Civil society and civil society organisations (CSOs) are important to development co-operation, both as implementing partners for members of the Development Assistance Committee (DAC), and as development actors in their own right. Agenda 2030 is clear on the necessity of mobilising CSOs to implement, and uphold accountability for, the Sustainable Development Goals. The Global Partnership for Effective Development Co operation has committed to ensuring effectiveness in relation to CSOs in development co-operation, inclusive of the provision of CSO enabling environments.

Recognising that how DAC members work with CSOs is part of CSO enabling environments, in 2017 the OECD Development Co-operation Directorate (DCD) established a work stream on civil society to provide guidance on DAC member support for civil society and a strategy for engaging with civil society. Under the work stream, a study on how DAC members work with CSOs was launched to identify areas of DAC member support to and engagement with CSOs for which guidance is needed. This paper introduces a selection of key findings and recommendations from two 2018-2019 surveys complemented with DAC statistical data.

The paper points to evidence of member effort to work with CSOs in ways that enable CSOs to maximise their contribution to development. However, evidence also shows that members need to continuously examine their practices to ensure coherence between objectives and the many advantages that CSOs are seen to bring to development, and the members’ means of support to and engagement with CSOs.