Role of Civil Society in Development

1. Promoting Civic Engagement Through Analytical Work in the The World BankMeeting of the External Advisory Group on the Enabling Environment for Civic Engagement Work ProgramJune 7 & 8 2004Jeff ThindwaSocial Development Department

2. Human Rights – Equity Econ. Growth Institutional Transparency and Accountability Consensus for reforms Social Mobilizn, participn of poor Service Delivery-Low Cost - Quality Resource Manag & Env. Protection Role of Civil Society in Development

3. Prioritizing Participation and Civic Engagement • 1996 Participation Sourcebook: provided conceptual and operational framework • Participation embodied in Comprehensive Development Framework; PRSP approach • Empowerment framework: access to information, inclusion and participation, accountability, local organization capacity • 15 Operational policies and directives • OED, QAG, DEC studies highlight benefits of participation

4. Conclusion: • Engagement of citizens and citizens’ organizations in public policy debate, or in delivering public services and contributing to the management of public goods, is a critical factor in making development policy and action responsiveness to the needs and aspirations of the people and potentially of the poor.

5. Operationalizing Civic Engagement • Tools, resources, capacity building, for social accountability • Tools, resources to facilitate diagnostic work on civil society • ARVIN • CSAT • Tools, resources to promote PM&E of poverty reduction strategies • Corporate advocacy and institutional guidance

6. Analytical Work on Civil Society Attempts to answer four questions: • How can civil society fulfill these functions? • What kind of laws, regulations, policies, capacities, other institutional factors are necessary? • How can stakeholders deepen understanding of these factors • What actions can the Bank, partners, clients, other stakeholders, take to improve conditions for civic engagement?

7. Embracing Analytical Approaches to Improve Environment for Civic Engagement Participatory Diagnostic Tool NGO Law Handbook Focus on Civic Engagement NGO Focus Focus on Broader Reforms Focus on Regulation Expert driven Stakeholder driven General audiences Alignment with Bank Operations

8. Characteristics of the Tools and Methodology • Participatory and inclusive • Multi-stakeholder approaches • Action-Research orientation • Integrative (with other SD tools) and adaptive • Outreach/collaboration with peers • Focus on learning

9. Legal & Regulatory Framework Political & Governance Context Socio-Cultural Characteristics Economic Conditions A ssociation R esource Mobilization V oice I nformation N egotiation “ARVIN” Framework

10. Civil Society Assessment Tool - CSAT A tool – derived from ARVIN- to assess the nature of civil society’s internal and external dynamics; Type of engagement and roles; Strengths and weaknesses; Enabling factors; Opportunities and challenges ……. So that advice and strategies can be designed to enable it to play an effective role as a development actor, in different country contexts. In the case of failed or weak states experiencing conditions of widespread conflict and social ungovernability, civil society organizations usually offer the institutional basis for public service delivery. Their links are vital gateways.

11. Application in Low Income Countries Under Stress - LICUS Priority for the Bank in LICUS: Give attention to -understanding the social and political economy factors, -transferring knowledge -to build capacity Focus on analysis of civil society as part of the governance assessment of the CAS in LICUS or feed into TSS. CSAT tool derived from the ARVIN framework

12. Some Key Issues • Are these approaches responding to the needs that you see in your work? • What are we missing? • What other actors should the Bank be engaging as part of the process to improve these tools? • What are the Bank’s comparative advantages, and how can we better play to them?