Views from the 2016 CSO Forum

Hundreds of civil society representatives gathered to discuss EU support to human rights and civil society organisations (CSOs) worldwide at the 2016 edition of the CSO Forum, held on 17-18 March in Brussels. The event was deemed a significant success thanks to the active participation of key and diverse CSOs from both the international development and human rights constituencies, alongside European Institutions and Member States.

The Forum’s purpose was to further the implementation of:

• The EU policy shift towards supporting the enabling environment, participation and capacity of civil society as an actor of governance, as enshrined in its 2012 Communication, ‘The roots of democracy and sustainable development: Europe’s engagement with Civil Society in external relations’.
• The strong EU commitment to promote and protect human rights, the rule of law and democracy worldwide, as outlined in the ‘Action Plan on Human Rights and Democracy’, the second version of which was adopted in 2015.

Discussions were centred around three main issues. First, civil society’s enabling environment, and threats thereto, which have been extensively discussed in numerous forums and reports. Participants assessed the concrete adaptations required and discussed the possible responses to observed trends, including operational innovations and projects.

Second, working with CSOs at a grassroots level – which is one of the EU’s strategic goals for implementing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Convinced that CSOs are drivers of change, the EU has become the first donor to CSOs based in partner countries. Participants discussed how more effectively to support local CSOs in their roles as independent development actors and local change-makers.

Third, the EU presented its diverse set of financial tools for civil society and human rights, including innovative support models, amounting to €2 billion annually. Participants were consulted on the concrete use of these tools and mechanisms available at global, continental and country level.

At the end of the two days, the Forum had seen the participation of over 1,000 people from the development community. Capacity4dev spoke to several participants about their work and the challenges they face. In the following videos and in our Voices & Views on Supporting Local Actors in a Challenging Environment, we share extracts from those interviews:

Preap Kol, Transparency International, Cambodia

Mustefa Seid Denbil, SONSAF, Somaliland

The main recommendations from the discussions will be studied and taken into consideration by the EU as it adapts its support to CSOs. For more details, look out for the forthcoming summary document.