Strong civil society organisations and their constituents for engaging in policy processes. This shall ensure that good policies are not only formulated but also effectively implemented for the well-being of the intended communities.
Selected organisations from the ADA Framework programme East Africa as well as partners of horizont3000 member organisations in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda, in total these are 18 organisations represented by 250 individuals (130f, 120m). Indirectly involved are 48.000 persons.
Civil society’s roles in development changed from charity work in the 1970s to promoting human rights with communities including efforts to end poverty. Turning to policy advocacy meant organisations acted as advocates for excluded communities. This form of policy influencing did not empower the right holders, instead the “advocates” assumed to be representing the real interest of the communities they serve. Thus, a new strategy was needed: a dialogue approach recognising development as a partnership, emphasizes sustainability of initiatives, transparency, accountability and resource mobilisation became the preferred approach.In 2014, the Austrian Development Agency evaluated this and found low uptake of Policy Dialogue because of limited capacity of organisations. The new project aims at guiding the organisations into effective engagement, mainstreaming policy dialogue throughout the programme and offering capacity building to other partners in the ADA Framework East Africa.