Posted 1 May 1998
The role and effectiveness of the state is the focus of the 1997 World Development Report published by the World Bank. The report considers what the state should do, how it should do it, and how it can do it better in a rapidly changing world. It describes how the state is central to economic and social development, not as a direct provider of growth, but as its partner, catalyst, and facilitator.
One of the conclusions reached is that "governments are more effective when they listen to businesses and citizens and work in partnership with them in deciding and implementing policy". The report describes how in successful countries, policy making has been embedded in consultative processes which provide mechanisms for feedback, information sharing and coordination, allowing civil society, labour unions, and private firms opportunities for input and oversight. It considers how to bring the voice of poor and marginalized groups into the very centre of the policy-making process and proposes the inclusion of genuine intermediary organizations on policy-making councils as one mechanism and an important first step in articulating citizen interests in public policy-making. The Summary of World Development Report 1997 is available on-line at the World Bank Website
To order the complete report ($25.95), write to: The World Bank, P.O. Box
960, Herndon, VA 20172-0960, U.S.A; or
E-mail books@worldbank.org.
Papers prepared for the 1995 Conference on Hunger and Poverty - which focused on civil society and its experiences in fighting hunger and poverty - provide interesting ideas on ways in which to involve CSOs in a number of concrete areas. The main discussion papers are entitled:
These papers, as well as information and materials on the evolution and
activities of the Popular Coalition to Eradicate Hunger and Poverty, are
available on-line. For further information contact Mr. Bahman Mansuri, Programme Director,
Resource Strategy Development, IFAD, via del Serafico 107, 00142 Rome, Italy;
E-mail: b.mansuri@ifad.org.
See also the Conference's five-point Programme of Action.
The United Nations Non-Governmental Liaison Service (NGLS) is an interagency unit that specializes in development education and information work on North-South development issues and that facilitates dialogue and cooperation between development NGOs and the UN system. NGLS publishes "GO BETWEEN", a newsletter for NGOs and others interested in the institutions, policies and activities of the UN system, every two months. For further information on NGLS activities or publications, please contact:
This issue of DEEP is devoted to the World Food Summit and parallel NGO Forum on Food Security organised by an Italian NGO Committee. It recalls the experience and declaration "Profit for Few or Food for All" of the NGO Forum, surveys the initiatives taken by FAO and NGOs during 1997 in follow-up to the Summit, and scans the negotiating horizon of 1998-2000 in an attempt to pinpoint opportunities to fulfil the Summit's seven commitments through international agreements. Three main areas in which NGOs and FAO have "broken new ground" are described:
Two previous issues of DEEP are also very relevant to the themes and activities of the Network:
Copies of DEEP are available in English, French and Spanish from: the Unit
for Cooperation with the Private Sector and NGOs (TCDN), FAO, Viale delle
Terme di Carcalla, 00100 Rome, Italy;
E-mail isabel.sperl@fao.org
.
Civil society involvement in World Food Summit follow-up was the subject discussed at a meeting of experts, convened in Rome in January 1998. The meeting examined the challenges of the next 10-15 years in agricultural development and food security in the context of FAO-CSO cooperation and civil society participation in World Food Summit follow-up.
The meeting noted that a "profound transformation is underway in the distribution of roles and responsibilities in agricultural development in this era of globalization and privatization" and underlined the opportunity to take advantage of new communication technologies "to build pluralistic exchange among the concrete and diverse experiences of civil society from the local level up to the international ... Involving civil society in mobilisation of public awareness and resources is dependent on taking their input seriously in policy dialogue and on building partnerships in action".
It recognized the importance and complementarity of the roles of the state, market and civil society in rural development and food security. Involving civil society in policy dialogue at the national, regional and global levels was considered essential, as was the need to build "partnerships in action" based on the involvement of civil society actors as full and equal partners was stressed.
This report, including a participants list and background discussion note,
will soon be available on-line (in English, French and Spanish). Please
request hard copies from the Unit for Cooperation with the Private Sector
and NGOs (TCDN), FAO, Viale delle Terme di Carcalla, 00100 Rome, Italy;
E-mail nora.mckeon@fao.org.
The report of the NGO Forum on Food Security is available from: Centro Internazionale
Crocevia, Via Francesco Ferraironi, 88/G, 00172 Rome, Italy; fax: 0039-6-2424177;
E-mail: crocevia@cambio.it
The complete list of participants at the Forum is available upon request from the above address. A charge will be made for mailing and diskette (please specify format required: tab text, db3, commavalue, epsilon LK, DIF, VKS and other basic/standard formats). The NGO Declaration is available , or from the above mailing address.
This paper prepared by Marlynne Hopper, Consultant, for the Civil Society Issues Group (IG3) in FAO's Rural Development Division, examines the concept of civil society as well as the potential contribution and roles of civil society actors in rural development. It considers the increasing calls for partnerships between governments and CSOs and seeks to identify ways in which national institutions and civil society actors might work together in different types of partnership arrangements in order to maximise synergy and complementarity and achieve enhanced final outcomes.
This paper will soon be available on-line in SD
Dimensions. For hard copies, please contact: Janos Juhasz, Rural
Institutions and Participation Service (SDAR), FAO, Viale delle Terme di
Carcalla, 00100 Rome, Italy;
E-mail janos.juhasz@fao.org.
The objective of the "Pluralism and Sustainable Forestry and Rural Development" Workshop, convened in FAO, Rome in December 1997, was to develop a vision of pluralism in sustainable forestry and rural development and to identify principles and processes of pluralistic management in addition to suggestions for next steps.
Participants exchanged information and experiences and explored mechanisms, methods and forums for optimising the cooperation between different groups in the forestry sector (including governments, NGOs, private sector, rural peoples' organisations) in order to promote sustainable forestry and rural development. Background information on the Workshop together with some of the papers presented are available on-line .
For further information, please contact: Jon Anderson, Forestry Extension
Officer, FAO, Viale delle Terme di Carcalla, 00100 Rome, Italy;
E-mail jon.anderson@fao.org.
FAO has published in English and Spanish a report by Dr. Don Richardson, of Canada's University of Guelph. The report, "Internet and Rural Development", describes how collaboration among agencies supporting Internet and development initiatives can achieve important multiplier effects as agencies harmonise their efforts while insuring that their particular constituencies are served. The goal, it states, is "for development agencies, in partnership with stakeholders, to make full use of Internet tools such as the World Wide Web and interactive discussion tools to assist rural development efforts". SD-Dimensions, the Internet service of FAO's Sustainable Development Department, has published the English version of "Internet and Rural Development".
For copies, please contact: Chief, Extension, Education and Communications Service (SDRE), Sustainable Development Department, FAO, Viale delle Terme di Caracalla, 00100 Rome, Italy.