorian civil society, a space
for meeting, training and coordination of activities of social actors in the field of
public policy related to international development cooperation in Ecuador. It is an
informal space targeting to publicize and consolidate information on cooperation
and to promote actions that will improve civil society participation in the field of the
analysis and decisions on foreign aid.

At the international level, CIUDAD optimized its participation in several global and
regional events in Bogota, Colombia, from 22-25 March 2010. The first in the series
was the meeting of the Reality of Aid (RoA) Latin America where CSO participants
discussed the principles and critique on south-south cooperation; updates on the
Venezuela-Cuba relations were also taken up, being a critical occurrence in the region.

Together with other observatorios in Latin America, CIUDAD took part in another
meeting of the directors and/or coordinators of the observatorios on international
development cooperation (centros de observación a la cooperación internacional al
desarrollo).

Another meeting took place among the international CSO delegates and Colombian
CSOs regarding the London-Cartagena-Bogota process. This meeting also included
a presentation by the Observatorio de la Cooperación Internacional de La Alianza on the
status and methodologies of its work, including the challenges encountered in terms

20
of availability, accessibility and accuracy of information and in terms of the value
added by a CSO-managed observatorio.

The following activity was a forum on south-south cooperation and the participation
of CSOs. This meeting was jointly convened with the Directorate of International
Cooperation of Colombia.

The culmination of this series of activities and meetings was the High Level Event on
South-South Cooperation hosted by the government of Colombia.

At the regional level, CIUDAD and the Observatorio participated in the Latin American
CSO consultation workshop and multi-stakeholder consultation on aid effectiveness,
organized by IBON/RoA and the Asociacion LatinoAmericana de Organizaciones
de Promocion al Desarollo (ALOP), and carried out last August 2009 in the city of
Medellín in Colombia. This workshop was a follow-up to the CSO meetings carried
out in Managua, Nicaragua, and La Paz, Bolivia, in October 2007, where there were
discussions on the challenges for the civil society with regard to the debate on
official development aid and the implementation of the PD. These meetings aimed
to foment the exchange and communication among the CSOs at the regional and
global levels towards effecting a change in the behavior and relationships of donors
and partner countries.

At the national level, similar CSO processes took place: In December 2009, a meeting
of 12 CSO representatives was convened by CIUDAD in Quito, with the agenda of
deepening awareness and analysis on the PD and Accra Agenda for Action (AAA)
and the role assigned to CSOs. An important discussion was on the initiatives and
proposals from CSOs in promoting aid effectiveness and development effectiveness
even as the Decree 9821 was in effect. Broad agreements included the creation
of a national CSO platform that will lead in the agenda on aid and development
effectiveness. Other subjects that provoked reaction and further discussion from
the participants were on the buen vivir plan, the AGECI process, south-south
cooperation and financing for development, among others. While being active in
the national front, the CSOs also intended to practice responsible participation and
explore the implications of international summits on national development and on
CSOs in the country.

In April 2010, CIUDAD convened once more over 20 CSO representatives and
development partners to discuss the agenda of CSO development effectiveness,
including the context and preparations for a national consultation on the subject. In
this meeting, a representative from the IBON/RoA presented and shared the context
of the country outreach work of the BetterAid platform towards helping broaden the
participation of CSOs in the debate and process of PD and AAA implementation in
the country. The CSOs in attendance actively engaged in the discussions on the
themes proposed by CIUDAD for further policy discussion and advocacy: the buen
vivir development model; the role of CSOs in the new public policy; transparency and
accountability among CSOs; and relations among CSOs north-south and south-
south, national and international, and with government and donors.

21
 In November 2010, a meeting was conducted among the international cooperation
offices of provincial governments and local actors in aid and development
effectiveness. The meeting was organized by the Consortio de Consejos Provinciales
del Ecuador (CONCOPE) and the Observatorio to analyze the role of decentralized
autonomous provincial governments and other local actors present in the territory,
such as CSOs, in aid and development effectiveness. This initiative was in relation
to the country-level implementation of the PD and the AAA. In the meeting, aid
and development effectiveness were discussed to reflect on the contribution of the
different actors and the management of international cooperation at the decentralized
level. Different stakeholders participated at this meeting including, CSOs, provincial
officials and development cooperation units and development partners.

Localizing Development Cooperation

It is worth noting that officials of local provincial governments raised issues and
challenges related to international development cooperation and the participation
of CSOs. The development cooperation offices of several provincial governments
shared that in the past, funds from international cooperation were separately managed
by program implementers; in such practice, the project resources were mostly spent
on the payment of personnel costs. As a response, one province implemented a
scheme in which the local government directly managed international cooperation.
This mode was perceived as strengthening the local governments and bridging the
gaps between international cooperation and the grassroots communities.

Another difficulty of the decentralized autonomous governments was that intervention

through programs and projects of development cooperation did not correspond with
the diverse local indigenous cultures. An emerging response was to undertake a new
form of international aid collaboration that works with communities and the local
governments. One province produced a manual for the management of international
cooperation that involves the different actors and their processes and mechanisms
for action.

Other issues raised by the local government representatives were the lack of
documentation of international cooperation, unorganized citizens’ participation in
some provinces, and the lack of articulation of local governments in international
discussions and platforms, among others.

To partly address these difficulties while supporting greater citizens’ participation,

the local government representatives expressed that international cooperation
should employ all the efforts required to effectively reach grassroots organizations.
Capacity building and networking were also identified as key strategies. In the
discussions and interventions, capacity building would include broadening the
space for funding opportunities and learning more about funders and their respective
lines of action. Networking efforts should include building relationship with the
Secretaria Tecnica de Cooperacion Internacional (SETECI) especially with respect to
monitoring and evaluating the impacts of interventions. Other recommended actions
for local governments to take were planning for the international action of local
22
governments; greater involvement of sub-national sectors in the international arena;
and decentralization and the recognition of the territory as a development actor. In
some cases, decentralization motivated local governments to seek resources from
other types of actors, including international cooperation.

Challenges for CSOs

For CIUDAD as well as for many other Ecuadorian CSOs that involve themselves
in creating and broadening the space for CSOs in the country’s development
processes, several questions may need to be discussed and addressed: one is the
question of continuing and intensifying civil society initiatives to link international
advocacy work and international development cooperation (including south-south
cooperation) with local development processes. With the representation of CSOs
such as CIUDAD in international, regional and national debates and advocacies,
there is a wealth of knowledge, information and capacities that can be disseminated
for more local development processes.

This would entail greater mobilization and capacity building of grassroots organizations
and other CSOs so that they can more critically participate in the planning and policy
development of national and local governments as well as of technical and financial
partners.

Particular to the Observatorio, the CSOs involved in this project, coordinated by

CIUDAD, may build on and disseminate research on international development
cooperation as it impacts on aid and development effectiveness, at both the national
and local/territorial levels.

References

Eficacia de la ayuda, del desarrollo y de las OSC – una posible agenda para Ecuador (Documento de trabajo),
Gabriela Weber, Ciudad Centro de Investigaciones.

Report on the Latin America Civil Society Regional Workshop and Multi-stakeholder Consultation on Aid
Effectiveness, Reality of Aid.

Endnotes

1
Decree No. 982, issued by President Rafael Correa in March 2008, was seen by CSOs as tightening Ecuador’s
law governing NGOs. Among other restrictions, the decree authorized the Government to dissolve an NGO
on discretionary grounds such as “compromising … the interests of the State;” to demand virtually unlimited
information from an NGO; and to post the names of every member of all registered NGOs on a publicly
accessible website. Ecuadoran NGOs have lobbied for changes to the laws and regulations governing their
activities. They have developed a united statement asserting their rights to engage on matters of public
policy and stating their concerns about the Decree along with recommendations for reform.

23
 Kyrgyzstan

Aid effectiveness and CSOs: the Experience of the Forum of

Women’s NGOs of Kyrgyzstan

K yrgyzstan civil society organisations (CSOs) include diverse organisations of

different sizes and thematic interests from across the country. As such, they
operate in very different circumstances, engage in varied development programs,
projects and advocacies, and have roots in various communities and sectors
including women, youth and children, rural communities and others.

Coalition of CSOs on Aid Effectiveness

One of these organizations is the Forum of Women’s NGOs of Kyrgyzstan (FWNGO).
The FWNGO started its work on aid effectiveness in 2007, and in 2008, it initiated a
coalition of CSO networks on aid effectiveness with well-known NGOs in Kyrgyzstan:
Citizens against Corruption, Association of Centers for support to civil society
organizations and Osh Media Resource Center. The coalition has now expanded
and includes more than twenty (20) organizations from various sectors and based in
different provinces of the country.

FWNGO worked not only in Kyrgyzstan but also in other parts of Central Asia
where it attracted other CSOs for joint work for bettering aid and also to ensure
meaningful participation by CSOs in the Accra High Level Forum follow-up and AAA
implementation.

Start of the Long Road for Partnership

If the first actions were initiated by the FWNGO to raise awareness among CSOs on
aid effectiveness, the follow-up actions were done under the auspices of the new
informal coalition on aid effectiveness. FWNGO started its work on aid effectiveness

24
through its national and international advocacy and lobbying for inclusion and
integration of gender equality issues in the aid effectiveness agenda. Meaningful
participation of women’s organizations was key to ensure that the voices, concerns
and proposals of women were taken into account.

Forms of Engagement of the Forum of Women’s NGOs of

Kyrgyzstan (FWNGO)
Being a women’s organization, FWNGO started its aid effectiveness engagement
through the gender equality lens, with focus on women’s rights in aid effectiveness.
Further engagement was inspired by the chance to start creating inclusive dialogues,
discuss aid effectiveness for development results, integrate collective CSOs’ voice
and recommendations into PD and AAA evaluations and to ensure that human rights,
women’s rights and gender equality were part of the aid effectiveness agenda. CSOs
decided to set up a sustainable mechanism of consultation and cooperation for this.

Engagement varied from CSO awareness building towards monitoring and advocating
for the widening of the ownership principle and the implementation of PD and AAA
commitments by different actors. The longer-term objectives of such engagement
were to institutionalize policy dialogue spaces, strengthen the enabling environment for
partnership, advance the CSO effectiveness process, and promote democratic ownership
processes. Thus, the coalition participated in and organized CSO consultations on aid
effectiveness issues, translated and disseminated international CSOs’ position paper on
ownership, held an Open Forum on issues of CSOs’ own effectiveness as development
actors, held trainings for CSOs on capacity building actions, and performed monitoring
work. Diverse communication mechanisms were used.

Engagement with decision-makers in the state and donors’ bodies took various
forms of work such as advocacy and lobbying and organizing of debates, dialogues
and round table discussions among CSOs and diverse stakeholders. These were
intended to bring to their attention such concerns as gender equality, human rights,
democratic ownership and mutual accountability.

Through these actions, CSOs have made their voices heard and have increased the
importance of their role in the aid effectiveness dialogue. However, there have not
yet been much success in setting up a working mechanism for real partnership for
development. For instance, in promoting equal participation in the monitoring of
official development aid (ODA), CSOs have been working on their own capacity with
minimum support from the State or donors.

A crucial element in the work of the CSOs was the engagement of international CSOs in
the aid process. Without political and practical spaces and links with the international
advocacy of CSOs, the level of the CSOs’ local work on effectiveness would have
been lower. To illustrate: the local CSOs were able to deepen their analysis of such
issues as modalities of aid effectiveness reform, the AAA implementation and the role
of local CSOs in the process of development and improving aid effectiveness during

25
 the regional Central Asian CSOs and multi-stakeholders’ consultation workshop1
conducted in October 2008 in partnership with experienced organizations such as
IBON International and the Reality of Aid (ROA) Network.

Substance of Engagement – ODA and Aid Effectiveness in

Kyrgyzstan: Issues of CSOs’ Concerns
It is clear that visible poverty reduction, increased gender equality, fully practiced
human rights, social justice and ecological sustainability should be major results and
measures of the aid effectiveness process, but without pressure from the CSOs,
these are not possible to achieve. Issues of corruption, debt, rising prices and a
highly formal approach to gender equality remain as challenges to development.
Apart from these, there are other more specific issues in ensuring more effective
CSO action for aid and development effectiveness.

Transparency and Accountability

The mutual accountability mechanism is under construction and the local CSOs
worked for this to be open, transparent and regular, with real room for citizens’
participation. Since 2008, there has been progress but the pace has shown how
slow commitments to ‘mutual accountability’ are being met. It has only been CSOs
who have initiated actions to broaden transparency and accountability; no State nor
donors’ initiatives have taken place.

In fact, in the first aid effectiveness meetings, CSOs in Kyrgyzstan agreed that the
function of a new multi-stakeholder mechanism should be to hold governments
and donors to account. Such mechanisms have been developed under strong CSO
pressure. During the 2010 communication process, the coalition of CSOs on aid
effectiveness had difficulties obtaining information from the state and donors, such
as their country plans on AAA implementation or at least the preliminary results of the
evaluation of PD and AAA implementation in Kyrgyzstan. The CSOs, for their part,
shared the matrix they used for monitoring AAA implementation.

Recommendations from CSOs stressed that (a) all aid effectiveness and country
development strategy reports related to aid should be published and made available
to the public, and (b) the government should make regular reports to the National
Parliament. The creation of councils on development at various levels in the country
was also posed as a possible segment of the transparency and accountability
mechanism, with an aim to control aid effectiveness and AAA implementation. Such
councils should include CSOs as members.

1
The workshop entitled, �����������������������������������������������������������������������������
“Aid effectiveness: further actions on aid effectiveness and AAA implementa�
tion”, was held in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.

26
Gender Equality in Aid and Development Effectiveness
The FWNGO clearly has seen and challenged the lack of prioritization, synchronization
and proper allocation of resources for gender equality. Gender equality has not
been financially recognized in the Kyrgyzstan Country Development Strategy as a
development goal. The FWNGO made numerous efforts to address the lack of
gender equality in official aid processes and the lack of working mechanisms to
channel CSOs’ concerns on women’s rights into official development projects and
programs.

Official development assistance has not been geared to strengthen gender equality,
social justice and human rights in Kyrgyzstan. After the Fourth High Level Forum
(HLF4) in Accra in 2008, there were no policy changes with regard to the development
of women as a disadvantaged group in the country. In Kyrgyzstan and Central Asia,
initiatives to promote women’s health, women’s participation in political processes,
reduction of poverty among women and the struggle with violence against women
have not enjoyed an enabling environment.

At the multi-stakeholders’ meeting of the Open Forum country consultation on CSO

development effectiveness held last April 2010 in Bishkek, neither the State nor the
donors were ready to share their AAA action plans, because such action plans to
implement AAA commitments do not exist in reality in Kyrgyzstan. The local CSOs
have tried to put gender equality and human rights issues in the ODA agenda, with
little success, and have even made an issue of joint multi-stakeholders’ discussion
and revisiting country development priorities.

The CSOs have also been struggling to stop the practice of funding women’s rights and
gender equality programs through the international system, for example, the UN. The
women’s CSOs are advocating for a gender equality State Plan being funded by ODA
through the state budget, leading to a stronger national gender equality machinery.

Issues of Ownership
One of the participants in a CSO meeting said, “We don’t have any influence over
donors and their funding, but without civil society, the donors are nothing. It has
already been five years since the Paris Declaration, but nothing has changed. We
need to go back to our villages and tell the people about the Accra Agenda for Action.”

One of the effective ways to increase CSOs’ ownership over aid effectiveness in the
country is to create an effective and relevant independent monitoring and evaluation
system of the Paris Declaration and the AAA and their impact on development
outcomes. To be able to do this, a training workshop was held in October 2010 for
CSOs from various sectors and provinces on the basics of aid and on the matrix of
indicators to monitor PD and AAA. In this activity, participants from the state and
donor agencies were invited to discuss a new multi-stakeholder mechanism that
would increase the voice and consider the recommendations of CSOs to direct ODA
towards poverty eradication and the promotion of human rights.

27
 CSOs and Issues of Enabling Environment
The CSO coalition under the leadership of the FWNGO of Kyrgyzstan started to
advocate for the strengthening of the enabling environment for partnership.
Creating or improving the enabling environment for partnership was noted by CSOs
as an area for joint action by all stakeholders. It was envisioned to include the
development of CSOs’ capacity as partners in the promotion of aid effectiveness,
in AAA implementation and in other aid and development-related processes. This
would also include the CSOs’ capacity to engage the state and donors in PD and
AAA implementation and monitoring, analyze aid effectiveness and development
effectiveness, broaden CSOs’ awareness on PD and AAA, and finally, strengthen
CSOs’ own effectiveness.

Apparently, the role and plans of the donors for contributing to the enabling
environment for partnership with CSOs were not clear even to the state and donors
themselves, despite their commitments in the AAA. To help improve this situation,
the CSO coalition on aid effectiveness has been undertaking different ways and
means for the effective involvement and participation of CSO representatives in the
country teams on aid monitoring and other relevant groups. The CSOs have also
been employing various modes to integrate their recommendations into the country
aid and AAA implementation and evaluation processes.

In relation to an enabling environment for CSOs working in the aid agenda, the key
challenges identified by CSOs are the following: the existing level of legislation
related to CSOs (e.g., laws governing NGOs, laws on peaceful assemblies, on
religion, on TV and radio); selectiveness or favoritism in working with or partnering
with CSOs; pressure related to the activities of CSOs; official decision-making
without taking into account the opinions and recommendations from CSOs; false
understanding of charity; lack of resources and of information about CSOs among
donors and the state; lack of trust on CSOs by business; and lack of tax benefits for
businesses that support CSOs.

Challenges Faced
At another level, the challenges faced by CSOs in their advocacy for better aid in the
country include the lack or difficulty of access to country donors’ and state bodies’
information on aid processes and results. Another challenge is for CSOs to ensure
that their voice and their recommendations are substantially reflected in the PD and
AAA evaluation, to stress the focus on human rights, women’s rights and gender
equality and ecological sustainability. To overcome these challenges, the CSOs are
creating a multi-stakeholders’ communication and partnership mechanism, which
still has to be realized. One of the steps is the involvement of CSO representatives
in the country’s aid monitoring team.

28
More strategically, there is a need to continue an awareness raising process on
the PD and AAA in the country for CSOs. This is coupled with the need to intensify
the capacity development of CSOs to enable them to work effectively as partners
in this process. An asset or positive side of the CSO coalition is its wide links with
grassroots organisations and NGOs in the country. But despite continuous efforts
to broaden the space for CSOs, the implementation of PD and AAA in the country
has not substantially changed the access to and availability of information, has
not really strengthened the enabling environment for CSOs, and has not improved
accountability and transparency from a CSO perspective. Development results –
which CSOs are looking for – are not visible and aid results are still a mystery to CSOs.
CSOs’ efforts play a crucial role to make governments and donors accountable and
transparent, to reach real democratic ownership of ODA. Challenges confronting
CSOs in Kyrgyzstan for making aid more effective and development results-oriented
require complex measures from all stakeholders, including the State and donors.
The CSO coalition on aid effectiveness in Kyrgyzstan also plans to work with local
governments and the Parliament to strengthen democratic ownership. The work of
CSOs towards strengthening comprehensive partnership mechanisms for making aid
better will continue.

Where We are Now

While ODA is still blind and non-sensitive to the voice of CSOs, the consolidation
of CSOs, under the leadership of the FWNGO of Kyrgyzstan, for bettering aid and
making development effective has led to a stronger civil society formation and
greater awareness on aid and development issues. The CSOs are exerting efforts to
optimise broad stakeholders’ policy dialogues on the implementation and review of
the PD and AAA to make aid more transparent in the short term, and to bring a better
life for poor people in the long term.

29
 Lesotho

Overview of the Aid Situation in Lesotho

The Mountain Kingdom of Lesotho is a landlocked country entirely surrounded by
the Republic of South Africa. It is a small country with a population of 2,067,000 and
a land area of 30,355 km2. Lesotho is one of the Least Developed Countries in the
world, and is hampered by the AIDS epidemic, diaspora, malnutrition and decreasing
government revenues.

Lesotho’s economy is dependent on remittances from miners working in neighboring

South Africa and on customs duties from the Southern Africa Customs Union (SACU).
Most of Lesotho’s products are imported, except for diamonds which are exported
to many parts of the world, and water which is sold to South Africa. Majority of the
population’s income is sourced from the agricultural sector – mostly through crop
cultivation or animal husbandry – although droughts have decreased agricultural
activity. There is an extreme gap in terms of income distribution with forty percent
of the population living below the poverty line, subsisting on USD1.25 a day.

The net flow of official development assistance (ODA) to the Kingdom of Lesotho
is on a downward trend. This indicates a hardening of the terms of assistance
to Lesotho, which has adverse effects on the health, education and other basic
sectors. Aid is also hampered by bureaucracy in the government, coupled with
heavy dependence on neighboring South Africa, which does not encourage room
for initiative and innovation. Furthermore, the Government of Lesotho has yet to
establish a national development plan to guide development programmes.

Advocacy for aid reform is limited as the community of active civil society
organizations (CSOs) is small and aid effectiveness advocacy is still in its infancy
stage. However, with the recent implementation of regional and national processes
on aid effectiveness, CSOs in Lesotho are showing increased signs of vigilance and
are starting to engage in the national aid agenda.

Lesotho ratified the Paris Declaration (PD) in 2008 and participated in and endorsed
the Accra Agenda for Action (AAA) as a result of which aid coordination is receiving
increased attention. However, the aid coordination structure requires more investment

30
and an infusion of capacity. Much of aid coordination in the past has taken place
at the sector level led by sector ministries and agencies. Considerable efforts
have been made on the side of the donors in aligning priorities with government
policies. At present, the government is working on its National Development Plan
as a successor to the Poverty Reduction Strategy (PRS), which expired in 2008
(after being extended in 2007). This new plan will provide the basis for the partners’
Country Assistance Programmes.

National Process on Aid Effectiveness

Although Lesotho was a signatory to the PD and AAA, domestic CSOs were only
encouraged to participate in the discussion of the aid agenda during the Southern
Africa Civil Society Regional Workshop and Multi-Stakeholder Consultation on Aid
Effectiveness in September 2009. In this workshop, the Kingdom of Lesotho was
represented by the Economic Justice Network – Lesotho (EJNL), PELUM Lesotho,
Lesotho Council of NGOs and Lesotho Youth Federation. A key result of this workshop
was the development of an indicative CSO plan on aid effectiveness advocacy. The
EJNL was nominated to lead this process at the country level.1

\The work plan on the implementation of the Paris Declaration and AAA in Lesotho
was an attempt to raise the awareness of CSOs in Lesotho on the aid effectiveness
agenda and encourage their active participation in monitoring PD and AAA
implementation. It also aimed to jumpstart tripartite discussion (CSOs, government
and donors) to clarify roles, establish baselines, and develop a framework and road
map for key aid actors in Lesotho. The work plan had three objectives:

1. to establish a well-functioning national platform on aid;

2. to raise the awareness of CSOs and media houses on the aid effectiveness
agenda; and

3. to open dialogues with donors, government ministries, parliamentarians on the

framework for cooperation and roadmap towards aid effectiveness

After the realization that little had been done in Lesotho after the AAA, the first-
of-its-kind dialogue on aid was held in the Kingdom. The National Dialogue on Aid
Effectiveness in Lesotho was hosted by the EJNL from the 29th to the 30th of November
2010, at Maseru Sun Cabanas. Participants represented a variety of stakeholders
that included NGOs, institutions of higher learning, community-based organizations
(CBOs), government officials, media houses, community representatives, political
parties and development partners, bringing the total number of participants to 72.

Prior to the national dialogue, EJNL took the initiative to hold pre-visits to the three
regions in Lesotho. The aim of the pre-visits was to raise awareness on the aid
situation in the country and to work up and encourage the CSOs to participate in the
national process. This process also ensures that issues in the three regions were
included in the national discussions.

31
 This bold move from the CSOs reverberated to the capital and reached national
agencies and the donor community. The Office of the Ministry of Finance and
Development Planning, Office of the Auditor General, wanted to be involved in the
process. The donor community, led by UNDP, also took interest and committed
to participate in the CSO process. Thus, during the National Dialogue on the
Implementation of PD and AAA in Lesotho, the first CSO-led multi-stakeholder
consultation in the country, a remarkable representation from key actors was
achieved. Key agreements of this workshop were as follows: (1) active advocacy
for the inclusion of the Aid Policy in the National Development Plan; (2) inclusion of
CSO representatives in national mechanisms; and (3) formation of a CSO platform
on aid effectiveness.

Aiming for an Aid Policy in Lesotho

Lesotho does not have a coordinated system of recording aid despite some attempts
from the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning to identify aid flows from
the development partners through annual surveys. Development partners are mostly
dealing directly with line ministries and while the Ministry of Finance and Development
Planning is informed of these matters, these contributions have not been accurately
recorded at the central level.

The Ministry of Finance and Development Planning captures to some extent the
expenditures claimed by line ministries, but it does not have a proper monitoring
framework. The Aid Coordination Section (ACS) should be receiving increased
attention as the official channel of aid in Lesotho. There is also a need to develop
an aid policy to include the development of an aid database and aid-monitoring
framework for aid inflows.

The national budget captures the budget support and some of the donor-funded
projects. Grants are not fully covered in the budget, and technical cooperation is
also not registered. The government’s inability to provide a comprehensive coverage
of aid flow is attributed to the absence of proper mechanisms to identify and track
commitments and disbursements forecast from the development partners.

Many of the donor-funded projects are not managed through Government Accounting
Systems (GAS), but use separate systems within the accounting units of line
ministries (implementing agencies). This results in Parallel Implementation Structures
(PIUs) that tend to be redundant. To avoid this, the government initiated the General
Budget Support approach. However, there is still much to be done to minimize PIUs
and transfer the technology to the existing structures in the government as well as
for donors to provide more predictable aid. However, this is challenging as donor
funding does not follow the normal government budget cycle.

As a result of the multi-stakeholder consultation, CSOs are now in the loop in the
advocacy for the establishment of a national aid policy. Together with the donor

32
community, CSOs are starting to press government to include, at the minimum,
a section on aid effectiveness in the drafting of the National Development Plan
which is expected to be finalized by the middle of 2011. CSOs have also started
to openly question donors’ presence in Lesotho. For instance, the Millennium
Challenge Account, a US-funded programme, received heavy criticism from CSO
representatives because of the political trade-off of this agreement and because of
its refusal to harmonize and align with national priorities.

Responding to Corruption in the Country

Corruption in Lesotho has been highlighted in the well-publicized case of the
Lesotho Highlands Development Authority (LHDA) that involved big multinational
companies.. The trend being portrayed by the Corruption Perception Index (CPI) of
Transparency International (TI) was worrisome in the years 2005, 2006, 2007 and
2008. In these years, Lesotho was placed globally, in terms of corruption, at rank
70, 79, 84 and 92, respectively. However, in the last two years, 2009 and 2010, there
had been consistent improvement in curbing corruption, so that the rating of the
country progressed to rank 89 and 78, respectively.2 This has given Lesotho a high
profile recognition by the international community and it would be a disadvantage if
the country would regress in any way in its resolve to bust corruption.

In the African continent, Lesotho rates reasonably and comparatively well, being
one of the top ten countries in reducing corruption and occupying an even better
position in the Southern African region. This is also reflected in the good governance
assessment by the Mo Ibrahim Foundation.3

In the view of some CSOs, the country can only escape the corruption trap by reversing
or cutting off what actually caused it in the first place, that is, foreign aid. Others
propose instead to use aid to get out of the trap. In particular, CSOs strongly recommend
that donors and government should promote transparency in any public procurement
by publishing the estimated costs and the name of the winning bidder, including a
statement of reasons as to why the winner was preferred over others. It is also of
paramount importance that, for aid to be effective, CSOs acquire and receive funding
from outside the aid-recipient government to avert the situation where CSO success
will be contingent on political allegiance. This will help build a strong civil society.

While there is an institutional mechanism for enforcing the law in combating corruption,
the complexity of the phenomenon requires the involvement and participation of all
societal actors. Even government alone can never be enough to fight corruption
effectively. For the purpose of dealing specifically with the issue of corruption, it was
agreed that a coalition of all actors, including CSOs, be established as a working
structure to coordinate national efforts in the fight against corruption. Indeed, it is
only when such a coalition exists that a comprehensive anti-corruption strategy could
be developed, ensuring that proper legislative frameworks are in place, operational
resources are secured, officers are well-trained, and the overall performance of all
involved is well-monitored.

33
 Lesotho CSO Role in Aid Effectiveness
The role of CSOs in the advocacy on AAA in Lesotho is mainly on awareness raising
and sensitisation, advocacy, and community mobilisation. However, CSOs cannot
fully fulfil these roles due to a number of challenges: poor coordination, conflict of
interests, poor funding, poor advocacy capacity and strategies, the existence of
political affiliation, and an image of being oftentimes reactionary.

In addition, the aid effectiveness agenda in Lesotho is still in its infancy stage and
CSOs are just starting to understand the complexities and the dynamics revolving this
issue. At present, their actions are centred on providing a critical analysis of the aid
situation and sharing this analysis to a broader CSO community. CSO engagement
in Lesotho has yet to bear results as the CSO-led plan on aid effectiveness has only
been partially implemented. However, CSOs are already starting to build a stronger
foundation for their participation in the aid agenda. For instance, CSOs are starting
to mobilize their strengths to lobby for the enactment of the Lesotho Aid Policy and
the Public Information Act. CSOs are also pushing for the establishment of a CSO
platform on aid effectiveness and a CSO coalition focusing on corruption issues.
Focal points in the regions were already identified for easier coordination and transfer
of information. To provide adequate and appropriate information, the CSOs plan
to produce learning materials using the Sesotho language. EJNL, for its part, has
agreed to organise forums or spaces for CSOs where AAA and PD will be continually
discussed.

References

Documentation Report of the National Dialogue on Aid Effectiveness In Order to Initiate Broad Implementation
of the Accra Agenda for Action (AAA) in Lesotho, 29-30 November 2010. Economic Justice Network Lesotho.
Unpublished report.

http://www.unohrlls.org/en/

http://www.undp.org.ls

Endnotes
1
The Economic Justice Network Lesotho (EJNL) is an alliance of diverse independent and voluntary
organizations that are involved in activities related to economic governance. It was formed in August
2007 to provide a national platform for CSOs and to address the demand for serious coordinated work
around social and economic rights advocacy. The alliance is composed of NGOs, CBOs, trade unions
and their networks, faith-based organizations and representatives of media. It unites civil society in the
common pursuit of the right to economic justice for all, with emphasis on advocacy of socio-economic,
environmental and cultural rights of all Basotho, SADC and global citizens.

Currently, EJNL is involved in programmes related to lobbying and advocacy, promotion of gender equality
and women empowerment, fair trade, capacity enhancement and awareness raising on the issue of public
debt, national budget and budget monitoring. It has achieved progress in the analysis of trade agreements,
protocols and declarations, and a study on the Impact of Economic Partnership Agreements in Lesotho.
2
Data acquired from Directorate of Corruption and Economic Offices, Government of Lesotho.
3
The Mo Ibrahim Foundation is committed to supporting great African leadership that will improve the
economic and social prospects of the people of Africa. Through the  Ibrahim Index  the Foundation is
initiating an open dialogue on the measurement of governance and therefore on the criteria by which
citizens can hold their governments to account. Defining governance in this way, as a set of services,
or public goods, that governments are obliged to deliver, highlights the responsibilities of governments
towards their citizens.  The data from the Ibrahim Index, together with their own experiences, enables
citizens to pinpoint failures in governance and demand reform.

34
Philippines

Philippines, ODA and Aid Effectiveness –

The AidWatch Experience

What is AidWatch?
Civil Society Organizations and aid effectiveness issues in the Philippines can often
be as diverse and thriving as the thousands of islands they involve. To connect,
unite and strive towards a common goal is often more difficult than one might think,
yet with respect to lobbying on official development assistance (ODA), this has
been largely achieved under the wings of AidWatch Philippines. AidWatch Philippines
traces its beginnings to the Philippine Aid Watch Network organized in 2003 in response
to the need for a strong civil society formation on aid and development issues. The
network supported its members’ advocacy campaigns through information exchange,
facilitating informed dialogues and international networking.

Today, AidWatch Philippines is a broad national network of grassroots-based and

-oriented NGOs working on ODA issues in the country. It has over 150 members in
more than 60 provinces nationwide, including 10 national networks. IBON Foundation
is part of the core group that formed AidWatch in 2005 along with civil society
networks from the country’s three main island groups: Luzon (Cordillera People’s
Alliance), Visayas (Solidarity People’s Advocacy Network) and Mindanao (Mindanao
Inter Faith People’s Conference). The national character of AidWatch is significant
in itself and there is no equivalent civil society group involved in ODA issues in the
country. It is also particularly unique in how its activities bring together an unusually
wide range of development stakeholders: civil society groups from different ends of
the political spectrum, national and local government officials, donor agencies, and
parliamentarians.

35
 Philippines CSOs and ODA
Philippine CSOs encompass a wide range of organizations of different sizes from
across the country. They operate in very different circumstances, engage in varied
development programs, projects and advocacies, and are rooted in different sectors
such as peasants/farmers, workers, women, youth and children, indigenous groups,
Bangsamoro peoples, migrants, and others.

CSOs as a whole have a vital role to play in the country’s ODA system because of their
specific character as civil society independent and distinct from the government.
The greatest strength comes from the solid grounding in basic sectors and local
communities as Filipino CSOs either evolved from the grassroots themselves or are
engaged directly with these stakeholders. This strong foundation in the grassroots
itself underpin CSOs’ vital role as development actors and of civil society as a pillar
of good governance. The capacity to efficiently and effectively deliver services and
implement development projects along those lines has been well-established over
time. CSOs in the Philippines have also been effective in monitoring government use
and misuse of aid. This kind of aid monitoring has developed into practices that are
essential in empowering society’s most vulnerable and marginalized groups, and
that promote the full realization of human rights.

The Importance of Ownership

ODA is a public trust that must serve the collective good. Aid and the overall aid system
will only be developmental if it is consistent with key principles: respect for fundamental
human rights (economic, social, cultural, civil and political); democratic ownership
of the development process; equity in growth and development; transparency and
access to information; accountability for decisions and actions; and primacy of the
people’s well-being and welfare. These are values that AidWatch as a representative
of CSOs engagement on ODA and aid effectiveness fully subscribes to.

Improvements in aid delivery and management are always welcomed; however,

it needs to be acknowledged that the technical aspects of efficiency in donor
mechanisms and in recipient country government processes will be most relevant
only if there is true national ownership to begin with. In the words of Mr. Sonny
Africa, Chairperson of AidWatch Philippines: “There is an urgent need to overhaul
the country’s aid system and, correspondingly, for aid to be made more effective,
it needs to be recognized that the most pressing for now is to genuinely establish
democratic ownership of aid in the development process.”

Small Steps on a Long Road

The strong link of CSOs with the grassroots and its important role in monitoring ODA
builds the foundation for representing the interests of the most affected stakeholders
in development, i.e. the people. To voice CSO concerns and strengthen their

36
capacity towards ODA issues, AidWatch has established itself as a key player in the
Philippines. A way of analysing the implementations of the Paris Declaration (PD)
and Accra Agenda for Action (AAA) in a Philippine context is hence to evaluate the
work, progress and outcomes of AidWatch activities over the past years.

Local Level
The majority of AidWatch’s members constitute CSOs firmly based within local
communities affected by aid and development decisions and projects. While
designed to better the situation of local communities, projects are often implemented
without sufficient prior consultation and paradoxically caused hardship and pain
to the intended beneficiaries. The most common problem and a major concern
encountered by AidWatch is the lack of information supplied to affected communities
and respective local CSOs prior to the implementation of the project. The vast
majority of projects start without proper communication and consultation of the
beneficiary community and once negative effects are being felt, local people and
CSOs struggle in finding the right channels to consult and address their problems.
Here, AidWatch facilitates contacts to project officers or implementing institutions
and raises the concern of local communities not only on the local and regional, but
also at the provincial and national levels.

Acquiring information from and on the local level is fundamentally hindered by the
lack of a ‘right to information’ law in the Philippines. Getting around this obstacle
has proven difficult but not impossible. By building up a credible reputation and
liaising with government and donor structures, AidWatch is slowly but surely able
to obtain crucial information more easily. The signing of the PD and AAA by the
Philippine government facilitates on paper a more lucid, accountable and transparent
engagement and should therefore enable access to information for CSOs on ODA
projects. However, according to Ms. Jazminda Lumang, Executive Director of IBON
Foundation, little has been felt of the PD ‘spirit’ on the ground. And so AidWatch’s
struggle for information and its demands for participation to facilitate ‘real ownership’
of development projects continue.

National Level
On the national level AidWatch’s involvement is characterized by its engagement with
the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA), the Philippines’ social and
economic planning and coordinating body, as well as progressive parliamentarians.
The importance of linking strongly and effectively with NEDA is due to its facilitating
functions in the formation and implementation of development strategies in the
Philippines. Furthermore, working with NEDA is essential due to NEDA’s role of
hosting the secretariat of the Philippines Harmonization Committee, an inter-agency
cluster responsible for coordination and monitoring of government and donors
commitments to the PD.

In the immediate aftermath of the High Level Forum 3 (HLF3) in Accra, Ghana,
AidWatch organized a multi-stakeholder meeting with representatives from
the government, CSO and donor sector, on the achievements and challenges
37
 stemming from the HLF3. The stage was further set for future CSO involvement
with ODA concerns. Advancing the agenda of the meeting, presentations on CSO
issues and possible prospective steps of engagement were presented. Following
this engagement AidWatch conveyed a letter to the Philippines Harmonization
Committee (PHC) outlining the essential mechanisms for future CSO participation
in the Philippines based on three important steps: 1) the need of CSOs to hold an
observer status in monitoring the RHC independently; 2) a permanent seat in the
Investment Coordination Committee (ICC), an agency that oversees and decides on
all ODA development projects implementation exceeding three million pesos (Php
3 million); and 3) the importance of CSOs being part of governance training and
capacity building efforts in order to engage fully and efficiently.

While the letter was received by NEDA in September 2008, there was never an
official response. Instead, informal discussions on the three points are still ongoing,
but occasional training slots and participation in intermittent events and meetings
are granted. Overall, the process is slow moving, but as a result of constant and
serious commitment, it nevertheless seems to be moving in the right direction.

In this context, quarterly meetings with NEDA were set up in an informal setting to
brainstorm on how CSOs can participate more closely with the official disbursement
process of aid and actively contribute to aid and development effectiveness. These
meetings also informed on current ODA review processes in the Philippines and
engaged in the sharing of internal documents. This process of meetings started in
order to address the question of collaboration between AidWatch and the Government
and simply aimed at facilitating information sharing on both sides. However, while
meetings are roughly held every quarter, there is no official line, nor a definite date
or venue set. Much depends on the affirmative stance of AidWatch in making these
events happen.

The principal mechanism for facilitating multi-stakeholder consultations and policy

dialogue in the Philippines is the Philippines Development Forum (PDF). The
organizers commonly invite CSOs to these events, but these invitations are highly
exclusive and are extended only to what the PDF considers as ‘like-minded’ CSOs,
thereby excluding the vast majority of Aidwatch’s network. In addition, there are
costs related to participating in these events such as transport costs and venue fees
arise that exclude those with limited funds and those distant to the venues location.
Last but not least, the PDF has failed to convene an assembly in the last three
years, which makes its commitments to ownership all the more doubtful. All in all,
the PDF seems to represents an exclusive club with irregular meetings, rather then a
participatory mechanism aiming for real ownership and dialogue between CSOs the
government and donors.

While some might say that CSO engagement in the Philippines has shown some
promising results, one needs to keep in mind that the achievements mentioned in the
preceding section are the results of a strong and asserted stand of CSOs demanding
participation in ODA processes. Only its strong foundation in the grassroots and the
people’s movement has enabled CSOs and AidWatch to take small steps forward. The

38
Filipino government has shown many times over that it will not give out information
voluntarily. While on paper the PD and AAA shows strength, it has had little effect
and influence in reality. Important improvements stem mainly from AidWatch’s and
its members asserted role as a credible development actor and watchdog, made
possible through the support of the mass movements and its solid foundation in the
grassroots sector.

Reforming the Philippines ODA Law

Another line of AidWatch’s engagement with the government is through direct
dialogue with parliamentarians in the congressional oversight committee on ODA.
More concretely, AidWatch suggested the setting up of an evaluation body for
ODA projects, which analyses the delivery of tangible results based on feedback
from local communities. Moreover, AidWatch proposed official amendments to the
existing ODA law (RA 8182) in the Philippines. These amendments should come
along three main lines in the form of House Bill 3230: 1) Increase the level of CSO
participation of in ODA processes; 2) Extend ODA project approval from currently the
NEDA and the Philippine President to also include congress for more transparency
and accountability; and 3) Establish the channel for an independent CSO body to
have oversight on the process of ODA project approval and disbursement. Currently,
House Bill 3230 is pending with the House Committee of Economic Affairs and has
not moved since September 2010.

Despite the signing of the PD and AAA by the Philippine government, a serious lack
of transparency stemming from a lack of publicly accessible information precludes
any real democratic ownership of ODA projects by the people. Without adequate
information there can be no real participation in shaping policies and monitoring
outcomes, and citizens are hindered in making demands on their own government
and supposed partners. CSOs and AidWatch as its advocator will continue to engage
and demand the people’s rights to information, accountability and transparency.
The past years have seen confidence building and an increased openness towards
CSOs effort to be heard, however it is still a long road full of obstacles depending
largely on the support of the people’s movement for success.

Lessons to be learned
Most of the achievements of the past years need to be attributed to the constant
pressure and firm stance of AidWatch with a strong backing of grassroots CSOs
and the people’s movement. The PD and AAA on the other hand seem to not have
changed too much the lack of access and availability of information and therefore
a move to more accountability and transparency from a CSO perspective. It is
imperative to understand that CSOs are facing a hugely complex and corrupt system
that moves slowly. This however, should not discourage CSOs to engage. Without
civil society’s efforts to make governments and donors accountable and transparent,

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 real democratic ownership of ODA cannot be achieved. In turn, without democratic
ownership, development effectiveness is more then questionable. For this, CSOs
in the Philippines need to continue their struggle, build on, find new sources and
involve genuine CSOs as part of local development. Hence, AidWatch will continue its
engagement with NEDA and the Parliament in order to push for a multi-stakeholder
body that will truly support development effectiveness in the Philippines.

References

Case story based on qualitative interviews with Mr. Sonny Africa, Chairperson of AidWatch Philippines and
Ms. Jazminda Lumang, Executive Director of IBON Foundation Philippines.

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