Policy Engagement for Poverty Reduction – How Civil Society Can be More Effective

Acting alone, CSOs’ impact is limited in scope, scale and sustainability.

Civil society organisations (CSOs) are enormously important players in international development. They provide development services and humanitarian relief, innovate in service delivery, build local capacity and advocate with and for the poor. Acting alone, however, their impact on policy is limited in scope, scale and sustainability. CSOs need to engage in policy processes more effectively.

Despite more open and accessible policy contexts, CSOs are having a limited impact on public policy and practice in developing countries and ultimately on the lives of poor people. All too often, CSOs appear to act on their own, leading to questions about their legitimacy and accountability. Their policy positions are also increasingly questioned: researchers challenge their evidence base and policymakers question the feasibility of their recommendations.

This briefing paper focuses on why and how CSOs can engage more effectively in policy processes in international development. Section 1 sets the scene and highlights the opportunities and challenges facing CSOs policy work. Section 2 focuses on why evidence matters for CSOs’ work in international development. Section 3 provides a framework that matches the engagement mechanisms and evidence needs to the critical stages of policy processes. Section 4 summarises strategic and practical advice regarding how CSOs can ensure their policy engagement is more effective, influential and sustained.

Author:	Julius Court
Date:	June 2006
Full document:	Policy Engagement for Poverty Reduction Briefing Paper ( 265kb) Text also available in French (93kb) and in Spanish (99kb)

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