Nota de enquadramento

A reforma da Ajuda Pública ao Desenvolvimento (APD) tem sido debatida em sucessivos fóruns de alto nível onde foram sendo definidos princípios e compromissos concretos para melhorar a ajuda. No final de 2011, organizou-se em Busan na Coreia do Sul, um desses Fóruns de Alto Nível sobre a Eficácia da Ajuda donde resultou a declaração sobre a Parceria Global para a Eficácia da Cooperação para o Desenvolvimento. Esta declaração marca um ponto de viragem na forma como se estrutura a APD. Em Portugal foram organizadas várias iniciativas preparatórias para debater as posições a seguir em Busan e o primeiro debate público aconteceu na Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian em Dezembro de 2011. Este é o primeiro encontro após Busan e é a oportunidade de debater, com participantes portugueses no Fórum e com representantes da Sociedade Civil, como decorreram as negociações, quais os resultados, quais os contornos desta nova parceria e suas implicações para o futuro da cooperação para o desenvolvimento.

O encontro contará com a presença dos seguintes oradores:

• Manuela Ferreira, Directora de Serviços de Assuntos Europeus e Multilaterais, IPAD - Instituto Português de Apoio ao Desenvolvimento
• Fátima Proença, Directora da ACEP – Associação para a Cooperação Entre os Povos
• Luís Mah, CesA, Investigador de Pós-Doutoramento no CEsA, ISEG – Instituto Superior de Economia e Gestão

Será moderado por Raquel Freitas, Investigadora de Pós-Doutoramento no CIES, ISCTE-IUL

Para mais informações:

Raquel Freitas, CIES-IUL: raquel.freitas@eui.eu

Ana Larcher, Vice Presidente da AvalPortugal, CEA-IUL: avalportugal@gmail.com

 Sobre a AvalPortugal:

A AvalPortugal (Associação Portuguesa de Avaliação) foi criada em 2009 com o objectivo de promover a cultura da avaliação no âmbito das políticas públicas, dos projectos e programas e das organizações.

A crescente importância da avaliação na sociedade portuguesa está ligada com a integração europeia e os resultantes fluxos de financiamento. Dada a relativa autonomia dos projectos e instituições, desenvolveram-se distintas culturas de avaliação com filosofias, abordagens e metodologias próprias que não confluíram para produzir uma cultura de avaliação comum e generalizada.

A AvalPortugal pretende criar uma rede, interactiva e flexível, de partilha de conhecimento, de debate, de aprendizagem, de produção de conhecimento que seja um fórum de cooperação e que permita construir pontes entre várias “ilhas de avaliação”. (veja mais em http://www.avalportugal.org/ e http://avalportugal.wordpress.com/)

via 4.º Fórum de Alto Nível sobre a Eficácia da Ajuda | Contributos para o Debate.

International NGOs are the verge of facing irrelevance, if not extinction. This is one of the main messages of CIVICUS’ latest report, which warns that many well-established non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have become disconnected from people’s aspirations and concerns.�

The report argues that citizens are increasingly coming together in new and informal forms of association to affect social change in their communities, often disregarding traditional NGOs. Ingrid Srinath, the Secretary General of CIVICUS, notes that “civil society organizations must embrace people’s movements to connect better with the public and renew themselves in order to survive”.

The genesis of the Arab Spring seems to provide a case in point: individuals using social media to connect with one another led to the fall of authoritarian regimes, while established organizations watched from the sidelines.

The report starts by reviewing the state of the world’s civil society, building on the work done by CIVICUS in the past four years to track the political, institutional, social and cultural constraints faced by civil society in various countries. The erosion of the political space for civil society is a reality in many parts of the world. Restrictive legal environments, intimidation, criminalization and other repressive measures are silencing NGOs.� To make matters worse, many NGOs are still recovering from the financial impact of the global economic crisis on their organizations. This affects the capacity of NGOs to outreach, mobilize, engage/disengage and advocate effectively.

The CIVICUS report brings up a number of important questions, which ought to be taken seriously not only by NGOs but by anyone trying to affect social change. In essence, it looks at the nature of civic activism and mobilization, and asks what types of social structures are most adequate to deliver the change that people aspire to today.

The following elements, which are missing from the report, also ought to be taken into consideration when discussing the dynamics of change and democratization:

The report is surprisingly silent about the gender dimension of social change.� The cover of the report shows a large group of visibly angry men in a mass demonstration (on the streets of Cairo?) and one wonders what kind of change will take place when half of the population is nowhere to be seen on the streets. The discussion over form (NGOs versus decentralized citizens movements) should not preclude a discussion over purpose. NGOs as well as grassroots movements have both historically failed to include women in their top decision-making processes worldwide (with a few exceptions). Women need to be included in any type of formal or informal activism if change is to lead to stable and representative societies based on the rule of law and the respect of women’s and men’s universal human rights.

The report argues that many NGOs are perceived as urban and elitist organizations, but is silent about the capture and instrumentalization of grassroots independent movements by vested interests. I would argue that decentralized movements are as, if not more, vulnerable to internal power struggles and external cooptation than established NGOs. Unfortunately, the indigenous peoples movement is a sad example of this worldwide.

The report focuses only on countries and movements in the global south. I would argue that many of the issues faced by southern NGOs and movements are also increasingly relevant to northern NGOs and movements. Lack of funding, the rise of conservative governments in Europe, the concerted battle on terrorism, high unemployment rates, etc. are all redefining the social contract between citizens, their elected representatives and the role of member-based organizations. The recent social uprisings in Greece and Spain were not led by traditional organizations (trade unions, NGOs) but by an active citizenry expressing its discontent with the lack of regard for their everyday concerns, rights and aspirations.

The report concludes by urging organized and less formal civil society to come together as each has distinctive and complementary capabilities as drivers of social change. Will CIVICUS’s next report provide actionable recommendations as to how to (re)build these connections in support of participatory and progressive change?

Elisa Peter is a Master of Public Administration candidate at the Harvard Kennedy School and a Mid-Career Fellow at the Hauser Center for Nonprofit Organizations.

via Have NGOs Become Irrelevant? |.

Visite: http://cooperacao-desenvolvimento.blogspot.com

fonte: Buala.org



Michael Hammer, Charlotte Rooney, and Shana Warren
ISSN 2043-7943 Briefing paper number 125, March 2010. One World Trust.

“Global and national non-governmental organisations (NGOs) are the most distinct organisational form of civil society, and as such have become increasingly involved and influential in forming public opinion and policy through targeted and professional campaigning and policy advocacy. Yet their growing power has also raised questions about the basis on which they engage in these activities, including their accountability and legitimacy in view of frequent explicit or implicit claims these organisations make to social representation, the quality of their research work, and the public benefit they provide.

Based on a world-wide survey of civil society self-regulatory initiatives undertaken by the One World Trust this paper examines how NGOs have begun to address the accountability challenges they face in particular when engaging in advocacy and explains some of the strengths and weaknesses of existing self-regulation for NGOs engaged in advocacy.

Research presented in the paper suggests that both normative and instrumental reasons account for the adoption of accountability principles by advocacy organisations through self-regulation, and that lessons learnt from the One World Trust’s parallel work on accountability principles for policy oriented research organisations can be usefully applied also to strengthen accountability of advocacy NGOs.

The briefing identifies for each major dimension of accountability a set of initial good practice principles for advocacy organisations, including on:
• transparency of the evidence basis used in advocacy, of funding and funders for specific campaigns and activities, and around forward looking information such as strategy, and the processes used to determine advocacy priorities;
• opportunities for participation of beneficiaries and other key stakeholders of the organisation in the development of advocacy objectives and their review; and
• the development of criteria for evaluating the impact of advocacy with beneficiaries and other stakeholders, and the establishment of feedback and complaints handling mechanisms to address individual experiences and problematic impacts.

The paper concludes with the identification of remaining challenges for research and self-regulation practice to strengthen accountability in advocacy by NGOs: how to deal with inherent tensions between objectivity and messaging in purpose driven advocacy; how to protect independence, freedoms and role of NGOs in the public policy process, and how to strengthen the connection between ethical practice in fundraising and selfregulation of policy advocacy work”

Posted in Accountability, Advocacy and campaigning, Civil Society / NGO | No Comments »

This publication reports on the process and findings of a cluster evaluation of four non-government organisations (NGO). The organisations were supported by AusAID in response to the 2005 Pakistan earthquake emergency under AusAID’s Cooperation Agreements for Emergency Response (CAER) Program.

In 2003, AusAID signed Cooperation Agreements for Emergency Response with a total of five Australian NGOs for a period of three years. The goal of these agreements was to improve capacity to respond rapidly to humanitarian emergencies in Australia’s region.

The evaluation team found the responses of the four NGO’s engaged in the Pakistan earthquake emergency to be satisfactory or above overall.

Cooperation Agreements for Emergency Response (CAER) Cluster Evaluation Pakistan Earthquake [PDF 589KB]

The African continent has been the recipient of development aid for over five decades. The post-Cold War era has seen foreign aid increasingly channelled through international and domestic NGOs rather than through bilateral assistance. The rise of neo-liberalism as the dominant development paradigm, also known as the ‘New Policy Agenda’, has solidified the prominence of NGOs in the global system. Many African countries have experienced a flood of NGOs, both foreign and indigenous. Amongst these NGOs a growing number are faith-based, suggesting that religious NGOs have come to be significant agents of change in African societies. Further, religious NGOs are  ecoming important not only within development discourse and practice, but also as policy instruments and actors in a period where religious faith and sentiment is at the centre of public policy and discourse.
Despite this, the roles of religious NGOs remain under-researched in civil society research. In the process of understanding the social roles of religious NGOs in Africa, and their issues is untapped. The primary goal of this panel is to encourage interest and to stimulate debates regarding both the empirical realities of faith-based NGOs in Africa as well as their implications for understanding broader theoretical and organisational issues.

Panelists:
Ahmed, Chanfi (Berlin): Sunni and Shi´a Islamic NGOs in East Africa (Kenya and Tanzania): African Muslim Agency, Al-Haramayn and
Bilal Muslim Mission.
Taguem Fah, Gilbert (Ngaoundéré) and Théodore Takou (Yaoundé 1): Between Secular and Spiritual : Considering islamic Faith Based
Non-Profit organizations in Cameroon
Kaag, Mayke (Leiden): The work of Transnational Islamic NGOs in Africa: Chad and Senegal compared
LeBlanc, Marie Nathalie (Montréal); Gomez-Perez, Muriel (Quebec City) and Mathias Savadogo (Cocody-Abidjan): Faith-based NGO and
recent religious transformations in West Africa

Fri, 5 June, 11:30 – 13:30
Room: S222
Panel Convenor(s):
Muriel Gomez-Perez
Muriel.Gomez-Perez@hst.ulaval.ca
Marie Nathalie LeBlanc
leblanc.marie-nathalie@uqam.ca
Chair(s):
Marleen Renders
Discussant:
Roman Loimeier

http://www.uni-leipzig.de/~ecas2009/documents/conference%20book%20ecas_web.pdf

A edição de 2009 da campanha “Presentes Solidários”, promovida pela Fundação Evangelização e Culturas, superou as cinco mil ofertas, batendo os números alcançados no ano anterior.

“A nossa meta era ultrapassar os 4195 presentes oferecidos o ano passado”, relatou à Agência ECCLESIA o coordenador da iniciativa, Emanuel Oliveira. “Tendo em conta os recursos e o trabalho que colocámos nesta campanha, é um óptimo resultado”, acrescentou.

As dificuldades económicas vividas no país parecem ter aumentado a generosidade dos portugueses: “Em ambiente de crise, as pessoas são mais sensíveis à fragilidade de quem tem menos”, constatou Emanuel Oliveira.

Os números finais da operação ainda não estão definidos, mas um dia após o encerramento da campanha sabe-se que o valor total das ofertas aproxima-se dos 60 mil euros.

O presente para a Guiné-Bissau foi o preferido por ser o mais acessível: “Angariámos mais de duas mil latas de leite em pó para as crianças dos centros de recuperação nutricional de Bafatá”, indicou aquele responsável.

“Há pessoas, paróquias e empresas que escolhem o presente de menor valor para poderem chegar a um maior número de amigos e colaboradores”, referiu o coordenador da iniciativa.

Os presentes são renovados todos os anos: “Pedimos aos nossos parceiros nos países lusófonos que nos sugiram hipóteses de ofertas, até porque as necessidades mudam ao longo do tempo”, explicou Emanuel Oliveira.

Em 2009, a Fundação Evangelização e Culturas proporcionou às empresas a possibilidade de oferecem macas para Moçambique. As duas companhias que optaram por esta oferta, no valor unitário de 260 euros, também aderiram aos presentes “normais”.

Uma surpresa para quem recebe e para quem oferece

Quando se compra um “Presente Solidário”, o dinheiro é entregue às instituições que trabalham nos países lusófonos; estas, por sua vez, farão a compra e a entrega dos bens a quem deles mais precisa. A pessoa que adquire a oferta recebe um postal relativo ao presente comprado, que poderá depois oferecer a quem desejar.

Um simples postal, é verdade, mas com um grande significado, não só para as populações que recebem os presentes, mas também para quem os oferece: “Recebemos testemunhos de pessoas que nunca tinham pensado na possibilidade de ter um gesto solidário no Natal”, disse Emanuel Oliveira.

“Aquilo que se procura, numa altura do ano em que praticamente todos acabamos por ser envolvidos numa onda consumista, é devolver o verdadeiro sentido do Natal”, acrescentou.

“Num tempo em que Deus nos visita e nos faz renascer, a iniciativa procura que os presentes ofereçam às comunidades a possibilidade de, também elas, nascerem de novo, através de bens simples e pequenos mas que podem fazer toda a diferença”, afirmou o coordenador da campanha. E concluiu: “Pode ser o Evangelho a realizar-se”.

Os projectos escolhidos vão ao encontro de áreas como a educação, a saúde e as infra-estruturas. São comprados em cada país, a fim de promover o comércio local e são adquiridos e entregues em colaboração estreita com sete parceiros no terreno: Irmãs Filhas d’África (Angola), Missionários Espiritanos (Cabo Verde), Diocese de Bafatá (Guiné-Bissau), Missionários de São João Baptista (Moçambique), Missionários da Consolata (Brasil), GAS Porto – ISMAIK (Timor-Leste) e Associação Navegar (São Tomé e Príncipe).