Final Draft December 2009 Bhavna Sharma, Marta Foresti and Leni Wild Table of contents

2.2. NSAs in EC policies and practice

There have been a number of recent EC policy documents and commissioned studies that have assessed and highlighted the role of NSAs in development cooperation and the support provided by the EC. The EC has been keen to learn the lessons coming out of these various studies and to apply the recommendations in its strategies, polices and programming. This study responds to some of the lessons learned and recommendations in recent EC studies and applies them to NSAs in the context of new aid modalities.

The Evaluation of EC Aid Delivery to CSOs¹² notes that whilst the principle of participatory development is reaffirmed in a number of policy documents and guidelines, there is a gap between the perceived value add of NSA engagement in the development process and utilising that in practice. Some ACP EC delegations have been developing positive practices in terms of supporting experimentation, innovation and learning, which could be further disseminated and shared with other delegations who tend to treat NSAs as implementers of EC projects, under-utilise the wide range of NSAs and overlook the opportunities to use geographic and thematic instruments in a complementary fashion in support of NSAs (see Box 2 below).
The evaluation’s main recommendations focus on the importance of political dialogue and of EC commitments to achieve this, the added value of a thorough knowledge of the context and actors and the need to use the full range of EC aid instruments, including new aid modalities. Thus, the evaluation notes:

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  Firstly, it highlights the importance of understanding the context and utilising political economy analysis as the starting point for engaging NSAs, including a thorough understanding of the NSA landscape to know “who’s who” in non-state sectors;
  
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  Secondly, there is a need to acknowledge the complex relationships of power, allegiances and conflict that exist amongst NSAs as well as between different groups of NSAs and the state. Thus, entering into political dialogue with actors is key;
  
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  Thirdly, the need to engage a broad range of NSAs with a similarly broad range of tools and instruments devised to incorporate multiple voices and a participatory approach. This also includes engaging the full range of EC aid instruments, including new aid modalities, in a complementary manner to be able to improve support given to NSAs.
  

Box 2: Key Recommendations from the Evaluation of EC Aid Delivery to CSOs
The evaluation recognises that the the EC has shown a capacity to innovate and develop new relationships with NSAs, but that the quality of that relationship requires improvement. They focus on the need for sustained political commitment to equip the EC with the necessary strategies and systems to deliver high quality aid through NSAs centred on three sets of political, strategic and process recommendations.
Political recommendations:

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  Provide clearer and stronger political and managerial leadership in pushing for an effective implementation of policy commitments towards CSOs.
  
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  Champion space for civil society in political and policy dialogues with partner governments.
  
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  Enhance the quality of partnerships with CSOs (notably by improving dialogue around and engagement of new modalities to support CSOs).
  

Strategic and operational recommendations:

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  Enhance, through genuine participatory processes, the overall quality of programming aid through CSOs.
  
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  Search for more realistic and effective implementation strategies.
  
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  Manage and evaluate the CSO channel in a result-oriented way.
  

Process recommendations:

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  Provide ongoing support to EC Delegations committed to engaging in an institutional change process.
  
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  Establish the ‘Civil Society Help Desk’ as a knowledge hub and catalyst for change.
  

Source: Evaluation of EC Aid Delivery through Civil Society Organisations, 2008

The European Court of Auditors report¹³ on the EC’s management of NSAs involvement in EC development cooperation highlighted the importance of consultations to deliver more meaningful engagement of NSAs in the development cooperation process, as current practice falls short of the sustained and structured dialogue envisaged by EU legislation and the EC’s own guidelines. Capacity development is a core mechanism of EC support to NSAs and the audit recommends a more strategic approach to capacity development, as found in some African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries.

In order to improve sustainability of NSA engagement the EC should consider using a mix of aid instruments (thematic and geographic programmes and not just projects) when supporting NSAs. The audit recognises the primacy of geographic programmes and the complementary character of thematic programmes, whilst also recommending improving the guidance of NSA participation in new aid modalities. Similarly, in order to strengthen and improve capacity development programmes the EC should consider employing geographic programmes alongside thematic programmes to fund capacity development, which is currently done in some ACP countries. The audit also advocates innovative and alternative procedures to allow for a more strategic approach to engaging NSAs and capacity development (such as a better use of the capabilities of technical assistance, use of partnership agreements, multi-donor funding) and to improve the reach to the grass-roots organisations (such as the use of cascading grants).
The Capitalisation Study on Capacity Building Support Programmes for NSAs under the 9^th EDF¹⁴ provides an in-depth assessment of the capacity building programmes supported by the EC in the ACP region. The study highlights the added value for mappings and consultations and recommends suitable methodologies to effectively identify capacity building needs whilst advocating the need to design capacity building in a holistic manner by going beyond calls for proposals and integrating them in a comprehensive capacity building scheme. Furthermore, the evaluation emphasizes the need to re-think the strategic positioning of such capacity building programmes and make them more work in synergy with the rest of the EC cooperation portfolio, including GBS and SPSP.
To reflect this agenda, the report recommends that mappings are linked to an NSA inclusion strategy and an evolving sector vision which seeks to identify key NSA partners in a holistic sector strategy rather than simply as an exercise in identification of NSAs. Similarly, the report emphasises the need for regular and structured consultation processes which reinforces the role of NSAs as development actors, particularly their participation in political dialogue and oversight/watchdog mechanisms. The capitalization study identifies a set of principles that an NSA support programme should respect, based on some good practices identified in the 9^th EDF. They are summarized in the box below:

Box 3: Identified good practices for NSA support programmes
a. The strategic positioning of a programme

This refers to the need for each programme to have its own strategic positioning in a precise context - which reflects the social, institutional, economic, cultural and political reality of the country in which the programme is implemented. This includes an analysis of the dynamics, relationships and stakes involved for NSAs. Synergies must also be sought between these programmes and the rest of the EC strategy and portfolio in the country.

b. Plurality and diversity of NSA

Support various and heterogeneous dynamics embedded in NSA endogenous networking efforts and processes of association. Coordination and networking should result from genuine dynamics where actors share a common agenda and organise themselves on a thematic and/or geographic basis and do not gather for opportunistic reasons.

d. The evolving approach and guidance of the actor

The need to recognise the specific nature of NSA support programmes as programmes based on an actor approach and centred on the understanding that capacity building efforts need to be considered from a systems perspective, rather than the classical project approach. Indeed, the strengthening of NSA, in terms of sector support, cannot succeed without the adoption of a gradually and evolving approach, which requires sufficient time to allow for an impact.

e. Added value of NSAs

There is a tendency among some NSA support programmes to consider NSAs as a fundamental actor in establishing a counterweight to the State. This approach is contradictory to the Cotonou Agreement, which states that it is essential to reconcile responsibility of national development policies, which legitimately falls to central government, with the need to assure a better participation from NSA. In other words, it is about recognising the added value of NSA not in terms of their opposition but in terms of what these actors can provide in the identification of creative and innovative solutions to the problems of sustainable development.

Source: Capitalisation Study on Capacity Building Support Programmes for NSAs under the 9^th EDF, (2009)

Currently, there is a study in progress on NSA mappings in Latin America. Preliminary findings suggest that the concept and methodology of mappings is evolving and becoming more sophisticated. Mappings are seen as closely linked to political economy analysis and understanding the local context as well as NSAs relationships with the state, and therefore a preliminary step in designing an EC strategy of engagement with civil society at country level, using all the instruments available, ranging from the political dialogue to the use of the geographic and thematic programmes. Sector programmes are increasingly considered in this framework.

The Reference document on Addressing and Analysing Governance in Sector Operations¹⁵ emphasises the central role that NSAs play in democratic governance processes. The document outlines a sector governance analysis framework (see figure 1 below) that focuses on four key steps of context, actors, accountability relationships between actors and governance reform readiness. It is interesting to note that NSAs are considered to hold a pivotal position in relation to all other actors such as government, public agencies, watchdog organisations and service providers. The guidance explains that: “The framework deliberately puts the non-state actors in the centre. The reason is that, although it is not always the case, the state should eventually be controlled and governed by the people, and accountable to the people. There is further the assumption that successful development depends on increasingly stronger governance relations between the state and broad segments of empowered citizens. Only when citizens have the interest and the power to call the state effectively to account is it likely that a ‘social contract’ can be forged between citizens and state.”
The role of NSAs for demanding accountability (e.g. private sector, trade unions, media), as well as providing other governance functions such as providing checks and balances/oversight on the state (e.g. advocacy organisations, private audit organisations), providing information on state actions and decisions (e.g. media) and delivering services (e.g. NGOs) means that NSAs occupy a central position in the sector governance analysis framework (see figure 1 below). In reality, there is a blurring of the categories of groups of actors, as NSAs perform multiple roles and can be, for example, service providers as well as providing some oversight functions and therefore demanding accountability from the state as well as from other actors

Figure 1: sector governance analysis framework¹⁶

Source: EC (2008) Reference document "Addressing and Analysing Governance in Sector Operations", Brussels: EC.

To conclude, there is a wealth of recent thinking and analysis within the EC regarding its support to NSAs. The overall finding of many of the reports is that whilst NSAs are increasingly being perceived as key actors in development processes by EC policy, the EC falls short of implementing this in its strategy and programming. Recommendations highlight the need for political engagement with NAMs (which is required by EC policy and the definition of the participative approach enshrined in the European Consensus) and including NSAs in engagement at country level from the outset, including development of country plans and strategies. Central to NSA support will be thorough analysis of the context and understanding “who’s who” in terms of the NSA landscape, their key roles and functions in the country and their relationships and dynamic with each other and the state.
This study builds on these findings and it aims to support the EC to address some of these fundamental challenges. The study suggests practical and realistic ways in which NSAs can play an active and strategic role in new aid modalities, particularly in relation to budget and sector support.