CIVIL SOCIETY AND INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT Edited by AMANDA BERNARD, HENNY HELMICH and PERCY B. LEHNING North-South Centre Council of Europe DEVELOPMENT CENTRE STUDIES Civil Society and International Development Edited by Amanda Bernard, Henny Helmich and Percy B. Lehning NORTH-SOUTH CENTRE OF THE COUNCIL OF EUROPE DEVELOPMENT CENTRE OF THE ORGANISATION FOR ECONOMIC CO-OPERATION AND DEVELOPMENT ORGANISATION FOR ECONOMIC CO-OPERATION AND DEVELOPMENT Pursuant to Article 1 of the Convention signed in Paris on 14th December 1960, and which came into force on 30th September 1961, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) shall promote policies designed: – to achieve the highest sustainable economic growth and employment and a rising standard of living in Member countries, while maintaining financial stability, and thus to contribute to the development of the world economy; – to contribute to sound economic expansion in Member as well as non-member countries in the process of economic development; and – to contribute to the expansion of world trade on a multilateral, non-discriminatory basis in accordance with international obligations. The original Member countries of the OECD are Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, the United Kingdom and the United States. The following countries became Members subsequently through accession at the dates indicated hereafter: Japan (28th April 1964), Finland (28th January 1969), Australia (7th June 1971), New Zealand (29th May 1973), Mexico (18th May 1994), the Czech Republic (21st December 1995), Hungary (7th May 1996), Poland (22nd November 1996) and Korea (12th Decem- ber 1996). The Commission of the European Communities takes part in the work of the OECD (Article 13 of the OECD Convention). The Development Centre of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development was established by decision of the OECD Council on 23rd October 1962 and comprises twenty-three Member countries of the OECD: Austria, Belgium, Canada, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Korea, Luxembourg, Mexico, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland, as well as Argentina and Brazil from March 1994. The Commission of the European Communi- ties also takes part in the Centre’s Advisory Board. The purpose of the Centre is to bring together the knowledge and experience available in Member countries of both economic development and the formulation and execution of general economic policies; to adapt such knowledge and experience to the actual needs of countries or regions in the process of development and to put the results at the disposal of the countries by appropriate means. The Centre has a special and autonomous position within the OECD which enables it to enjoy scientific independence in the execution of its task. Nevertheless, the Centre can draw upon the experience and knowledge available in the OECD in the development field. Publie´ en franc¸ais sous le titre : LA SOCIE´TE´ CIVILE ET LE DE´VELOPPEMENT INTERNATIONAL THE OPINIONS EXPRESSED AND ARGUMENTS EMPLOYED IN THIS PUBLICATION ARE THE SOLE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE AUTHORS AND DO NOT NECESSARILY REFLECT THOSE OF THE OECD OR OF THE GOVERNMENTS OF ITS MEMBER COUNTRIES. * * * (cid:211) OECD 1998 Permission to reproduce a portion of this work for non-commercial purposes or classroom use should be obtained through the Centre franc¸ais d’exploitation du droit de copie (CFC), 20, rue des Grands-Augustins, 75006 Paris, France, Tel. (33-1) 44 07 47 70, Fax (33-1) 46 34 67 19, for every country except the United States. In the United States permission should be obtained through the Copyright Clearance Center, Customer Service, (508)750-8400, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923 USA, or CCC Online: http://www.copyright.com/. All other applications for permission to reproduce or translate all or part of this book should be made to OECD Publications, 2, rue Andre´-Pascal, 75775 Paris Cedex 16, France. The North-South Centre of the Council of Europe The European Centre for Global Interdependence and Solidarity (the North- South Centre) was set up in 1990 in Lisbon. The Centre has its roots in the European Public Campaign on North-South Interdependence and Solidarity, launched by the Council of Europe in 1988. The aims of the Centre are to raise public awareness of issues of global interdependence and solidarity and to advocate pluralist democracy and respect for human rights as fundamental elements of sustainable development. In order to attain its objectives, the Centre organises core projects and partnership projects, where it plays the role of organiser and co-organiser respectively. The Centre has recently expanded its activities in Central and Eastern Europe in conformity with the all-European constituency of the Council of Europe. The North-South Centre functions on the basis of a system of quadripartite co- management by parliamentarians, governments, non-governmental organisations and local and regional authorities. 3 Foreword This study was carried out under the Development Centre’s External Co- operation programme on "Government-NGO Relationships". Acknowledgements We would like to thank the governments of Sweden, Finland and the Netherlands for their generous support to the seminar. In particular, we wish to express our gratitude to Giulio Fossi, Catherine Duport, Morag Soranna and Jody Kaylor of the OECD Development Centre for their assistance in the planning and execution of the meeting; Colm Foy and his colleagues in the Development Centre(cid:146)s publication unit for their invaluable guidance in the preparation of this volume; Neil Beshers for his excellent copy editing; and all those who contributed chapters to the volume, many of whom had to find time within their busy schedules to write up and expand upon their presentations to the meeting. This book is dedicated to Elena Borghese of the OECD Development Co- operation Directorate. Elena has worked for many years in the OECD, most recently in the areas of NGOs, good governance and participatory development. This seminar was the last of many meetings which benefited from her presence before she started to enjoy a well-deserved retirement. 4 Table of Contents Preface Jean Bonvin and Miguel Angel Mart(cid:237)nez....................................................................... 7 P O ART NE I O NTRODUCTORY VERVIEW Introduction Henny Helmich and Jos Lemmers................................................................................... 11 Report and Executive Summary Ed van Thijn and Amanda Bernard................................................................................ 17 Conviviability: The Role of Civil Society in Development Lourdes Arizpe................................................................................................................ 21 P T ART WO C Q ONCEPTUAL UESTIONS Towards a Multi-cultural Civil Society: The Role of Social Capital and Democratic Citizenship Percy B. Lehning............................................................................................................. 27 Shaping Civil Society Axel Hadenius and Fredrik Uggla.................................................................................. 43 Civil Society and Global Governance: Globalisation and the Transformation of Politics Kees Breed........................................................................................................................ 57 P T ART HREE T R E A HE OLEOF XTERNAL CTORS Civil Society and Building Democracy: Lessons from International Donor Experience Harry Blair....................................................................................................................... 65 The NGO Sector and its Role in Strengthening Civil Society and Securing Good Governance Diana Mitlin..................................................................................................................... 81 5 P F ART OUR P D R ERSPECTIVES FROM EVELOPING EGIONS The Growing Civil Society in Asia: An Overview and Proposals for Future Action Aye Aye Win................................................................................................................... 99 Civil Society in Sub-Saharan Africa: How Can Western Countries Help Civil Society in Africa? PatØnØma Fran(cid:231)ois Sedogo.............................................................................................. 111 Networking Civil Society in Latin America M(cid:243)nica Allmand............................................................................................................... 121 Civil Society in the Euro-Mediterranean Arena Fifi Benaboud................................................................................................................... 127 Considerations for Donors................................................................................................... 133 Annex 1 Civil Society and Development Co-operation.................................................. 135 Annex 2 Programme and List of Participants.................................................................... 143 6 Preface Public and private development co-operation agencies considerably increased their attention to participatory systems of government in the 1990s, and good governance and participatory development are cornerstones of the DAC 21st(cid:160)Century Strategy. Though the debate about the merits of the concept of civil society continues, it has not delayed the start of practical initiatives to support an active civil society in development co-operation programmes. Active civil societies are central to the evolution of participatory and transparent systems of government, which are essential for economic development. Civil society, however, is not only another instrument for economic development. The participation of citizens in the definition of their role in society and in the choices affecting the future of their society is an important objective in itself. The OECD Development Centre and the DAC Ad Hoc Working Group on Participatory Development and Good Governance have analysed development co- operation policies aimed at increasing popular participation and improving governance. An important conclusion of their work was that external actors can strengthen the strategic role of civil society. The Council of Europe promotes respect for human rights, social justice and democracy in an interdependent world. The Council created the North-South Centre to raise public awareness of global interdependence and to support policy debates to strengthen North-South solidarity. The Centre organises activities in support of civil society partners in the South. Both the Development Centre and the North-South Centre maintain contacts with experts in research and operational organisations working on the issues of governance and development. The two institutions therefore joined forces for an informal expert seminar which included people who have reflected on the issue of civil society, either from the perspective of political theory or from that of personal experience, to discuss the progress made in defining civil society and the practical policy implications of this concept. The OECD Development Co-operation Directorate also participated in the meeting. The expert seminar was the basis for this volume which extends our joint quest to analyse the policy implications of economic globalisation and to find means of strengthening a global interdependent civil society. Miguel Angel Mart(cid:237)nez JeanBonvin President President North-South Centre OECD Development Centre May 1998 7 8 P O ART NE I O NTRODUCTORY VERVIEW 9