November 10-11, 2009:
Expert Seminar on the Future of Civil Society Development Organisations

Visit the online documentation of the Expert Seminar!

For quite some time, a debate has gone on in the CONCORD family about various relevant aspects regarding the future work of non-governmental development organisations (NGDOs) or civil society development organisations (CSOs). Several events have challenged current development approaches and the role of CSOs in development, to name just two of these conferences: "Are we on the right track? Paradigm Review by CSOs as Development Actors" in Prague in May 2008, and "CSO Development Effectiveness - Searching New Ways" in Prague in June 2009.

A further conference on the role of CSOs which is planned for November 2010 in Managua/Nicaragua will focus on practical orientations for the CSO community in South, East and North. To make sure that the Managua Conference will have an optimum impact, a prior Expert Seminar will be organised by the TRIALOG Advisory Group and CONCORD in November 2009 in Vienna.

The Expert Seminar is supposed to eleborate the first draft of a document on CSO participation in development which will then be shared with organisations accross the globe for comments and afterwards be taken to the Managua conference for a final discussion and adoption. The aim is to achieve a widely shared code of conduct for CSOs. In order to respond to the different global crises and political developments it’s necessary to sharpen the profile of CSOs and actively engage in the definition of the role as development actors.

The Expert Seminar will take place in Vienna on November 10 and 11, 2009.

Download the Invitation letter and the registration form. Read the draft agenda.

Those eligible to apply for financial assistance for participation in the seminar, find the application form here.

Please note that the deadline for registration and application has been extended to Monday, October 26, 2009.