Around 40 participants met at the TRIALOG-CONCORD Expert Seminar on November 10-11, 2009 to deepen the discussion on the future role of civil society organisations (CSOs) in development, in times when the overall political environment for the work of genuine CSOs is getting less and less favourable.The seminar sessions and working groups touched on various relevant aspects regarding the work of CSOs, such as e.g. the role of Southern CSOs versus the role of European CSOs, the values and factors that motivate and influence our work, faced dependencies and how to avoid them, similiarities and differencies between new EU member states (NMS) and old member states (OMS) in the development cooperation processes, hindering and helping factors for the work of CSOs, the influence of the current crises, the CSO development effectiveness and other topics. Last but not least the question around the necessity of a Code of Conduct for CSOs provoked a vivid exchange of views.
The discussions showed that there is an interest and clear need to confront each other with the topics and different opinions around the role and future of CSOs. Such kind of clarifying discussions and productive debates are needed to find out which approaches drive our day-to-day work and what do we really want to jointly achieve in future. The debates are interlinked to the processes which are going on in the CONCORD family of organisations in the frame of the CSO Development Effectiveness agenda and its global CSO Forum as well as the 2nd CONCORD strategic aim of "Promoting the rights and responsibilities of civil society".
The recent Expert Seminar was a preparatory event for a further conference planned in autumn 2010 in Managua, Nicaragua (November 24-26, 2010). The idea of continuing a dialogue and self-reflection on our role as development actors in a conference in the South was an outcome of the 2008 Prague conference "Are we on the right track? Paradigm Review by CSOs as Development Actors" (see http://www.trialog.or.at/start.asp?ID=155). At that time, many of the participants felt that an open dialogue between CSOs from „West", „East" and „South" should be intensified for reflecting together upon the principles which underlie our work and that such a dialogue should take place in the South. As for the recent expert seminar, participation in the Managua conference will not be limited to those who have been involved in the process since the Prague conference. The process is open for everyone who is interested to reflect on our collective approaches and responses to poverty and global inequalities and to work on practical orientations for the CSO community.
Find the documentation of the November Expert seminar on the TRIALOG website at:
Information provided by Anita Bister, TRIALOG
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