DFID’s partnerships with civil society organisations

DFID values civil society organisations (CSOs), but its funding and partnership practices do not fully support the long-term health of the civil society sector.

Score: Amber/Red
  1. Status: Completed
  2. Published: 10 April 2019
  3. Type: Performance review
  4. Subject: Civil society
  5. Assessment: Amber/Red
  6. Location: Bangladesh, Ethiopia
  7. Lead commissioner: Tina Fahm

Read the approach paper

Our approach

This performance review assesses how well DFID’s partners with and funds CSOs, and also looks at whether the UK government’s broader influencing work on promoting civil society, is achieving the objectives set out in the CSPR. It covers the period from May 2015, when the CSPR was commissioned, to December 2018. We also include some elements of DFID’s work that began before then, to assess results that require longer timelines.

We looked at DFID’s CSO funding and capacity-building efforts managed by central DFID teams, DFID in-country offices and through multilateral agencies including funding for both development and humanitarian efforts, and for local, national and international CSOs. We looked in particular at three large centrally managed funding instruments – UK Aid Direct, UK Aid Match and UK Aid Connect – and at DFID’s work with national civil society in two case study countries, Bangladesh and Ethiopia.

We conducted a strategic review of relevant literature and DFID documents, a learning review, 43 case studies and two country visit as well as interviews with DFID staff, CSO staff and external specialists.

Review questions

Through a combination of a strategic review, learning review, assessments of individual grants and funds, as well as two country case studies, this review answers the following review questions:

  1. How well does DFID’s approach to partnership with CSOs reflect DFID’s CSO objectives and priorities?
  2. How well does DFID’s funding for CSOs and related influencing work contribute to better development results and a more effective civil society sector?
  3. How well does DFID promote learning in its partnerships with CSOs?

 

Timeline

Approach

Published 13 July 2018

Evidence gathering

Complete

Review publication

Published 10 April 2019

Government response

Published 29 May 2019

Parliamentary scrutiny

IDC hearing 12 June 2019

ICAI follow-up

Published 23 July 2020