Results Report 2016. Civil society

There are 800 million reasons to work with development aid. There are 800 million people who live in extreme poverty. This report presents a lot of facts and figures.
We must remind ourselves that behind these statistics are people with dreams and hopes, and with possibilities for a better future.

The road to a life out of poverty may seem long, but fortunately we do see significant progress being made. There is reason to be optimistic! We can reach the ambitious goal we set in 2015 to eliminate absolute poverty by 2030. But only if we utilise all our resources – and utilise them well. Civil society plays an important role in achieving this goal. Civil society plays many different roles, and this report shows how they can be instrumental for social development. History shows many examples of this. Desmond Tutu’s fight against apartheid in South Africa. The Tunisian quartet, who received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2015. They are both examples of the power of civil society in the development of strong and independent societies.

In a debate on the role of civil society in poor countries, we must learn from our own history in Norway. Civil society contributes in holding governments accountable for their actions. It was civil that contributed in developing the Norwegian welfare state, through the Norwegian Women’s Public Health Association, the trade union movement as well as religious associations. We bring these experiences with us in our development cooperation. 

At the same time, it is important to remember that the Norwegian organisations were precisely that. They were Norwegian. Countries cannot be developed from the outside and by external actors. Local ownership in partner countries is important, and local voices must be empowered. When the voices from partner countries become stronger and clearer, partners from donor countries must find new roles.

Development aid also involve values. In the fight against discrimination and for greater transparency, economic, social and politics rights, civil society is a particularly important partner.This years’ results report shows that many individual projects produce good results and are of great importance to individuals. Some of the examples presented may seem small and their contribution to social development may seem remote. This is one of the dilemmas of project support to civil society organisations. It can provide good and important results for many individuals, while at the same time the contributions to social development may be difficult to measure.

This year’s report presents 25 examples of how civil society throughout the world achieve results with support from Norway.

This does not represent the total picture, but it provides a good illustration of the results, challenges and diversity of Norwegian support.

Jon Lomoy
Director General