Civic Engagement to Improve Development Effectiveness in ECA -
The Role of the World Bank
Civic Engagement to Improve Development Effectiveness in the Europe and Central Asia Region -
The Role of the World Bank
June 2004
Environmentally and Socially Sustainable Development Unit
Europe and Central Asia Region
Acknowledgements
This study was prepared by a core team led by Jan Pakulski and comprising Tim Kessler, Paula Lytle and William Reuben. Alina Bakunina, Barbara Francsics Crosby, Rada Lankina and Diana Marginean provided valuable research for various parts of the study. Alexandre Marc oversaw the preparations of the entire paper, contributed to it substantively and gave comments on the manuscript. Nora Dudwick and Miroslav Ruzica commented on various parts of the manuscript. Patricia Armstrong, Luca Barbone, Carine Clert, Ivan Krastev, Dan Petrescu, Jeff Thindwa, and Sally Zeijlon commented on the expanded version of the paper. Franz Kaps, Shigeo Katsu and Laura Tuck provided useful guidance on the overall approach. On several occasions, the members of the ECA NGO Working Group as well as the ECA NGO/civil society specialists in ECA Country Offices provided feedback on the study’s scope and contents. The core team also benefited from numerous presentations it held within the Bank and two breakout session discussions conducted at the ECA NGO Assembly in June 2002 in Belgrade. Mary Louise Vitelli and Tim Kessler edited the entire document and made valuable suggestions regarding the study’s contents. Rada Lankina and Beaulah Noble helped with the final lay-out.
Special thanks to Ana Gjokutaj, Casandra Bischoff, Jyldyz Djakupova, Maryana Ignatishin, Dan Petrescu, Vigen Sargsyan and Yurij Savko for assisting in the compilation of the five country case-studies. The assistance of Tania Barron, Celine Ng and Carmen Monico in gathering data regarding CSOs’ involvement in ECA operations and the costs of ECA CAS preparations is also greatly appreciated.
Contents
Acronyms and Abbreviations
Executive Summary
Introduction......
1. DEFINING CIVIC ENGAGEMENT
1.1 Civic Engagement and Civil Society
1.2 Civic Engagement and Civil Society Organizations
1.3 Civic Engagement and Governments
1.4 Why Should We Care? The World Bank and Civic Engagement
2. EVOLUTION OF CIVIC ENGAGEMENT IN THE ECA REGION
2.1 Civil Society 1945-1989
2.2 Civic Engagement After 1989
2.3 Sub-Regional Variations
2.4 Moving Forward: Civic Engagement in ECA in the 21st Century
3. CIVIC ENGAGEMENT IN ECA: A SNAPSHOT
3.1 Civic Engagement under World Bank Activities
3.2 Bank Support for Client Governments in Promoting Civic Engagement
4. CHALLENGES FOR CIVIC ENGAGEMENT IN ECA
4.1 Four Areas of Civic Engagement
5. TOWARDS A STRATEGIC CIVIC ENGAGEMENT AGENDA
Bibliography
Appendices:
- Civic Engagement in ECA FY02 an FY03 Country Assistance Strategies...... 39
- Country Case-Studies...... 45
Acronyms and Abbreviations
CASCountry Assistance Strategy
CBOCommunity-based Organization
CDDCommunity-driven Development
CIDCountry Innovation Day
CSOCivil Society Organization
DECDevelopment Economics (World Bank)
ECAEurope and Central Asia (World Bank region)
ECSSDEnvironmentally & Socially Sustainable Development Sector Unit of the Europe and Central Asia Region (World Bank)
EUEuropean Union
FSUFormer Soviet Union
FYFiscal Year
GDPGross Domestic Product
GEFGlobal Environment Facility
GPRSGrowth and Poverty Reduction Strategy
IDAInternational Development Association
IDFInternational Development Facility
IDPInternally Displaced People
KFKnowledge Forum
NGONon-governmental Organization
NPRSNational Poverty Reduction Strategy
OECDOrganization for Economic Co-operation and Development
OEDOperations Evaluation Department (World Bank)
OSIOpen Society Institute
PADProject Appraisal Document
PCDProject Concept Document
PICPublicInformationCenter
PREMPoverty Reduction and Economic Management Network (World Bank)
PRSCPoverty Reduction Support Credit
PRSPPoverty Reduction Strategy Paper
PVPPeople’s Voice Project
SDFSocial Development Fund
SDVSocial Development Department (World Bank)
SIFSocial Investment Fund
SmGPSmall Grants Program
SPAIStability Pact Anti-Corruption Initiative
SPREDState Program for Poverty Reduction and Economic Development
UNUnited Nations
USAIDUnited States Agency for International Development
VIPVillage Investment Project
WBIWorld Bank Institute
WUAWater Users’ Association
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Civic Engagement to Improve Development Effectiveness in ECA -
The Role of the World Bank
Executive Summary
The potential for active citizen involvement in designing and implementing development interventions in the ECA regions has never been greater. That potential is driven by the expansion and consolidation of democracy, internal pressures for good governance, the recognition of poverty reduction as the main development goal, and technological advances that facilitate communication.
A growing body of data underscores the benefits of involving civil society organizations (CSOs) in the formulation and implementation of investment projects and economic policy. Civic engagement contributes to mobilizing social forces for poverty reduction and creates the required consensus for the achievement of development goals. The recognition of the importance of governance, social accountability and strong institutions call for an active role of citizenry. Technological advances in the area of communications and knowledge sharing have expanded the development debate beyond donor agencies and client government officials. In short, civic engagement has emerged as a key instrument for achieving sustainable development.
This document addresses the potential for citizen participation – in the context of increased transparency – to promote better development outcomes. Civic engagement can do so by making both the public and private sector more accountable, by creating a constructive force for more equitable projects and policies, and by providing knowledge and perspectives about the design, implementation and monitoring of development interventions.
Fulfilling that potential, however, depends on several factors. First, citizens themselves must have both the capacity and interest to engage their governments on substantive development challenges. Second, governments can promote civic engagement by protecting basic freedoms and establishing clear rules of public engagement. Third, civic engagement is a two-way street: private citizens and public officials must both be willing to work together in partnership.
Finally, the effectiveness of civic engagement can also be enhanced, in part, by actions taken by the donor community, which is well-placed both to provide information and incorporate civic input into development actions. However, this study also suggests that, while the World Bank is uniquely positioned to advance the civic engagement agenda in the region, it currently lacks a clear strategic approach for doing so. Accordingly, this study’s ultimate aim is to help World Bank staff working in ECA to identify: (a) gaps in our rhetoric as evidenced by limitations in actual practice; (b) existing Bank activities through which we can and do promote civic engagement; and (c) opportunities and constraints associated with expanding civic engagement in Bank operations in the future. Drawing on past experience, current efforts and an analysis of the ECA region, the study offers some preliminary guidance on how to create and mainstream a focused civic engagement strategy.
The World Bank and Civic Engagement
The World Bank has gained a better understanding of the substantive role and increased legitimacy that civic engagement can contribute to development. Scaling up requires an assessment of the kinds of operations and the degree to which civic engagement is feasible. The Bank participates in several activities in which citizens can potentially engage, including community-driven development (CDD), Country Assistance Strategies (CAS-es), Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs), structural adjustment policy and investment projects. Operationally, the most progress has been made in community and sectoral projects, while civic engagement in governance and policy dialogue has lagged. In particular, consultations on CAS-es/PRSPs have been limited to general goals (e.g., setting priorities), and have not focused on substantive decisions about options, trade-offs, costs and risks.
ECA and Civic Engagement
The fall of communism and subsequent transition have opened up an unprecedented space for citizen action throughout ECA. The potential for civic engagement has been increasingly realized throughout the region; decentralization is advancing rapidly, governments are becoming less apprehensive about working with citizens, and more officials have come to recognize the importance of transparent decision-making and accountable public institutions. At the same time, the capacity of CSOs to design and implement specific programs, as well as to contribute to policy formulation and evaluation, is evolving. These developments form the basis for a new development paradigm that encourages governments, the private sector, CSOs and the international donor community to review their respective roles and instruments in the development process.
Seizing this opportunity also requires us to acknowledge the numerous obstacles to civic engagement: lack of transparency, ambiguous legal requirements for CSOs, and precarious citizenship rights persist, in varying degrees, throughout the region. Citizens themselves are suspicious of autonomous organizations, especially those identified with international NGOs. CSOs still have limited capacity to contribute to technical development challenges. More troubling yet, in many instances CSOs pursue vested interests under the guise of public interest.
Strategies for Realizing the Potential of Civic Engagement
This study identifies four areas in which the World Bank has a comparative advantage in promoting civic engagement. First, community-driven development (CDD) involves citizens directly in the implementation of local level investment projects. Moreover, innovative approaches to CDD can be adopted within institutional reforms to improve local governance and accountability. Second, NGOs have proven highly adept at delivering services. Where government lacks the resources or capacity, these organizations enjoy social legitimacy, provide expertise, and demonstrate high levels of dedication that make Bank-financed investments effective. Third, civic engagement can improve governance. The Bank works with CSOs that serve a “watchdog” function to reveal corruption, and helps others to monitor the performance of public sector programs, focusing on quality and equitable distribution. Finally, at the frontier of civic engagement, the Bank involves CSOs in the dialogue with client governments to formulate policies. The Bank’s convening power can provide citizens with a seat at the table in dialogues over structural reforms.
Delivering on these four areas will require ECA to turn civic engagement into an effective operational tool for development effectiveness. Toward that goal the study offers several concrete recommendations: (1) disseminate good practice to illustrate how civic engagement has actually contributed to operations; (2) identify needed staff skills, especially those that facilitate communication between diverse stakeholders that do not always understand one another; (3) improve existing tools that promote effective participation, such as stakeholder analysis, and mainstream them through learning activities; (4) incorporate civic engagement in the CAS, making explicit the linkages to development outcomes; (5) assist governments to engage in public dialogue on macro reforms; (6) develop new instruments to measure the operational impact of civic engagement, so that staff can see when CSO involvement has made a substantive contribution; (7) monitor the costs of civic engagement.
1
Civic Engagement to Improve Development Effectiveness in ECA -
The Role of the World Bank
Introduction
"Citizens are at the center of the global drama unfolding today. They are
the leading actresses and actors in building global democratic governance and human development (...) The security of our common future lies in the hands of an informed, inspired, committed, engaged citizenry."
Vaclav Havel
The last few years marked a growing recognition of a new development paradigm in which civil society and civic engagement play a crucial role in enhancing the development process. Recent development literature shows that civil society plays a key role in promoting state and market transparency, as well as social equity (North, Sen, Hoff, et. al., Appadurai, Gridle, Stiglitz 1997). In addition, civic engagement contributes valuable insights about policy alternatives. “In many countries civil society has been responsible for securing major social changes from the political system, ranging from the abolition of slavery to the creation of social safety nets” (Whaites2002: 13). When organized citizens mobilize the poor and marginalized people, they help democratize the “development dialogue” by enhancing the voice of those traditionally excluded from decision making (Kanbur and Squire 2001).
Purpose, scope and methodology
The idea for this study emerged within the ECA Social Development team in the summer of 2001. The study is primarily a response to intensifying Bank interactions with Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) throughout the region, and our impression that the practice of this collaboration has so far outpaced strategy. It focuses on the World Bank’s role in assisting the development of civic engagement in the ECA region. Its ultimate purpose is to improve the outcome of Bank operations that involve civil society.
Collaboration with CSOs, particularly with non-governmental organizations (NGOs), has caused some tension within the Bank. For some staff members, the very notion of NGOs triggers more negative than positive reactions. While the region by now has a wide range of interactions with CSOs, most staff members have a limited understanding of the rationale for these interactions. The concept of civic engagement itself receives diverse interpretations. An additional complicating external factor is that, within ECA, the enabling environment for citizen participation varies significantly.
This report employs a variety of methodologies and information sources. It is based on a systematic review of several key documents, including flagship publications like Making Transition Work for Everyone (2002), the region’s project portfolio, economic and sector work, as well as Country Assistance Strategies and Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers. Information was obtained through structured interviews with Task Team Leaders and Sector Managers, consultations with Country Office staff, and external consultations with the ECA NGO Working Group and selected NGO leaders. Finally, it draws upon analyses of civic engagement approaches developed by other multilateral and bilateral donors.
The study does not offer a comprehensive strategy for operationalizing civic engagement. Rather, it reviews a number of operational approaches already pursued by the region, discusses their respective strengths and weaknesses, and suggests some specific directions for moving toward a civic engagement strategy. The issue of CSO capacity building, while important, receives relatively little attention, as the Bank has little to contribute directly to this goal.
The paper is divided into four sections. Section 1 explores the concept of civic engagement from various institutional perspectives, and provides a development rationale for promoting it. Section 2 summarizes the evolution of civil society in countries in the ECA region. It also describes sub-regional variations and several regional challenges that the Bank confronts in supporting civic engagement today. Section 3 describes ECA activities that involve civil society consultation and participation, and how the Bank assists governments in supporting civic engagement. Subsequently, Section 4 moves toward an operational strategy of civic engagement. It identifies major constraints, exposes a number of misperceptions, and focuses on the main areas of civic engagement where the Bank can make a difference. Finally, Section 5 provides key strategic directions the region should embark on in order to reap full benefits of civic engagement in its operational work in the future. The report concludes with a number of practical tips for seizing opportunities and avoiding pitfalls of civic engagement.
1. DEFINING CIVIC ENGAGEMENT
Civic engagement is the participation of private actors in the public sphere, conducted through interactions of CSOs and citizens-at-large with government, multilateral institutions and business establishments, in decisions that affect public well being. CSOs can have a more or less formalized structure. The most visible CSOs are often NGOs, which are typically registered with the government as a legal, not-for-profit entity. Other formal CSOs include religious organizations, groups affiliated with political parties, labor unions and business associations. CSOs also include groups commonly associated with local communities and “grass roots” movements. While community-based organizations (CBOs) are often informal, they frequently enjoy high levels of legitimacy and capacity to promote collective action among local populations.
Civic engagement includes participation in policy debate, delivering public services, managing public goods and monitoring government action. It should be noted that not all forces in civil society are positive. Some civic organizations are opposed to social change and innovation, favor social or cultural segregation, or even support organized crime.
1.1 Civic Engagement and Civil Society
Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) refer to an array of citizens’ organizations, including NGOs and CBOs (described below), that have relative autonomy from the state, and a different rationale than business establishments. Like state institutions and unlike business establishments, they are mobilized in pursuit of collective values and public interests. Like business entities and unlike the state, they are of a private nature. Artisans’ guilds, professional associations and labor unions are probably the first expressions of citizens’ organizations in the West that, from an independent standpoint, engaged in public debate and organized their interests to protect themselves from the absolute power of the state, or to pursue common interests and undertake public action. Farmers’ organizations, community groups, political parties, informal networks, faith-based associations, student and youth organizations, academic bodies, think-tanks and business chambers are also expressions of civil society.Community-based Organizations (CBOs) are locally elected groups, in most cases the beneficiaries themselves, grouped into an organization, commonly in order to implement demand-driven infrastructure and income generating projects.
Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are professional or voluntary organizations that advocate or provide services in favor of their members or others, driven by not-for-profit motives. Their field of work includes economic and social development, welfare, emergency relief, environmental conservation, human rights protection, and/or public advocacy. Their income usually comes from international cooperation, government or private sources, and/or from the revenues generated by their services.
The enabling environment for civic engagement involves two basic dimensions. First, the regulatory framework includes the legal provisions, policies and institutional arrangements that determine the freedom of citizens to associate, their ability to mobilize financial resources, their access to information, and the rules of engagement for negotiation and public debate. It also includes the enforcement of those rules. Second, political culture – national and local – underlies the values about the nature of authority, the role of individuals or groups (e.g., women) in public life, and prevailing role models. Policy reforms and other strategic government interventions can positively change the regulatory framework in the short term, while the cultural dimension changes only through longer-term social transformations.