This report draws on the experiences and views of people living in extreme poverty and marginalisation in 107 countries. The authors distil messages from 84 participatory research studies published in the last seven years. Forty-seven of these studies are based on creative material coming from visual participatory methods. Their findings show that a development framework post-2015 will have legitimacy if it responds to the needs of all citizens, in particular those who are most marginalised and face ongoing exclusion from development processes. The framework has to incorporate shared global challenges and have national level ownership if it is to support meaningful change in the lives of people living in poverty. The authors first focus on understanding the lessons learnt from people's experiences of predominantly international development assistance, before they merge these findings with learning from the second phase of the synthesis, adding a substantive focus on national and local level policy and development planning and how relationships, and accountability between citizens and governance institutions at these levels can be strengthened through the active engagement of those most marginalised in decision-making.
Governance and participation in health
CIDSE, an international alliance of Catholic development agencies, held a workshop in Brussels from 14-15 May 2013 to discuss ways of creating a new development agenda. This report contains the main findings from the workshop. Participants agreed that the new agenda should have a number of values and principles at its heart: human dignity, rights, freedom and responsibility; justice, equity, solidarity, and fair distribution; care for the earth; and participation and subsidiarity. To enable a paradigm shift towards a just and sustainable world, participants called for a prophetic new narrative of human well-being within creation, gender equity, and solidarity, with an economy at the service of society within planetary boundaries. They also called for transformation of the dominant GDP growth and development paradigm, towards just and sustainable societies and livelihoods. They argued for confrontation of unjust power structures, making common cause with those most affected by inequalities and unsustainability in both North and South. Bold actors for change are needed, those who challenge ourselves to deepen our partnerships, and to engage in alliances with those who share our goals of transformation.
This report presents the findings of a research and advocacy process that included consultative workshops with civil society organisations (CSOs) in all nine of South Africa’s provinces. The research found that the legislated ‘enabling environment’ for civil society was dysfunctional. The serious lack of current and reliable national data about the size, scope and activities of the sector negatively affects the ability of the sector and of government to support it. The sustainability and effectiveness of civil society to address poverty and equity is compromised by these problems. South African civil society sector is facing a funding crisis, which needs to be addressed on many fronts: the authors call for legislative reform and renewed work on an enabling policy environment for civil society, and for grant-making and other forms of investment in social development. International sources are now much less available, which means that local funding sources must be developed and leveraged, including private philanthropy, corporate social investment and the contributions from state-related agencies such as the National Lottery Board (NLB) and the national Development Agency (NDA). The authors urge these funding agencies to work with government leadership to commit to a cooperative process towards over-arching and systemic reform of the enabling environment for civil society. They further recommend that a cross-sectoral working group, which includes strong civil society representation, is established to plan the necessary changes.
A new campaign has been launched, Kenyans for Tax Justice, speaking out against a new Value Added Tax (VAT) Bill, known popularly as the “Unga tax bill”. Activists are trying to raise awareness and compile a petition against the bill, which seeks to apply a 16% value added tax rate on basic commodities that have remained untaxed until now. When the bill was introduced to parliament in 2012, citizen welfare groups strongly opposed its adoption but it is now up for debate in parliament. The activists mobilising against the VAT bill say they want to use the campaign to highlight the government’s hypocrisy in increasing taxes for ordinary citizens, while at the same time giving multi-national companies major tax breaks. Government estimates place Kenya’s lost revenue from tax incentives to foreign investors at 100 billion Kenya shillings (1.1 billion dollars). Tax Justice Network Africa estimates that in 2010 and 2011, the government spent more than twice the country’s health budget on providing tax incentives.
In Turkey, Brazil and Egypt, thousands have taken to the streets to voice their anger and frustration at the lack of social and economic justice in their countries. The author of this article argues this public unrest is directly linked to the wholesale adoption of neoliberal economic policies by these countries’ governments, which has led to social inequality. He argues that, despite mainstream perceptions, free markets don't automatically regulate themselves nor do they naturally respect individual or community rights. And while the power of transnational corporations has expanded exponentially to eclipse governments of small countries, income and wealth disparities have widened. But despite the grave warnings from civil society, governments and financial institutions continue to privatise services when they should be focusing on how to make the public sector fit for purpose. Political leaders and captains of industry have subjected ordinary people to double burdens of paying taxes to the state and paying profit-adjusted higher costs for privatised services like health, education and public transport, despite these services being part of the social contract between citizens and the state.
This paper describes the results of an environmental scan of organisations in Africa carrying out advocacy on cancer using a cross-sectional study. A total of 39 African advocates representing 17 countries participated in the project. Most participants have been advocates for more than five years; and mostly advocate for both males and females and individuals between the ages of 30 and 39. The most common cancers focused on by the advocacy organisations include breast, prostate, liver, cervix, stomach, bladder, pediatric, colorectal and neck. The information provided by participants offers clear guidelines on establishing and maintaining an advocacy programme in Africa despite the various challenges faced by these organisations. The authors call for more inclusive dialogue for advocates to share ideas with each other, connect with other advocates, learn about other innovative advocacy programmes and join forces.
In this open letter, civil society groups across Africa argue that the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) is failing in Africa, as it benefits relatively few farmers, often at the expense of the majority. AGRA-promoted technologies, like genetically modified crops, produce concentration of land ownership, increasing economies of scale and a declining number of food-producing households in a context of limited other livelihood options. Opening markets and creating space for multinationals to secure profits lie at the heart of the G8 and AGRA interventions, they argue. They also fear that the intellectual property of many plant types may be transferred to large multinational corporations as part of AGRA practices. As a solution, they call for differentiated agricultural strategies that recognise and vigorously support local and informal markets, proven low-input and ecologically sustainable agricultural techniques including intercropping, on-farm compost production, mixed farming systems (livestock, crops and trees), on-farm biofuel production and use, and intermediate processing and storage technologies. The International Assessment of Agricultural Knowledge, Science and Technology for Development (IAASTD) provides detailed and scientifically sound proposals in this regard.
The Ugandan Government wants non-government organisations (NGOs) to align their projects to government’s development priorities. At the national civil society fair held in Kampala early in July 2013, James Baba, the state minister for internal affairs, said NGOs should strive to understand government priorities and work on them both in the local and central governments. The Cabinet has charged the Ministry of Internal Affairs in consultation with the Minister of Finance to closely work with NGOs to ensure that all projects are aligned with government priorities. The National Development Plan outlines various strategies for the socio-economic transformation of Uganda from a peasant economy to a modern and prosperous country within 30 years. Baba promised to enhance the co-ordination of NGO stakeholders to ensure improved communication flow aimed at promoting smooth relations between the Government and the NGOs.
This is the story of the leaders of a women's organisation, Mahila Swasthya Adhikar Manch (Women’s Health Rights Forum) in the state of Uttar Pradesh in India. It recounts how a group of women from the extremely marginalised sections of society have become empowered and are monitoring their entitlements around health services and other services which are related to the social determinants of health. It describes the evolution of the group, its activities and some of the results of their advocacy action with a focus on their empowerment process. This story of women’s empowerment is closely inter-twined with that of a group of facilitating organisations, who have not only contributed to this process, but also gained in confidence and credibility to strengthen the overall call for greater state accountability at different levels. The case study also discusses how this process which has led to a series of gains for these marginalised women both at a personal level and in improving accountability processes at the local level; still remains incomplete in the context of their overall political empowerment and autonomy.
The Uganda National NGO Forum has launched the first CSO-NDP monitoring report that captures citizen voices on Government’s National Development Plan (NDP) and public service delivery. The monitoring strategy for the NDP addressed the demand side challenge of limited Monitoring and Evaluation activities. The report ensured well documentation of citizens’ views which were later shared with stakeholders at different levels of Government. The monitoring survey was conducted in 51 districts and reached 20,000 households in the districts covered. Data was collected from seven sectors through review of government documents and questionnaires administered at four different levels; households, community, sub county and district levels. The report covers findings from seven selected NDP sectors; agriculture; markets and cooperatives; transport; labour and employment; health; water and sanitation; and justice, law and order. With regard to health, most households meet their healthcare costs despite the free primary healthcare policy. Nearly seven out of ten households do not receive their full drug prescription. Sanitary conditions are far from the minimum norms and standards in most households. No more than three in 10 homesteads have a given sanitary facility.