ADF IV CIVIL SOCIETY AND GOVERNANCE FOCUS GROUP

ISSUES PAPER

Introduction

Over the past two decades, political and development discourse has rightly come to give great prominence to the activities of civil society. It is now generally recognised that the collaboration and participation of civil society is frequently a crucial factor in the success of development initiatives. Civil society is typically closer than most government actors are to the grassroots of the community, with consequent advantages both in the ability to mobilise at levels government may find difficult to reach and in the sensitivity to grassroots needs that may be vital to the achievement of development objectives.

The pursuit of good governance affords a prime example of a type of development initiative for which involvement of civil society is profoundly important. Civil society is increasingly seen to be a crucial agent for enhancing popular empowerment, enforcing political accountability, and in general improving the quality and inclusiveness of governance. This recognition has been accompanied by a reconsideration of the limits of state action, and increased awareness of the potential of civic organizations to play a role in providing public goods and services, either independently or in concert with state institutions.

The Consensus Statement of ADF III adverted explicitly to the need to engage civil society ever more thoroughly in the pursuit of Africa's key development and governance agendas. It stressed the value of civil society participation both on the input side of large-scale initiatives, in consultations and forums at all levels, and also in the effective pursuit of goals such as achieving targets for representation, promoting regional integration and international cooperation, and maintaining or restoring respect for human rights.

Objective of the Focus Group

The purpose of the ADF IV Civil Society and Governance Focus Group is to discuss ways that civil society can collaborate better with government structures. It will examine issues of public policy decision making, transparency and information sharing, enhancing state performance, and contributions in the area of social justice.

Key Issues

1) The formation of public policy

Wealthy and socially dominant groups, exploiting their superior resources and their social status, frequently exercise considerable influence over public policy, whether directly or by supporting intermediary organizations that effectively represent their interests. Conversely, the comparatively poor and socially disadvantaged sections of the population often have virtually no chance of influencing public policy and resource allocations. Institutional innovations such as decentralisation of decision-making are often advocated as doing something to redress this imbalance and promoting more widespread popular involvement, though how far they genuinely do so is a topic of continuing debate. Some questions that arise in this connection are:

• Under what socio-economic and political conditions can grassroots mobilization be effective in influencing public policy?

• What kinds of strategy appear to be most effective in promoting high rates of civic engagement?

• What kinds of institution are conducive to higher rates of political participation? For instance, is decentralisation always, or normally, or only sometimes thus conducive?

2) Transparent governance and access to information

It seems reasonable to suppose that energetic civic organizations can often have an impact on the quality of governance by increasing the availability of information about the making and implementation of government policy. Cases will differ, however, and there is a need for reflection upon past and recent experience in order to determine just when and how civil society activities most decisively promote the discovery and dissemination of information about the functioning of the legislative process, public expenditure allocations, the implementation of declared policy and programmes, and so forth. One may consider in particular such questions as the following, while bearing in mind that the answers may well vary a good deal according to national circumstances:

• What are the best ways for civil society groups to promote the implementation of existing legislation, and ensure monitoring of the delivery of development resources?

• How can citizens most effectively work to stem the appropriation of resources by bureaucrats and local elites, and to bring about the indictment of public officials involved in malfeasance?

• What determines the fruitfulness of public advocacy and campaigning designed to increase governmental commitment to probity and responsiveness across the board, so as to lead to the regular implementation of relevant legislation and programmes and of the findings of special inquiries?

3) Enhancing state performance

The quality of public services and the effectiveness of public expenditure are among the chief criteria of good governance. Some familiar proposals about the possible role of civil society in enhancing states' performance in these respects, not least in developing countries, concern the following: public-private partnerships in which CSOs work closely with state institutions in the design and delivery of services, and the monitoring of their quality and coverage; CSOs' mobilizing funds among client groups and other sources; and CSOs' directly delivering services themselves. The most desirable outcome might be a kind of synergy, in which state institutions acquire greater legitimacy and improve their performance by developing responsive working relationships with civil society, and thereby drawing on reservoirs of social capital. However, this sort of flourishing partnership between state and civil society may require specific institutional and political conditions, which are not easily replicable. Among the questions thus posed are:

• In order for civil society to contribute to the improving of governmental performance, what are the conditions that most vitally need to be satisfied so far as concerns the policy environment and the stance of state institutions? Is a stance of non-intervention sufficient, or is some mix of promotion and regulation required?

• How can cooperative relationships and alliance-building between CSOs and sympathetic bureaucrats contribute to improving the quality of public services, and the effectiveness with which they are delivered?

4) Social justice, rights and the rule of law

It would seem to be equally true of developed and developing countries that an active civil society is essential for the combating of injustice. In some countries, violations of citizens' legal rights and widespread lapses from the rule of law will be a central problem; in others, the focus might instead be the failure of the law itself to respect human rights and natural justice. Still, whatever species of injustice is most to the fore, the potential of civil society to reduce it must never be discounted. But the difficult questions of course regard ways and means:

• What are the conditions under which advocacy by specialist human rights organisations, whether in pressing for the implementation of existing laws, or for fresh legal initiatives and institutional reforms, is most likely to improve the functioning and accountability of state policing and security organs?

• How can civil society organisations best be enabled to shelter individuals threatened by repressive states and to arrange for the defence of their rights through official legal processes?

• How can concerned sections of civil society best address instances of inadequacy in the existing law, or low capacity of the courts and the legal profession to ensure its implementation?

• How can they best deal with political obstacles to efforts to resist injustice, or with a social environment that likewise tends to impede such efforts?

Conclusion

These are some of the issues that the Focus Group will need to consider before the ADF IV in October 2004. The group's agreement on key areas of concern, and consensus on recommended actions, is intended to guide the plenary deliberations, with other stakeholders and selected heads of State, at the Forum itself.