UNDP Oslo Governance Centre

Introductory Primer on the Role of Legal Reform in Supporting Civil Society
This Introductory Primer on the Role of Legal Reform in Supporting Civil Society was commissioned by UNDP from the International Centre for Not-for-Profit Law to respond to the increasing demand on UNDP to engage with or advise governments to develop civil society legal frameworks. The primer will guide UNDP in facilitating state-citizen relations through a better understanding of the normative and practical aspects of the often sensitive issue of legal and regulatory framework allowing and governing the establishment of civil society organizations, and their space and scope to function in public life.

The primer was finalized after an extensive review process by the Bratislava Regional Centre, the Civil Society Division/PB and the Oslo Governance Centre/BDP.

Discussion Paper 14: Voice, Accountability and Civic Engagement: A Conceptual Overview (2009)
The paper provides an overview of current thinking on voice, accountability and the role of civic engagement in promoting more responsive democratic governance and sustainable development. It concludes with key recommendations for policy and programme considerations in promoting voice and accountability mechanisms by UNDP.

Global Inventory of UNDP Engagement with Civil Society (2009)
The inventory provide a global overview and analysis of the ways in which UNDP engages with civil society. The inventory is the result of the global survey carried out in 2007-2008 to which 102 country offices (72%) responded. The survey focused on assessing the expanse of country offices current engagement with civil society.

Promoting Civic Engagement in a Post-Totalitarian and EU Accession Context: A Case from Bulgaria (2008)
This paper looks at UNDP experience in Bulgaria in promoting civic engagement in a post-totalitarian and EU accession context. It concludes that scaling up of participatory approaches requires the establishment of mechanisms for voice and accountability within the state. This in turn requires a deeper process of political development to embed democratic values and culture in all parts of society as enhancing citizens’ voice and creating demand for participation does not automatically lead to increasing the receptiveness of the state to citizens involvement.

Partnership in Action: UNDP Engagement with Civil Society (2008)
This tool is designed to respond to the demands of country offices, and to help UNDP staff in country offices and regional centres learn from other organizational experiences in developing programmes and partnerships with civil society. It provides an overview, outlines some key concepts in UNDP engagement with civil society. It contains country case studies, categorized by the roles that civil society partners play in partnering with UNDP, e.g., a) mobilizing public participation; b) policy-making and dialogue; c) providing services; and d) promoting social cohesion. Each thematic section contains country case studies organized by sub-theme and includes two discussion summaries of ways in which UNDP can strengthen its civil society partners through capacity development and accountability mechanisms.

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.

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.

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.