successful engagement with civil society organizations
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8/3/2019 Successful Engagement with Civil Society Organizations
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Background
Social movements since the 19th century
have altered political systems and social
structures. At the core o these social
actions are inormal groups o individuals
or ormal organizations either espousing
or galvanizing resistance to social change.
Reerred to as civil society in more recent
times, they are characterized as non-stateactors whose aims are neither to generate
prots nor seek governing power. Civil
society organizations (CSOs) unite people
to advance shared goals and interests. At
the international and local levels, CSOs
tenaciously move toward having greater
inuence on decision making, governance,
and actions that directly afect people.
Specically, in Asia and the Pacic region,
most governments have recognized the
role o civil society in their respective
country’s development processes. Theiractual engagements, though, vary within
and across countries.
The advantages o working with CSOs,
such as nongovernment organizations
(NGOs), have been recognized by the
Asian Development Bank (ADB) since late
1980s. ADB’s operations have shown that
cooperation with CSOs has contributed to
the efectiveness, sustainability, and overall
perormance o ADB-assisted activities
in ADB’s developing member countries(DMCs). To strengthen the institutional
arrangements or engagement o CSOs
in addressing their concerns, ADB
established the NGO Civil Society Center
in 2001. The Center is mandated with
the primary responsibility or developing,
implementing, and assessing general
policy and practice relating to ADB
participations with civil society. Aside
rom NGOs, ADB has partnered with
community-based organizations (CBOs),
independent research institutes, people’s
organizations, labor unions, and various
nonprot oundations as collaborative
partners and/or under a contract
engagement. ADB cooperates with civil
society at diferent levels covering policy,
country strategy, and programs/projects.
Engagement o CSOs in ADB operations
has been through diferent roles, includingbut are not limited to (i) serving as
partners in project implementation and/
or operations, (ii) providing assistance to
recipients o ADB support, (iii) acting as
conancier, (iv) conducting monitoring
and evaluation o ADB-assisted activities,
and (v) participating in policy advocacy.
This synthesis ocuses on lessons rom
successul engagement o CSOs in ADB-
nanced operations. The lessons were
ramed according to the various roles o
CSOs and based on inormation extracted
rom project completion reports (sel-
evaluation) and independent evaluations.
CSOs have partnered with ADB in project
design and implementation underdiferent contexts. CSOs have served as
(i) acilitators in the identication and
provision o targeted services or the poor,
disadvantaged people, and women; (ii)
agents and intermediaries or micronance
operations that provide credit to the poor;
and (iii) service providers that contribute
to the attainment o project objectives
and sustained outcomes. The involvement
and contributions o NGOs and CBOs in
identiying the needs o the poor and the
disadvantaged (including women and
children) are critical to achieving desired
development results. For example, during
the project preparation phase o the Third
Livestock Development Project in Nepal,
representatives o local communities
conrmed the need to improve livestock
productivity among low-income amilies
with the ultimate goal o improvingamily incomes and health. During
project implementation, NGOs acilitated
the ormation and strengthening o
CBOs, specically, armers’ groups. This
engagement led to the improvement
o livestock production and household
incomes, and also contributed to the socia
and economic empowerment o the poor,
the disadvantaged communities, and
women. Similarly, the involvement o an
NGO was instrumental in the preparation
o the natural resource management
plan o district wards (barangay) in the
Cordillera Highland o the Philippines. The
NGO had been efective because o their
amiliarity with participatory development
planning practices, the region, and thepeople. The participatory approach in
the identication o community needs
and preparation o plans has heightened
awareness o development issues and
priorities, sense o ownership, and
community responsibility among local
inhabitants. In another project in the
Philippines, community participation was
accomplished through the engagement
o NGOs in community organization
and development o agrarian reorm
Successul Engagement with CivilSociety Organizations
July 2011
EvaluationIndependent
Cooperation with civil society organizations has contributed to
the efectiveness, sustainability, and overall perormance o
ADB-assisted activities in its developing member countries.
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nsultation workshop is held in an agrarian reorm community in the Philippines. Community participation was accomplished
gh the engagement o NGOs in community organization and development o agrarian reorm benefciaries. ADB Photo Library
Learning Lessons
beneciaries. This contributed to greater
beneciary participation and ownership,
which were key actors or achieving the
intended targets o the country’s agrarian
reorm project. In Sri Lanka, experience
with a community restoration project
indicated that CBOs had acilitated the
selection o priority works and initiatives
or income generation, amid the
destruction o acilities and dislocation
o communities brought about by
protracted internal confict. With the
involvement o CBOs, the project was able
to ocus on highly relevant initiatives,
which were aimed at improving the
living conditions o communities that
comprised mostly o internally displaced
people. Similarly, in Nepal, the role o
CSOs in consensus building and social
mobilization, given the prevailing
lawlessness and insecurity at the local
level, was essential in acilitating design
and implementation o various programs
and projects. The evaluation o country
assistance programs in Nepal indicated
that the combination o programs and
projects and technical assistance support
channeled through CSOs helped address
the country’s concerns on exclusion
and lack o connectivity in rural areas,
micronancing, and education.
CSOs, such as cooperatives,
oundations, and associations,
have served as eective partners
in microfnance operations. In the
Philippines, or example, micronance
projects have successully engaged
NGOs as micronance intermediaries
or low-income entrepreneurs, poor
households, and disadvantaged women.
Among the attributes o these successul
micronance intermediaries were capable
and dedicated managers, established
accounting and control systems, active
participation o clientele, capability to
generate and mobilize internal resources,
eective management o loan portolio,
cost recovery, and appropriate pricing
o interest rates. Increased access to
micronance through NGO engagement
has contributed to increased incomes
and greater employment opportunities
among beneciaries. Similarly, the
NGOs’ extensive outreach capacity in
micronance was used eectively in the
participatory livestock development in
Bangladesh. Access to credit and income-
generating activities were extended to
small armer groups, beneting mostly
village women. CBOs involved in another
agriculture project in Bangladesh became
eective micronance intermediaries. They
competed with well-established NGOs and
improved service delivery. Smallholders
perceived water management cooperative
associations as a competitive alternative
to NGO microcredit programs.
NGOs and CBOs have assumed the
roles o service providers to acilitate
achievement o project objectives. In
a social protection project in Indonesia,
or instance, NGOs were engaged in
managing orphanages and halway
house or street children. These NGOs
have rejoined some children with
their amilies, served as conduits or
scholarships, and acilitated the conduct
o vocational trainings. CBOs have servedas reliable acilitators, connecting projects
and beneciary groups or project
implementation, and ostering operation
and maintenance (O&M). For example,
in the groundwater irrigation project
in Nepal, representatives rom each o
the water users’ associations (WUAs)
underwent training on appropriate
O&M or irrigation acilities and basic
agricultural extension. They subsequently
provided ee-based water irrigation
and extension services to their ellowarmers. Aside rom being contracted
to undertake earthworks and simple
gravel works, WUAs also carried out
annual maintenance o arm-to-market
roads, and took on the responsibility or
O&M o irrigation acilities. Women and
disadvantaged groups were represented
in WUAs, which acilitated their active
roles in local resource management,
and ensured their year- round access
to irrigation. Similarly, in the Lao PDR’s
irrigation project, WUAs employedsystematic water management and
conducted routine maintenance or
the irrigation systems using their own
resources. Having a reliable irrigation
water source or the armers subsequently
improved their agricultural productivity,
which translated into increased household
incomes. In addition, civil society can play
a role in helping to monitor impact o ADB
operations on intended beneciary.
CBOs can serve as reliable
acilitators connecting the
project and beneciary groups
or project implementation
and operation and
maintenance.
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