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

1.4 Overview of methodology

There are three main components to the methodology for this study: a desk based review of EC policy, legal and programmatic documents; key informants interviews with EC staff in Brussels and in the field (in the India delegation) and a case study of EC support for NSA in India.

The desk study has involved extensive use and analysis of EC documentation and interviews with EC staff in Brussels to understand the current status of support to NSAs including the legal basis, the EC’s NSA strategy and the various projects and programmes that have supported NSA engagement in development processes. As well as EC guidance notes on GBS, SPSP and NSA participation there have also been some key studies analysing recent EC support including the INTRAC study on the Participation of NSAs in Poverty Reduction Strategies, Sector Approaches and Monitoring of Policy Implementation, the Evaluation of EC Aid Delivery to CSOs and the Capitalisation Study on Capacity Building Support Programmes for NSAs under the 9^th EDF.
India was chosen as the country case study based on interesting, relevant and available data (particularly on in-house good practices developed around complementarity of EC aid instruments) from the EC delegation as well as willingness and availability of staff in the delegation. In-depth interviews were conducted with EC staff working on health and education sector budget support programmes as well as their thematic colleagues, and interviews with key NSA partners and a couple of government counterparts.

Section 2: Overview of recent EC engagement and support to Non-State Actors

2.1. The policy context and legal basis

In the last decade there has been an increasing recognition of the crucial role that NSAs play in development cooperation by the EC in its policies and documents. The Cotonou Agreement (2000) was the first major EC policy document which legally enshrined participation of NSAs as a fundamental principle of cooperation (article 2) and set out a series of basic rules and modalities for this to take place in all spheres of EC development cooperation (article 4-8). It also signified a paradigm shift in EC approaches towards NSAs where NSAs were no longer perceived as beneficiaries or implementing agents of development cooperation but as active agents in the development process. The Communication on the Participation of Non-State Actors (NSAs) in Development Policy⁸ is explicit on the participatory role of NSAs and recommends involving NSAs in the five key stages of the development process: preparation of a national development strategy and of the EC country response strategy, policy dialogue in sectors of intervention, implementation and review. More recently, in the first part of the European Consensus on Development (2005)⁹ (which applies to all regions) the EC reiterates its political commitment to NSA participation by stating that:

“The EU supports the broad participation of all stakeholders in countries' development and encourages all parts of society to take part. Civil society, including economic and social partners such as trade unions, employers' organisations and the private sector, NGOs and other non-state actors of partner countries in particular play a vital role as promoters of democracy, social justice and human rights. The EU will enhance its support for building capacity of non-state actors in order to strengthen their voice in the development process and to advance political, social and economic dialogue.”
Definition of NSAs
The EC has begun to use the term Non-State Actors (NSAs) rather than civil society to broaden the term to emphasise the inclusion of the private sector and other economic and social partners, such as trade unions, religious organisations and universities, according to context specific national characteristics and the functions they fulfill. Thus, NSAs not only fulfill a service delivery function and advocacy but may also include watchdog/oversight/monitoring organizations and information providers such as the media. The Communication on Participation of NSAs builds on the definition of NSAs in the Cotonou Agreement and defines NSAs as:
“…a range of organisations that brings together the principal, existing or emerging, structures of the society outside of the government and public administration. NSAs are created voluntarily by citizens, their aim being to promote an issue or an interest either general or specific. They are independent of the state and can be profit or non-profit making organisations”¹⁰.
The most recent reference to NSAs is article 24.2 of the Development Co-operation Instrument which provides a detailed list of organisations eligible for EC financial support. Whilst this is not a definitive list of NSAs that will be present or relevant in every context, it provides a reasonably broad yet realistic list of types of NSAs that will be considered under the category of “non-state actors”. They are:
“nongovernmental organisations, organisations representing indigenous peoples, organisations representing national and/or ethnic minorities, local traders' associations and citizens' groups, cooperatives, trade unions, organisations representing economic and social interests, organisations fighting corruption and fraud and promoting good governance, civil rights organisations and organisations combating discrimination, local organisations (including networks) involved in decentralised regional cooperation and integration, consumer organisations, women's and youth organisations, teaching, cultural, research and scientific organisations, universities, churches and religious associations and communities, the media and any nongovernmental associations and independent foundations, including independent political foundations”¹¹.

Box 1: Legal basis for NSAs
The legal basis for engagement of NSAs is derived from the main following documents.

1. 
   The Cotonou Agreement applies to all African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries. Article 6 provides definitions of NSAs.
   

http://ec.europa.eu/development/icenter/repository/Cotonou_EN_2006_en.pdf

2. 
   The Development Co-operation Instrument applies to Asia, Latin America (ALA) and the Middle East. It also include 6 thematic programmes including the Non-State Actors and Local Authorities programme. Article 24.2 states the definition of "non-profit non state actors" whilst article 5(g) indicates that support to civil society is an objective of the DCI.
   

http://eurlex.europa.eu/lex/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2006:378:0041:0071:EN:PDF

3. 
   The European Neighbourhood and Partnership Instrument applies to the Mediterranean, Eastern European countries and South Caucasus. Article 2(i) and (m) outlines support to civil society.
   

http://ec.europa.eu/world/enp/pdf/oj_l310_en.pdf
4. European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights (EIDHR). The EIDHR is a European Union instrument that aims to promote and support human rights and democracy worldwide.

http://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/where/worldwide/eidhr/index_en.htm