Engaging citizens is both good governance and essential for effective, accountable and sustainable development as it increases local buy-in and prevents miscommunication, corruption and other abuses. PTF offers strategic advice to international financial institutions (IFIs) on how best to engage citizens, stakeholders and CSOs for better development outcomes. We have worked with the African Development Bank, Asian Development Bank and World Bank on strengthening their engagement with civil society. We are currently developing guidelines and operational tools to help European Investment Bank (EIB) clients and staff engage more meaningfully with all categories of stakeholders.
Featured Work
Deepening Civil Society Engagement for Development Effectiveness
The new development paradigm embedded in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the United Nations Framework on Climate Change, and the Addis Ababa development financing framework reflect the emerging worldview that civil society has an important role in development. The implication for the ADB is that opportunities for supporting more and deeper collaboration with civil society organizations (CSOs) will increase as its Developing Member Countries (DMCs) pursue partnerships with CSOs in implementing the SDGs. PTF provided technical assistance to the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to strengthen CSO participation in the Banks’ operations.
Strengthening AfDB Engagement with Civil Society
In October 2012, the African Development Bank (AfDB) adopted a Framework for Enhanced Engagement with CSOs (CSO Framework), which provides the architecture for enhanced cooperation between the Bank and CSOs, in line with its 2013-2022 Strategy that envisages CSOs as key partners in the development of Africa. As part of this Framework, an Action Plan will be developed and implemented to increase attention to the mainstreaming of CSOs participation to Bank policies and operations. PTF developed the draft Action Plan to implement the Framework over a period of two years.
