Introduction
UNDP Rwanda in partnership with the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning (MINECOFIN) are supporting the Rwanda Civil Society Platform (RCSP) in elaborating a new five-year strategic plan 2019–2024 and a CSO capacity development plan.
The elaboration of the Strategic Plan will among others seek to review RCSP organizational set-up, capacities and systems in place and consult members and key stakeholders on how these can be further strengthened. The Strategic Plan shall be critical in determining the direction where RCSP and member organizations will be focusing efforts over the next five years. It will articulate RCSPs strategic position as a coordinating apex body for civil society in Rwanda.
The Strategic Plan will be complemented by a comprehensive local CSOs capacity development plan. The capacity development plan will seek to address the capacity gaps both at the RCSP level and its member organizations.
The process of drafting these two important documents is currently underway. It is deemed important for CSOs, Government and development partners to provide their inputs to this process. Therefore, in the framework of the programme “Strengthening Civil Society Organizations for Responsive and Accountable Governance in Rwanda”, and in particular its output on reinforcing a conducive environment for CSOs to operate in, UNDP Rwanda, the Rwanda Governance Board (RGB) and RCSP are organizing a consultative dialogue with stakeholders to discuss the key elements of these two strategic documents.
Objectives and methodology
The objective of the consultative dialogue is to solicit constructive feedback from CSOs, Government institutions, DPs and INGOs regarding key elements to be addressed in the 2 documents. The information and views generated will input the elaboration of the capacity development plan and the RCSP five-year strategic plan.
More specifically, the consultative dialogue aims to:
• Share ideas on how CSOs can better exercise their mandate, represent their constituencies and meaningfully contribute to policy formulation, implementation and monitoring;
• Explore CSOs’ strengths, weaknesses/challenges, opportunities and threats and propose recommendations and approaches to overcome challenges;
• Share lessons learned, best practices and how to replicate them;
• Strengthen partnership between CSOs, Government institutions, DPs and INGOs to influence policy processes, advocacy towards National development agenda as encapsulated in the current NST1.
Based on the initial research done, the group of consultants working on the capacity development plan and the RCSP strategic plan will prompt key elements for discussion. The meeting will be highly interactive to ensure that stakeholders are able to engage in discussions and share inputs and feedback.
Expected outcomes
The organizing partners expect to achieve the following outcomes:
• Stakeholders have shared inputs and feedback thereby enriching the elaboration of the strategic plan and the future strategic focus of RCSP as apex body for civil society;
• The consultative nature of the process will ensure relevance and ownership of the RCSP Strategic plan and CSO Capacity Development Plan.
Participants
The meeting will bring together 100 representatives of RCSP, CSOs, iNGOs, Government institutions and development partners.
