Civil Society Organisations and the African Union: Towards a continental advocacy strategy for World Vision
Source: World Vision
World Vision has recently published an extensive new report that sheds some light on the inner workings of the African Union and the opportunities and challenges for civil society groups in Africa to engage with and influence the institution, particularly in relation to AU Commission and the Economic, Social and Cultural Council (ECOSOCC)
The report outlines some of the tensions that exist amongst African CSOs and between African and international CSOs in their engagement with the AU:
“Two types of CSO actors are identified – insiders comfortable with the evolving ECOSOCC; and outsiders who are becoming increasingly frustrated with what they consider to be the arbitrary and ad hoc way CSO engagement is organised. Increasingly, the crisis of expectations is pushing this second group to organise autonomously. Another pertinent issue raised in this chapter is the perceived dichotomy between international and African civil society, and the perceived efforts to exclude INGOs from membership of the ECOSOCC structure. This raises questions of legitimacy and authenticity, with one group speaking to the need for INGOs to take a back seat and work with coalitions, and to invest in building the capacity of indigenous African NGOs and CSOs as a deliberate strategy. Another school of thought asserts that successful advocacy necessitates pressure in both the North and South, and argues that a symbiotic approach between African and international NGOs is needed for real impact.â€
CSOs have been effective in engaging with the AU commission on several fronts including aid and debt issues but particularly on trade. Rather than putting all their eggs in one basket and honing in on the AU commission the report argues that CSOs, including World Vision, should use a multi-pronged strategy in their advocacy.
Click here to read the full report