The sustainability of the CSO sector is not merely a matter of increased financial resources. In fact, at a time of stagnating development assistance flows, more than ever, there is a need to ensure that the resources pledged for the support of civil society are committed and used in an effective manner.
Therefore, any comprehensive review of the sustainability of CSOs in the ECA region must address a number of key factors that ultimately determine the long-term viability and effectiveness of CSOs in the region. These factors include the CSO legal framework and its enforcement as well as the capacity and commitment of central and local governments to engage civic partners and recognize the value of public advocacy and scrutiny. CSO sustainability also requires enhanced transparency and accountability of the CSO sector itself, building further on recent efforts to promote a “code of conducts” and “standards of excellence” among the CSOs. Similar pressures exist for the social accountability of the CSOs’ financiers: the public and private sectors and the donor community. Ultimately the increased social accountability of all these actors contributes to the improvement of the CSO–government–donor interface, thereby enhancing the sustainability of this partnership. Sustainability is also about networking, lobbying and pursuing similar goals in a coordinated fashion. The emergence of the Internet and global communications, the ease (speed!) with which knowledge can be accessed, information can be transferred and alliances be built is unprecedented and poses unique opportunities for the functioning of the CSO sector in the years to come.
Virtually all of the above mentioned dimensions of the development of the CSO sector in the region entail a more or less direct role for the donor community that increasingly focuses on the role of civil society in development. This role can range from initiatives aimed at creating civic space or fostering public consultations and information sharing to direct financial support and capacity building. The sheer number of agencies involved in these efforts today and their wealth of experience in operating in highly diverse conditions call for a stocktaking and strategic discussion on the way forward.
In regard to the narrowly-defined financial sustainability, the CSO sector itself, foundations, governments and the official donors have gained valuable experience that should be analyzed and assessed. The development of tax deduction legislature to benefit CSOs in Central Europe, the creation of endowments and sinking funds, public-private partnerships, the subcontracting of CSOs in delivering social services, etc. constitute a vast body of locally developed experiences that are often little known across a region as diverse as ECA.
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