Strengthening civil society 

Participation of civil society in poverty reduction and good governance programmes is crucial in securing accountability and sustainable social change. Traditional roles of NGOs in service delivery and advocacy are challenged by new agendas in development aid, including security concerns and counter-terrorism measures and by the complex realities of new aid modalities. COWI provides assessment of capacity and capacity building to meet the new challenges.

The new global aid architecture

The new patterns and modalities of aid present important challenges to civil society actors. Civil society organisations are required to document quality, legitimacy, and accountability, to enhance advocacy leverage through impact-oriented methods, to improve capacities to establish authentic partnerships, and to interface with government and the private sector.

Building capacity within civil society

COWI offers services to civil society in the following areas:

• Capacity building in development of new agendas and modalities;
• Strategic planning and development;
• Results-based management, quality standards and participatory methods;
• Advocacy and rights-based approaches;
• Professional facilitation, problem-solving techniques, and user-friendly tools.

Inclusion and empowerment of civil society (pdf)