Inclusive and Sustainable Development: Perspectives from Europe and Central Asia on the Post-2015 Development Agenda
Making the new Agenda work: From the Local to National level « The importance and role of CSOs »
Istanbul, 8 of November Leida Rijnhout Executive Director ANPED – Northern Alliance for Sustainability
Why active civil society participation ? Participation is often called the 4th dimension for Sustainable Development. Creating ownership for policy decisions and implementation is crucial for good governance Active and responsible citizens are the foundation for the social cohesion and inclusiveness of a society It guarantees accountability for governments and politicians, which is legitimate, as they are representatives of the society.
Different forms of Civil Society Organisations -
Awareness raising and informal education
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Interest groups: defending collective rights, voiceless groups, nature and/or animals, ..
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Organising (local) activities/farmer markets, ..
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Involvement in concrete planning and implementation (all stakeholders)
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Policy work: -
Advocacy, agenda setting, push and pull, campaigning
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Engagement in official policymaking (advisory councils, dialogues with government, ..), monitoring
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Watchdog, name and blame,
Where comes the money from ?
• Private foundations • Private donations (or memberships)
• Merchandising gadgets • Public funding (tax payers money)
• ……. !!! Has to be transparent
Enabling effective CSO engagement CSOs have to be seen as self-organised citizens. They need to be independent, transparent, accountable and based on a constituency. Advocacy CSOs have the role to defend long term strategies, going beyond the period of a government Social innovation is key for the shift towards SD Acceptance of “dissident� voices Allow CSO to effective engage in policy process at all levels
Access to information, participation and justice is a “must� (Aarhus Convention: for environmental information) Legal frameworks are getting more important Access to justice is implemented more and more: citizens groups can go to court On the other hand we see also an increase of criminalisation of environmental activists Every week one activist is killed, and hundreds are in prison and/or oppressed
Agenda 21 was important document that really valued civil society participation in policy processes (Local Agenda 21, National Councils for SD, private and public multistakeholder dialogues, ..) Some countries institutionalised CSO participation in their policymaking Online consultations
Think global, act local (ownership)
Good governance is also about building communities of responsible citizens and visionary leaders at all levels of society. Thanks !! leida@anped.org
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