Civil Society

The New Civil Society Programme

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Civil Society Activities

The proposed programme is to be implemented over a three-year period: 2006 - 2009. It will focus on eight countries of direct interest to the AKDN, in four groups: Ex-Soviet: Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan; South Asia: Afghanistan and Pakistan; East Africa: Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda; West Africa: Mali.

Here is a generic introduction to the programme in all 8 countries.

Outcomes
The programme will seek to achieve five main outcomes:

1. A better baseline of information about the civil society sector, which will be updated on a regular basis.
2. AKDN more systematically working with and building the capacity of an increasing number of high quality and sustainable CSOs.
3. A better appreciation by government, business, CSOs, and citizens in each country of the need for integrity, ethics and good governance in the management of the country’s future, and a determination to apply such principles.
4. Better understanding on the part of government of the comparative advantage of CSOs leading to mutually advantageous collaboration between them, and the creation of an enabling environment for CSOs.
5. Better understanding on the part of businesses about the usefulness of programmes of corporate social responsibility.

Components
These outcomes will be achieved through the following five programme components and sub-components:

1. Building a sound baseline of information on the civil society sector in each country
2. Enhancing the competency and sustainability of CSOs
    2.1. Developing AKDN and partners
    2.2. Building public approbation
3. Fostering ethics and integrity amongst CSOs
    3.1. Integrity in development agencies
    3.2. Civic education
4. Fostering strong and effective collaboration between governments and
CSOs
    4.1. Demonstrating valuable collaboration
    4.2. Working with local government
5. Fostering strong and effective collaboration between the business sector and CSOs
    5.1. AKFED businesses practicing Corporate Social Responsibility
    5.2. Business associations practicing Corporate Social Responsibility

Rationale and explanation for the Components
1. Building a Sound Baseline of Information on the Civil Society Sector
The central importance of robust and comprehensive baseline information on the civil society sector in each country is the first priority of the proposed programme. Even for countries where information exists, baselines will need to be fashioned which will make it possible to measure impact and progress of the programme over time. Weaknesses in existing information, such as an over-concentration on development NGOs at the expense of professional organisations, faith based groups, traditional or tribal organisations, and self help groups, will need to be addressed. Data is often not broken down by sub-geography and, most importantly, information is weak on the key building block functions necessary for a robust civil society (and the organisations playing those roles).

Successful implementation will require managing the risks and sensitivities of gathering such information, ensuring that effective partner organisations are identified and that their work is structured appropriately, and that the ongoing maintenance of such information can be ensured.

2. Enhancing the Competency and Sustainability of CSOs
Initiatives to build organisational capacity of indigenous CSOs often concentrate excessively on the mechanistic detail of administrative management, at the expense of giving attention to good practice in such areas as forming partnerships, constituency building, participation, joint planning with stakeholders, mediation, encouraging pluralism, and peace building. The demands of meeting external donor funding and reporting requirements often reinforces this imbalance. One consequence of this lack of attention to core dimensions of value-based and participatory partnership practice has been the growth of opportunistic, donor-driven NGOs which have contributed to citizen and government suspicion of the CSO sector itself.

While development of transparent and accountable management remains essential, the lack of attention to representational and participatory values and good practice needs redress. Part of a better reputation comes from CSOs seeking increased support for their work from inside the country, which in turn will come once good quality CSOs explain their work and the value of it to citizens and government rather than only to external donors. Such good quality CSOs would be the partners of choice for AKDN agencies working in the field.

The first part of this component, Developing AKDN and Partners, will be carried out in Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania, where a large number of CSOs exist, but where they have failed, substantially, to contribute to improved quality of life. Agreements will be reached with local organisations to research the most important features of a CSO with integrity and values, and develop an assessment tool. Training materials will then be developed, organisations invited to training courses, and grants made available to committed participants to develop local financing initiatives. Throughout, AKDN agencies will be informed of and introduced to the CSOs as potential partners for their work. A special emphasis of the programme will be to work with the newly formed Local Support Organisations (LSOs) which are part of AKRSP’s work in the Northern Areas/Chitral. This programme has a lot to learn from the work of an organisation which AKDN helped to found, the Pakistan Centre for philanthropy, and its work on Certification.

The second part of this programme, Helping CSOs Build Public Approbation, will be carried out in those countries where there is a lack of knowledge of the genus CSO, and strong public and/or government suspicion as to their bona fides. This includes Afghanistan, Tajikistan, and Kyrgyzstan. In these countries, the programme will train CSOs in public information, media and communications so that their work becomes better known and the value of their contribution to the country better appreciated.

3. Fostering Institutional Integrity amongst Development Agencies
Efforts in poverty reduction, civil society strengthening, and development in general are frequently thwarted by the widespread prevalence of corruption among entrenched bureaucracies, with private commerce and leadership structures uncontrolled by mutually agreed social contracts. In response, the case for good governance (as demonstrated through integrity, accountability, and transparency in decision making) by all types of institutions has been made increasingly strongly over the last ten years by citizens and the international development community. AKDN agencies are well situated since they reflect the conduct of development programmes with integrity and have the potential to show others how it can be done. Efforts under this component will be piloted exclusively within the AKDN system, and only once we are satisfied with the quality of the work, will third parties be introduced to it.

Recent changes in many countries from centralised to decentralized forms of government administration has often left citizens puzzled about their role. With changing institutions, they are unclear about their opportunities to contribute to the common future. The expansion of institutional networks has enabled individuals and organisations to take advantage of opportunities for self-seeking and corrupt practice. Citizens are often unclear about what integrity means in their modern world, and are exposed to many examples of lack of integrity from those in power. The suggested response is to empower citizens through education, both in civil terms (i.e., the citizens’ place in the state), and civic terms (i.e., the citizens’ involvement in civic institutions).

The first part of this component, Integrity in Development Agencies, will be implemented in all eight countries in collaboration with TIRI, an international NGO specialising in integrity building (Find out more on TIRI). Modules will be developed to show ways to build integrity, pre-empt the risks of corruption, identify problems when they occur, and introduce corrective measures. These modules will be piloted with AKDN agencies, with the eventual goal that they can evolve into training courses that would be attractive to secondary, tertiary, and in-service adult education providers.

The second part of the component, Civic Education, will be implemented in countries where AKDN agencies have said that recent decentralization has resulted in citizen confusion about their roles, i.e., Mali, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan. Agreements will be made with local organisations (including the Aga Khan University in Pakistan) to research existing materials and the roles/responsibilities of citizens in each country; develop modular training materials; introduce these via workshops to those responsible for educational institutions; and seek to introduce such modules into formal curricula.

4. Fostering Strong and Effective Collaboration between Governments
and CSOs
An impediment to more public-private partnerships between CSOs and government is that governments often view CSOs unfavourably (particularly NGOs), based on a range of perceptions that governments have about the legitimacy of their right to exist, their probity, governance, and patriotism, and their excessive personal benefits. Such perceptions, of which there are many local versions, may be more or less accurate. But aside from such concerns, many government officials are unaware of what CSOs do or the valuable contributions they make (or could make) to the development agenda. NGOs often do themselves a disservice by not informing government of their activities and achievements. Governments are, however, often impressed by the links that CSOs have to local communities and can be persuaded of the value of listening to the community ‘voice’ through CSOs, and involving CSOs in local government initiatives. They can see the value of CSOs, and particularly Community Based Organisations (CBOs), in raising and representing community issues on the one hand, and educating the public about new government policies on the other.

The first part of this component, Demonstrating Valuable Collaboration, will be implemented in all countries. In working with local organisations, the first step will be research what collaborative arrangements between CSOs and government are actually taking place, and then disseminating this information. This would be followed by workshops to bring both parties into discussion on how to educate further each side about the work of the other and, in particular, to get both parties to sit together on development planning bodies at all levels.

The second part of this component, Working with Local Government, will take the same kind of approach but at the local government level. It will be implemented in five countries where there are AKF supported Rural Support Programmes and thus a growing number of Village Organisations and federations of Village organisations: Pakistan, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Kenya. Local organisations will be engaged to educate Village Organisations about the structures of local government, the decentralised development funding that is becoming increasingly available, and how the needs of the local people can be addressed.

5. Fostering Strong and Effective Collaboration between the Business
Sector and CSOs
While the case for corporate social responsibility is increasingly accepted, actual practice is often closer to corporate philanthropy, corporate marketing, or reputational risk management. There is need for businesses to learn more about the ways that pro-poor development is managed and the part that they can play both on their own account, and with help from CSOs. CSOs are familiar with development practice but are generally unfamiliar with (and sometimes suspicious of) business intentions. Businesses generally lack understanding (and are sometimes dismissive) of CSO attributes. AKDN, with businesses as well as CSOs, is well placed to identify compatibilities and act the “marriage broker” role between these oft-polarised entities. It can also draw on the experience of the Pakistan Centre for Philanthropy with encouraging contributions from the Business sector (See Link).

Many business professionals in developing countries are interested in actions of social responsibility but are not clear on what they can do. AKDN businesses are often promoters and enthusiastic members of professional and business associations, making them likely candidates and proponents for corporate social responsibility programmes, and well placed to explain and promote the functions and advantages of such programmes to other business people.

The first part of this component, AKFED businesses practising CSR, will be implemented in all countries except Kyrgyzstan (which only has one AKFED business). The programme proposes that AKFED companies be involved in research on the range of different businesses that exist and their varying expectations; offering training and orientation on the philosophy and practice of CSR from the International Business Leaders Forum followed by local training courses; “match-making” with local CSOs; grant provision for specific pilot activities; study tours to countries where good practice can be observed; and implementation of CSR programmes to support CSOs.

The second part of the component, Business Associations practising CSR, is a continuation of the first and will be implemented in countries where business and professional associations are commonly present: Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, and Pakistan. It is proposed that AKFED companies introduce CSR practices to their peers through business associations, helped by local CSOs, with the provision of training and small pilot grants.