'The Accra Conditionality of Participation!?' The role of civil society organisations in

Resulting from CSO critique of the Paris Declaration signatories of the Accra Agenda committed themselves to deepen CSO engagement in national aid effectiveness. Therefore the purpose herein is to increase understanding over functions, mechanisms, hindrances and opportunities facing CSO in this process in Tanzania. The primary method for achieving this was semi-structured interviews with 21 persons from the Government of Tanzania, Development Partners and CSOs. It was concluded that there are a multitude of functions for CSOs in aid effectiveness. Whereas Development Partners stressed the importance of advocacy Government highlighted service delivery as main function of CSOs. Regarding mechanisms, it was concluded that there already exist structures allowing CSOs participation. However, the quality of them are perceived to be low and they are more on an ad hoc basis rather than part of an ongoing participatory system. The non-conducive socio-political environment and low capacity of CSOs were identified as main hindrances whereas the increased transparency of Government was considered the main opportunity. Lastly the importance of letting CSOs determining themselves which role(s) they should play and how was stressed in order to avoid some kind of Accra conditionality of participation' driven by Development Partners and Government

Social empowerment for and by Aymara women : A study of social empowerment processes in relation to local development programmes

The vulnerable social situation of the indigenous women in Bolivia is often on the agenda of many organisations (CSOs and NGOs). Especially, the deep rooted socio-political discrimination of this group has been addressed in several researches and during various international development forums. However, few of these investigations have tried to understand in what ways the Aymara women themselves want to be supported by organisations in order to become socially empowered. In regard to this, the contemplation of this Master Thesis has been to, in an inductive manner, increase the understanding of the concept of social empowerment from the perspectives of Aymara women and NGOs/CSOs. To do so a qualitative field based study, aimed at letting Aymara women themselves explain the social situation, was conducted in Bolivia during the spring 2007. The outcome of this research has also served as a foundation to a discussion, with special references to the Swedish aid-agency Svalorna Latinamerika, concerning what NGOs and CSOs ought to consider when working with social empowerment of Aymara women. The overarching methodological approach of the study has been that of a bottom-up implementation analysis. In order to retrieve information from the field techniques such as socio-anthropological studies, observations, interactions and interviews have been applied. Several interesting insights and conclusions have been retrieved from the investigation. The primarily conclusion drawn is that empowerment can neither be received nor given as it has the features of a learning process. Accordingly, in regard to this organisations must adopt the role of 'supporters' rather than 'suppliers'. Secondly, it has been reasoned that any undertaking aimed at supporting social empowerment for and of Aymara women must be synchronised with the progression of the women's learning processes. This specifically suggests that organisations must adopt long-run as well as holistic programmes rather than ad hoc activities. The overall conclusion drawn is that if the social empowerment for and of Aymara women is to benefit from the undertakings of organisations the planning, implementation and evaluation of the activities must primarily be based on terms given by the women.

Poverty Reduction through the participation of the poor!? : A study of the Poverty Reduction Strategies in Uganda and Bolivia from a civil-society perspective

The situation of the low developed countries has been on the agenda of IMF and the World Bank throughout the years. However, after the disastrous failure of the Structural Adjustment Programs, the two financial institutions left the ideas of 'one model fits all' and economic growth equals development. Rather, tailored development programs and poverty reduction became the new foci. Further, it is today stressed that the broad-based participation of the civil-society and the ownership of the nation over the development process are the most important factors for successful and sustainable development. These ideas conforms the basis of the Poverty Reduction Strategy (PRS) initiative which was adopted by IMF and the World Bank in 1999. This paper will investigate indications and perceptions, given by the civil-society, of the concepts of its participation and ownership within the Poverty Reduction Processes in Bolivia and Uganda. The objective is also to, in an inductive manner, develop and increase the understanding of how, and through what means, the two concepts have been realised and contextualised. In order to fulfil this purpose, the contents and origins of the PRS initiative are outlined and the definitions of participation and national ownership, in accordance to IMF and the World Bank, are stated. Secondly, against the derived theoretical framework an empirical pilot study will be conducted, based on literature studies. The primary conclusion drawn from the analysis is that it is impossible to broaden the understanding of what types of participation that have been applied. However, important and interesting insights have been reached in relation to how participation has been contextualised. First and foremost, for a genuine participation of the civil-society it is not enough with physical presence at official consultation meetings. The people must be enabled to actively and directly participate in, and influence the agenda of, all the stages of the PRS process. In regard to national ownership it has been concluded that the term bestow more than the balance between national, governmental and international influence - it is also a feeling of being able to participate in, and influence the outcome of, PRS process. Overall, the major finding is that for a real apprehension of national ownership and participation the perception of the civil-society must be accounted for. It is the people who decide whether they have been adequately involved and if they see themselves to be the owners of the process