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How DFID works in partnership with civil society to deliver the Millennium Development Goals
Department for International Development (DFID)
June, 2006

http://www.dfid.gov.uk/pubs/files/civil-society-dev.pdf

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Introduction
This paper sets out DFID’s approach to working in partnership with civil society and aims to:

• look at the role of civil society in development and identify the key areas where DFID is working with and through civil society to reduce poverty; and
• set out the range of mechanisms DFID has for working with and supporting civil society in these areas.

In the paper we use ‘civil society’ very broadly, meaning the groups and organisations which occupy a position between the household, the state and the private sector. This definition of civil society includes, among others, trade unions, business associations, cooperatives, employers’ associations, faith groups, trade associations, recreational groups and think tanks.

The purpose of the paper is not to set a new direction for this aspect of DFID’s work but to set out clearly DFID’s current approach to a set of relationships which are both important and complex and have developed rapidly over the last decade. It is intended to be of assistance to current and future partners, as well as the wide range of DFID staff who work with civil society, and to provide a basis for future policy development.

Why DFID works in partnership with civil society
Civil society plays an important role in reducing poverty, complementary to the roles played by governments and the private sector, including:

• Building voice and accountability: civil society helps build effective and accountable states and supports voices for change.
• Providing services and humanitarian assistance: civil society can play an important role, particularly in fragile states, by delivering services to poor people and developing new innovative approaches to reducing poverty. It also has an important role to play in responding to humanitarian crises.
• Promoting awareness and understanding of development: a strong UK development community is important for building public support for development, contributing to policy debates and holding the international community to account.

DFID has worked with and supported civil society for more than 40 years. Our commitment is illustrated by the 50% increase in funding for civil society organisations since DFID was created in 1997¹. Many DFID departments work with civil society through a combination of policy dialogue, consultation or funding.

• Consultation and dialogue. There is well-established dialogue between DFID and civil society on a broad range of development issues and we consult widely when developing policy. Ministers and senior officials meet representatives of civil society regularly.
• Country offices are a major source of support for civil society organisations, providing at least £90m in 2004/5. Since 1997, DFID has provided more of our support directly to governments to implement their national Poverty Reduction Strategies. Alongside this, there has been an increase in our support to civil society to work on voice and accountability.
• DFID’s Conflict, Humanitarian Assistance and Security Department provided £91 million in 2004/05 for conflict resolution, service delivery in difficult environments and humanitarian assistance.
• DFID’s Information and Civil Society Department provided £83 million in 2004/05 through a range of funding mechanisms. There has been a shift in the balance of the work from supporting the provision of services towards building voice and accountability and building the UK development sector.
• Other departments. Many other DFID departments work with civil society in a variety of ways. For example, the Central Research Department provided more than £90 million for research in 2004, which includes support for civil society.

Conclusion
This paper reaffirms DFID’s aim of working in partnership with civil society and sets out the range of ways in which we do so. Looking forward, DFID expects that civil society will continue to play an important role in reducing poverty and that it will continue to be an important partner for DFID. We will continue to have an open and inclusive exchange of ideas on how that partnership should develop.

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1. 1 Statistics on International Development, 2005.

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