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Expert Panel on Partnership Programming
December 11-12, 2006
Report of Meeting
I. The Role of Civil Society in Development Cooperation
II. The International Aid Effectiveness Agenda and Civil Society
III. Canadian Leadership Plan on Civil Society and the Paris Declaration
IV. Effective Partnerships for Development: CIDA's Action Plan
V. Next Steps
II. The International Aid Effectiveness Agenda and Civil Society
III. Canadian Leadership Plan on Civil Society and the Paris Declaration
IV. Effective Partnerships for Development: CIDA's Action Plan
V. Next Steps
Annex 1 - Agenda
Annex 2 - Expert Panel Participants
Report of Meeting
The second meeting of the Expert Panel on Partnership Programming was held in Ottawa on December 11 and 12, 2006.
In her remarks to panel members, the Hon. Josée Verner, Minister for International Cooperation and Minister for La Francophonie and Official Languages, underlined her commitment to review and renew partnership programming in the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), and to broaden aid effectiveness principles so that they would be more inclusive of the role of civil society in development.
Diane Vincent, Executive Vice-President, CIDA, chaired the meeting and laid out the agenda. She invited panel members to explore and provide feedback to the Minister and CIDA's Executive Committee on the following themes:
- The Role of Civil Society in Development Cooperation and Aid Effectiveness
- The Development of a Canadian Leadership Plan on Civil Society and the Paris Declaration
- The Renewal of CIDA's Partnership Programming
I. The Role of Civil Society in Development Cooperation
Alison Van Rooy, Senior Policy Analyst, Policy Branch, CIDA, made a presentation entitled, "Strengthening Southern Civil Society," outlining the elements of a CIDA policy issues paper currently under development; the rationale for this work; and the contributions of civil society to development. Five possible elements to strengthen southern civil society were presented: to support enabling environments; to provide greater weight to supporting southern organizations and processes; to retool donors' internal capacity to strengthen southern civil society; to support cooperation between North and South civil society organizations; and to lead in improving donor community practice.
Panel members welcomed this initiative. There was strong consensus that CIDA needed to develop policy in strengthening southern civil society, and that the five elements presented were a sound foundation on which to undertake this work. Panel members made a number of observations and suggestions to support this work. For example, they:
- Expressed their appreciation for the focus on strengthening southern civil society through all CIDA delivery channels
- Underlined the accompanying role for northern NGO partners in this process.
- Highlighted the importance of a strong civil society to ensure democratic governance.
- Affirmed the important role of civil society in building social capital.
- Recommended expanding the analysis to include the role of civil society in promoting peace and security.
- Recommended that CIDA review other donor policies on civil society.
- Recommended consultation with Canadian and southern partners.
- Suggested clearer definitions for certain concepts, such as national systems, mutual accountability, legitimacy, local ownership, and best practices, among others.
II. The International Aid Effectiveness Agenda and Civil Society
Réal Lavergne, Senior Policy Analyst, Policy Branch, CIDA, detailed aid effectiveness principles articulated over the last decade; situated the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness within the evolving development agenda; outlined reflections on implementing targets in the Paris Declaration, which will be assessed at the High-Level Meeting of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) planned for Accra, Ghana, in fall 2008; explored options for enriching the aid effectiveness agenda by considering civil society as distinct development actors; and concluded with the need for additional analytical work and research on good practices.
Panel members commented positively on the "rich and balanced" analysis set out in both the working paper and the presentation, and made the following comments:
- Civil society organizations agree with the aid effectiveness principles, but would prefer a broader set of principles beyond issues of aid management (government-focused) to recognize the role of civil society in development.
- Civil society organizations need to take on aspects of the Paris Declaration principles, in particular to reduce the overall administrative burden and to strengthen development results. This could include better collaboration between NGOs and governments as well as "joined-up approaches" where civil society and private sector organizations work in a coordinated manner or in coalitions at the country level.
- CIDA should explore best practices in "joined-up approaches" and consider providing incentives to Canadian partners who work collaboratively with other partners.
- Civil society organizations do not only work at the country level. There are several civil society organizations whose natural affiliations, networking, and connections are organized around sectoral and thematic issues on a regional or global level. This contribution to development should be outlined in CIDA's policy thinking.
- The emphasis on strengthening developing country "national systems" contained within the Paris Declaration principles might be considered more broadly, going beyond government systems to include national and community systems that contribute to social capital in a broad sense. "Local ownership" and "local assets" are important development results that come from the interaction between communities and their local organizations.
III. Canadian Leadership Plan on Civil Society and the Paris Declaration
Pierre Bélanger, Senior Policy Advisor, Policy Branch, CIDA, made a presentation that focused on Canada's approach to broaden the international aid effectiveness agenda to include civil society; outlined a number of challenges to donors in preparing for the Ghana High-Level Forum review in 2008; and explored issues in providing Canadian leadership on the issue.
CIDA was commended and received broad support for its commitment to take a leadership role on this important issue. Panelists had a number of suggestions and observations for CIDA as it moves forward:
- CIDA needs to be careful in setting realizable objectives at the global level and clearly identify the risks and challenges in the way forward.
- Greater clarity should be possible following the March 2007 OECD Development Assistance Committee (DAC) civil society organization meeting.
- A more narrow view of civil society will result if only governments are involved in the discussion on aid effectiveness.
- New donor agencies, such as China, India, and large foundations (e.g. Gates), need to be included in the global dialogue.
- It will be a challenge to secure the broad engagement and support from civil society or from countries that do not fully endorse an active role for civil society in development.
- CIDA should be sensitive to the high demand for dialogue with civil society leaders from developing countries.
- The Ghana review in 2008 should be seen as a step in a longer process of engaging civil society in aid effectiveness and not the final step.
IV. Effective Partnerships for Development: CIDA's Action Plan
Before the meeting, CIDA distributed a draft of the Action Plan for Effective Partnerships with Canadian Civil Society and Private Sector Organizations. The Plan presents a series of principles for "effective partnerships" and outlines a number of actions to be taken by the Agency to ensure that it has a leading-edge policy suite and operational systems in place that support partnership programming.
Jennifer Benimadhu, Vice-President, Canadian Partnership Branch (CPB), CIDA, and Michael Jay, Director-General, Strategic Planning and Policy Directorate, CPB, CIDA, provided an overview of CIDA's partnership programming, indicating that this channel is used by all CIDA programming branches; provided details on the partnership renewal exercise at CIDA; and highlighted progress to date in simplifying CPB's business processes.
Panel members praised CIDA for the significant progress that has been achieved since the first meeting of the Expert Panel in October 2005. They also welcomed the principles for partnership outlined in CIDA's Action Plan, as well as the Agency's commitment to ongoing reforms. Specific comments were as follows:
- Incorporate more fully the key principle of southern-driven development as a foundation block for the Action Plan
- Reflect an appropriate balance between competing principles, such as southern-driven development and engaging Canadians; ensuring an independent voice for civil society and, hence, a more strategic, directive, Canadian approach in-country; and the impact at the country level and at the global level.
- Encourage CIDA to continue working to broaden the base of the recent administrative reforms in CPB across the whole Agency.
- Note that effective and efficient operational procedures for partnership programming will help the Agency take on a credible leadership role internationally.
- Broaden CIDA's thinking on the development roles of the private sector. Elements of the plan are tangentially related to the private sector, but a parallel dialogue for the Canadian private sector was recommended.
- Consider the objective of a strategic focus, either geographically or sectorally, as not constraining actions that might be valuable, but rather as securing cohesion and impact. This requires collaboration among a wide range of partners, flexibility, and, at the country level, improved opportunities for communication, coordination, and consultation, rather than conditionality. The value of incentives to encourage "joined-up approaches" was highlighted.
- Review "lessons learned" from previous experience working with Canadian partners through umbrella agreements (to reduce transaction costs and enhance coordination among Canadian partners).
- Strengthen CIDA's approach for and investment in public engagement. CIDA needs to clearly define what it is trying to achieve by engaging Canadians. Whereas, public engagement is often understood in terms of communication, fundraising, and maintaining public support for CIDA's programming, the ultimate goal of public engagement is to build active, engaged global citizens.
- Agree with CIDA's interest in establishing a corporate accreditation process for Canadian partners. An accreditation process would help reduce the proposal assessment process. CIDA should consider the possibility of a peer group review process.
- Suggest more "learning forums" between CIDA and its partners. It is important to establish a feedback loop as the Action Plan is implemented.
V. Next steps
Panel members were impressed with the progress made by CIDA since the first meeting of the Expert Panel in October 2005 in renewing its partnership programming, implementing a more efficient administrative approach, and furthering its policy work in civil society and aid effectiveness. CIDA was encouraged by panel members to continue to pursue this policy, program, and operational renewal effort.
Panel members were informed that CIDA has been invited by the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD) to join the Nordic Plus Group to review and assess different modalities for supporting civil society at the country level. Sweden's Aid Agency, SIDA, which is the chair of the Working Group for Accra at the OECD, has also welcomed Canada's offer to lead a new Working Group on Civil Society.
CIDA President Robert Greenhill reconfirmed CIDA's commitment to continue to strengthen partnership programming across the Agency and to clarify its policies respecting civil society and aid effectiveness. Discussions will continue with partners in Canada and globally on several policy issues and on how to work together in a manner that is integrated and respectful of both the mutual and unique contributions of government, civil society, and private sector partners. CIDA will build alliances with donors and partners in reviewing the aid effectiveness agenda in the lead-up to the meeting in Ghana in 2008. CIDA will build on the positive feedback received from Canadian partners on recent reforms by continuing to promote operational efficiencies; to explore greater synergies with Canadian partners at a country level; to undertake a review of the private sector in development; and to implement a more focused approach to public engagement involving Canadian partners.
Robert Greenhill and Diane Vincent concluded the meeting of the Expert Panel by thanking panel members for their very helpful and significant contribution to strengthening CIDA's partnership programming.
Annex 1 - Agenda
Expert Panel on Partnership Programming
December 10 - 12, 2006
Meeting Objectives:
To solicit advice from panel members on:
- The role of civil society in development cooperation and aid effectiveness
- The development of a Canadian Leadership Plan on Civil Society and the Paris Declaration
- The renewal of CIDA's partnership programming
Sunday Evening - December 10 (Mackenzie Room - Mariott Hotel)
18 - 20 Reception, Hosted by Robert Greenhill, President, CIDA, and members of the Agency's Executive Committee
Refreshments and light food to be served
Monday - December 11 (IDRC Boardroom)
8 - 8:45 Continental Breakfast Buffet
8:45 - 9 Welcome and Opening Remarks
Robert Greenhill, President, CIDA
9 - 9:15 Review of Meeting Objectives
Diane Vincent, Executive VP, CIDA
9:15 - 10 Strengthening Southern Civil Society
Stephen Wallace, VP, Policy Branch;
Alison Van Rooy, Sr. Policy Analyst,
Policy Branch
10 - 10:30 The International Aid Effectiveness Agenda and Civil Society
Presentation, "Where to from here?"
Stephen Wallace, VP, Policy Branch;
Réal Lavergne, Sr. Analyst, Policy Branch
10:30 - 11 Break
11 - 12 Plenary Discussion
12 - 1:30 Lunch
1:30 - 2 Canadian Leadership Plan on Civil Society and the Paris Declaration
Presentation
Stephen Wallace, VP, Policy Branch;
Pierre Bélanger, Sr. Policy Advisor, Policy Branch
2 - 3:30 Breakout Groups
3:30 - 4 Break
4 - 4:45 Reporting from Groups and Plenary Discussion
4:45 - 5:30 The Honourable Josée Verner Minister for International Cooperation
5:30 - 7:30 Reception, IDRC
Refreshments and light food to be served
Tuesday - December 12 (IDRC Boardroom)
8 - 8:30 Continental Breakfast buffet
8:30 - 8:45 Recap of Day 1
Diane Vincent, Executive VP, CIDA
8:45 - 10:45 Effective Partnerships for Development
Presentation, "CIDA's Action Plan for Effective Partnerships with Canadian Civil Society and Private Sector Organizations"
Jennifer Benimadhu, VP Canadian Partnership Branch;
Michael Jay, Director General, Canadian Partnership Branch
Plenary Discussion
10:45 - 11 Break
11 - 12 Conclusions and Issues for Consideration
Panel members
12 - 12:45 Closing of the Meeting and Next Steps
Robert Greenhill, President, CIDA
12:45 - 2 Lunch and Departure
Annex 2 - Expert Panel Participants
Zehra Aydin, Officer-in-charge, United Nations Environment Program, New York Office
Gerry Barr, President-CEO, Canadian Council for International Cooperation
Perrin Beatty, President and CEO, Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters Association
Tim Brodhead, President, J.W. McConnell Family Foundation
Gerald Brown, President, Association of Community Colleges of Canada
Tomas Brundin,Principle Advisor, Civil Society, Swedish International Development Agency
Michel Chaurette, Executive Director, Centre for International Studies and Cooperation (CECI)
Paul Davidson,Executive Director, World University Services of Canada
Tim Dottridge, Principle Policy Analyst, International Development Research Centre
Anne Gaboury,President and CEO, Desjardins International Development
Daniel Gagnier,Senior Vice-President, Corporate and External Affairs, Alcan
Janice Hamilton,Executive Director, Manitoba Council for International Cooperation
Christian Lehembre,Head, Aid Effectiveness Division, Development Assistance Committee, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development(OECD)
Callisto Madavo,Visiting Professor, African Studies, Georgetown University
Claire Morris, President and CEO, Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada
Kumi Naidoo,(by phone) Secretary General, World Alliance for Citizen Participation (CIVICUS)
Ian Smillie,Consultant, International Development
Sayed Fazlullah Wahidi, General Director, Afghan German Help Coordination Office (AGHCO)
