Attachments
Executive Summary
In August 2023, the Civil Society and Civic Space Department at the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) contracted the West Africa Civil Society Institute (WACSI) and Bond to run an engagement process with civil society on the future of the FCDO’s centrally managed programmes. These programmes are managed by the Civil Society and Civic Space Department and are the focus of the engagement process. When we mention the FCDO in this report, this refers to the Civil Society and Civic Space Department, unless we have specifically identified another part of the organisation.
The engagement process took place between September and October 2023 and covered international regions identified by the FCDO. WACSI’s expertise was instrumental in orchestrating engagements across West Africa, East Africa, Southern Africa, Central Asia, and the Indo-Pacific. Bond led on the engagements in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales, and Eastern Europe. The engagement process combined a mix of virtual and in-person engagement sessions and a survey. This approach ensured a good coverage of regions and allowed for a broad spectrum of perspectives to be captured.
Recommendations responding to the key questions identified by the FCDO:
We have highlighted the prioritized recommendations resulting from our engagement process. For more comprehensive details on these findings and recommendations, please refer to the full report. We have broken down the recommendations to reflect the key questions that formed the basis for the engagement process and were agreed upon with the FCDO during the early stages of this consultancy. Many of the recommendations, such as on flexible funding and addressing racism within the sector, came up across numerous conversations that we had with civil society. We have included them where they are most relevant, but this does not mean they were not discussed in response to multiple questions.
These recommendations provide a transformative vision for the FCDO’s future. They are characterised by transparency, inclusivity, and a renewed commitment to fostering positive, equitable change. Embracing these recommendations would propel the FCDO toward a brighter and more impactful future on the global stage and will reinforce the agency’s dedication to being a global leader in advancing sustainable development and equitable partnerships.
Rebalancing power dynamics: The White Paper on International Development commits the UK Government to reshaping their partnership model: “It will move us beyond an outdated ‘donor-recipient’ model. We will engage with humility and acknowledge our past.” The FCDO wants its future programming and support to encourage difficult reforms and good policies that drive progress towards local ownership.