UNDP Oslo Governance Centre

OGC and Civil Society

OGC’s civil society project builds on the recognition in UNDP’s Strategic Plan that vibrant and vigorous democracies are developed and sustained through inclusive participation, as well as strong responsive governance institutions. It is anchored in the belief that for poor people to be fully empowered, change is needed at a number of levels and through different actors.

In 2008, OGC, in close collaboration with UNDP’s Civil Society Division, and other Advisors in DGG and the regional bureaux, will take stock of UNDP’s existing engagement with civil society and identify lessons learnt from recent experience. We will think strategically about the future of such engagement and consider the best way to foster it, in terms of both knowledge sharing and the provision of institutional support to country offices.

As part of this stocktaking, there will be a formal review of the 2001 policy document UNDP and Civil Society Organisations: A Policy of Engagement,  taking into account not only UNDP experience to date and the guidance on inclusive participation and civic engagement provided in the Strategic Plan 2008-2011, but also experience and debates from outside the UN system.

Further resources on civil society:

UNDP and Civil Society Organizations: a Toolkit for Strengthening Partnerships (2006) This toolkit provides practical guidance and essential information in forging partnerships with CSOs. It includes examples of innovative country-level mechanisms to build and strengthen collaboration with CSOs.
Mobilizing Poor People for Active Citizenship: A Discussion Paper Explores the potential of civil society to promote active citizenship for marginalized groups, and outlines possible programming options. Drawing on the cases of Malawi and Tanzania, the paper emphasises the importance of power structures and the relationship between citizen, state and civil society in determining the nature of active citizenship, and outlines how the concept of active citizenship can mutually reinforce the link between Democratic Governance and the MDGs
A Guide to Civil Society Organizations Working on Democratic Governance (2005) Information on more than 300 CSOs working across UNDP’s seven priority democratic governance areas or Service Lines.
Millennium Development Goals: A Resource Sheet (2005) This resource sheet, produced by UNDP-CSO Division and UN-NGLS, lists some key papers and reports on the MDGs from the perspective of civil society organizations and international institutions.
CSO Perspectives on Poverty Reduction Strategies: A Resource Sheet (2005) This resource sheet lists key papers and reports by CSOs on poverty reduction strategies at the national and regional levels.
Experiences from the Field: UNDP-CSO Partnerships for Conflict Prevention (2005) This report highlights innovative partnerships between UNDP and CSOs in conflict prevention.
Practical Guidance Note on Civic Education (2004) (Also in Russian) This note, published by the Oslo Governance Centre in April 2004 is aimed at providing practical information and guidance for civic education programming and includes definitions, tips on programming, possible partners, issues to be aware of, UNDP case studies and links to additional resources.
UNDP and Civil Society Organizations: Partners in Development (2003) This publication documents good practices of UNDP/CSO partnerships working in one of the focus areas of UNDP; Democratic Governance, HIV/AIDS, Poverty Reduction, Crisis Prevention and Recovery, Energy and Environment and Sustainable development.
Sourcebook on Building Partnerships with Civil Society Organizations (2002) This "sourcebook" seeks to help UNDP country offices to build substantive partnerships with civil society organizations (CSOs) and develop policy and programme initiatives with CSOs to promote human development.
UNDP and Civil Society Organizations: A Policy of Engagement (2001) (Also in French and Spanish) The updated policy on UNDP engagement with civil society organizations sets out a new set of principles and highlights the policy and programmatic implications.
UNDP and Indigenous Peoples: A Policy of Engagement (2001) (Also in French and Spanish) This document explains how UNDP establishes frameworks to guide their work in building sustainable partnerships with indigenous peoples.

UNDP’s Civil Society Organisations Division

UNDP's Civil Society Organisations Division
The CSO Division at UNDP headquarters provides policy and advisory support to UNDP staff and engages actively with CSO partners. More on this Division

Thierno Kane
Director, Civil Society Division, Partnerships Bureau
thierno.kane@undp.org

Bharati Sadasivam
Policy Advisor, Civil Society Division, Partnerships Bureau
bharati.sadasivam@undp.org

Contact:
Barry Driscoll
Research Associate
barry.driscoll@undp.org