Minister Brophy welcomes OECD recommendation on strengthening civil society
Press release
06 July 2021Ireland was among 30 OECD countries to today approve a landmark recommendation on strengthening civil society and protecting civil society space.
The Recommendation on Enabling Civil Society in Development Co-operation and Humanitarian Assistance will provide a foundation for a robust international framework to protect and strengthen civil society space, as well as enabling civil society to maximise its contribution to the 2030 Agenda. It was today formally approved by the 30 members of OECD Development Assistance Committee (DAC).
Welcoming the adoption of the recommendation, Minister for Overseas Development and Diaspora Colm Brophy T.D. said:
“Today’s recommendation is a strong signal of our commitment to continue to work to open civil society space which has narrowed significantly in recent years, to improve our collective support to civil society and also to ensure that civil society organisations themselves work effectively and are accountable.
“Ireland has played a key role in delivering this recommendation. It was during our hosting of Civil Society Week in November 2019 in Dublin that the DAC Community of Practice first agreed to push for an overall recommendation on enabling civil society that would guide our engagement with civil society organisations (CSOs).
“The amounts of assistance covered by the recommendation is significant. It is estimated that DAC members allocate approximately US$21 billion for CSOs, amounting to 15% of total bilateral ODA. Member country CSOs contribute an additional US$42 billion to development co-operation activities.
“The recommendation is particularly important for Ireland, which is one of the highest, if not the highest, providers of financial support to CSOs as a percentage share of bilateral assistance. Ireland also scores very highly on providing financial support to CSOs directly rather than through indirect channels. In total, Ireland spends more than $200m annually in support to Irish, international and NGOs based in developing countries.
“I also wish to acknowledge the strong support of the DAC CSOs themselves for the recommendation, including the Irish NGO umbrella organisation Dóchas. We now look forward to further deepening our strong partnership with CSOs and implementing today’s landmark recommendation”.
ENDS
Press Office
06 July 2021