Evaluation study on EU engagement with Civil Society in Egypt

FINAL SEMINARCAIRO, 18 JUNE 2014

The project is funded bythe European Union

The project is implemented byEuropean Consultants Organisation and

STEM-VCR

The team:Gianfrancesco CostantiniNahla HassanDouaa HusseinLeila Barakat  

The content of this presentation is the sole responsibility of ECO and can in no way be taken to reflect the views of the European Union

EU and Civil Society

CSOs recognition as development partners as the basis for supporting CSO initiatives

EU Agenda for change as an answer to political change at global level

The “roots of democracy and sustainable development”: recognition of CS as a policy and governance partner

The next «roadmap for supporting civil society»: a structured and strategic support

EU and Egypt has a structured cooperation with Egypt since 1996 EU – Egypt cooperation mainly include projects carried out

in cooperation with government (from 2007 to 2013, these project amounted at about 900 Billions EGP)

EU also provide direct support to CSO (this amounted from 2007 to about 27 Billions EGP)

Egypt is also involved in a variety of “Regional” and “Transnational” programmes

After 2011 EU-Egypt cooperation increased: new programmes have been launched – as the Civil Society Facility and the SPRING Programme

Who are Civil Society Organisations?

a wide range of actors with different roles and mandates, through which people organise to pursue shared objectives and ideals, whether political, cultural, social or economic.

all forms of grouping or aggregation involving citizens, formal and informal, characterised by: autonomy from other actors voluntary and free adhesion of members independence from family and kin linkages action space mainly outside the realm of “political institutions” actions that are not aimed at generating “profit” legitimate status based on de jure and de facto right of citizens to associate to

support a cause and/or solve a problem

EU engagement with CS in Egypt: an outline

Programmes in cooperation with Egypt’s government: Over 600 organisations involved, including both NGOs and CDAs Projects focusing on Agriculture, Youth, Human and citizenship rights, Consumers’ rights, Culture, etc.

Support through «thematic programmes»:29 Egyptian NGOs and 6 International NGOs involved as leading or partner organisations

Focus on Human rights, Agriculture, Youth, Children, etc.

Support through «regional programmes»:Over 100 Egyptian NGOs involvedFocus on networking, culture and inter-cultural dialogue, youth

Evaluating EU engagement with CS: the research questions

Not a programme evaluation, neither an evaluation of projects

To what extent EU supported initiatives involved Egypt’s CSOs in their diversity ?

To what extent EU support matched the processes and dynamics involving Egypt’s CS ?

To what extent EU support has been characterised by relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, sustainability, impact, community added value, strategic coherence ?

Evaluating EU engagement with CS: methodology

Consultation of documents 25 interviews with key persons from CSOs and

donors, in Cairo and Alexandria Meetings with all relevant EU delegation staff 20 focus groups, involving 200 CSOs in 10

governorates Field and NGO visits in 10 governorates (20

NGOs/CBOs) Structured questionnaire to CSOs (125 filled

questionnaires processed) In-depth analysis of 14 initiatives

To What extent did EU programmes involve diverse Egyptian CSOs

Despite what is commonly represented, EU programmes engaged quite all kinds of CSOs in Egypt:

Large programmes carried out in cooperation with government have been engaging «community based organisations», as CDAs

So called «NGOs» have been involved in all types of programmes (bilateral, thematic, regional ….). Among NGOs the most present ones are not those engaged in Human rights protection, but those engaged in development activities and even in service delivery

New organisations, as youth-based enterprises have been frequently engaged in Regional programmes

To what extent EU programmes matched the processes and dynamics involving Egypt’s CS ?

Fragmentation and vertical linkages. Networking and partnership are key words in the EU support in Egypt. Nevertheless, in few cases EU programmes resulted in fostering horizontal relationships among CSOs

Prevalence of service focus. Also because of external factors, few initiatives have been focusing on governance and engage public authorities and CSO in policy dialogue or in policy setting

Short term focus: CSOs change often the focus of their action following support opportunities; this tendency is somehow reinforced by the prevalence of project based funding

To what extent EU programmes matched the processes and dynamics involving Egypt’s CS ?

Lack of legitimacy of CSOs as policy partner. CSO engagement was fostered in many projects involving the government as main actor. However, mostly CSOs tend to be «beneficiaries» or «implementing partners». Needs emerge both regarding “representations”, structured dialogue/participation; partnership agreements and the legal framework

Existing divides among CSOs: mistrust exists among large «groups» of CSOs, and competition relations often exist among CSOs of the same kind; these phenomena are not contrasted by the aid modalities adopted.

To what extent EU programmes matched the processes and dynamics involving Egypt’s CS ?

Emerging new actors: some activities have been targeting new actors, however support is often lacking continuity; moreover some important actors within Egypt civil society (such as faith-based organisations) are not even considered in the formulation of programmes/activities

Social change in CSOs. Despite the lack of a defined strategy, some large EU supported initiatives de facto matched the change processes involving CSOs and particularly CDA (change of leadership, new roles, etc.) fostering important innovation in the roles and functioning of CSOs at different levels

Relevance, effectiveness, Efficiency : a mixed landscape Service focus but lack of clarity about CSOs’ roles tend to limit

strategic relevance of actions, however mostly actions are relevant in front of locally emerging needs: CSOs are often able to deal with demands, but lack a strategic vision of issues.

Effectiveness is high at project level: CSOs are an effective mechanism in delivering services and in implementing development initiatives; CSOs have an added value in term of field work and community engagement

Efficiency tends to be relatively low: bureaucracy, legal framework, and vulnerability to political events result in delays or even in the cancelation of activities. Moreover, the lack of information sharing mechanisms reduce knowledge accumulation out of the individual organisation.

Sustainability and impact: a paradox situation Several impacts have been identified by CSOs and other stakeholders, including: increased access of citizens to services and «rights», particularly

at local/project level strengthened capacities of CSOs of different kinds increased recognition/legitimacy of CSOs at local level Intensified social and political change at local level

Sustainability is often challenged, particularly by: political uncertainty lack of well defined “exit strategies” lack of engagement with «policy framework» and with «policy

makers» limited engagement with other emerging actors in Egyptian society

community added value and strategic coherence: spaces for improvement

EC engagement with CS in Egypt resulted in impact, lessons learnt, innovating experiences, etc. however its representation is still mainly limited to stereotypes

Space exists for developing a «global strategy», reducing the paradoxes that often emerge in the relationships between programmes/projects and in the relationships with EU policies

Visibility, Information dissemination and communication can be improved, particularly out of Cairo and by increasing the scope of the role CSOs themselves can play to this aim

Knowedge sharing represents a key area to increase community added value and strategic coherence of EC engagement with CS, also in this case CSO active involvement can make a difference

Lessons learnt Linking service delivery, advocacy and support to new

actors Using project implementation as entrance for engaging

CSOs in governance Long term partnerships and exchange of roles Supporting culture activities Avoiding lack of definition of the partnerships framework Avoiding subcontracting Maintaining communication out of «info-days» and of «web-

sites» Looking to exit strategies as a core element in projects Avoiding imposing agendas, fostering progressive capacity

development

Emerging needs A «global» strategy Knowledge production and dissemination on Civil Society Support to horizontal linkages Support to recognition and legitimacy dynamics at

national level Communication and structured dialogue Language support Institutional capacity building and resources for

institutional development Facilitating access to opportunities and

simplification/facilitation of procedures Knowledge sharing and project/programmes linking

Recommendations for next stepsSHORT TERM

Launching an «information dissemination and technical support facility» Launching a «translation facility» Facilitating access to information at local level, by involving local

CSOs Introducing in CfP and in tendering procedures the requirement of

defining the partnerships that will be developed for implementing activities, and asking for formal, well defined «partnership agreements»

Actively intervening in the reform of «legislative framework» (donors can have a voice, linking that to aid effectiveness)

Launching actions aimed at «information sharing» among CSOs engaged in EU activities

Introducing in the SPRING programme mechanisms for CSO engagement in project governance

Supporting through the SPRING programme pilot projects on local governance and initiatives for strengthening «institutional capacities»

Recommendations for next stepsMID TERM

Engaging with CSOs and other supporting actors for setting a joint strategy for supporting csos in the mid/long term

Initiatives for recognition of csos as policy actors, including capacity building for public officers

Supporting the bridging among different groups of CSOs Supporting the definition of CSOs roles Supporting the development of institutional capacities in CSOs, at

different levels Increasing communication among csos and other local actors Supporting CSR and partnership between csos and other NSA Supporting the production of knowledge about CS, particularly out of

Cairo Support to networks and platforms