ACT Alliance

Participation is the most important pillar of effective aid

Repressive regimes, both democratic and authoritarian, are increasingly stifling the vital work carried out by thousands of local development organisations.

In more and more countries, community organisations and their employees now work under threat of censorship, intimidation, arbitrary detainment or arrested, or even torture and murder. Few have recourse to justice.

The trend is not abating. In the last 12 months, freedom to speak, organise and to simply perform their work has dramatically decreased, as ACT research  into oppressive environments discovered.

Clamp-down on freedoms

As civil society organisations, ACT members are recognised as important participants in the effort to bring about good development. ACT’s added value lies in being able to link its experience in grassroots development work to global policy debates.

In the lead-up to the Busan High-Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness in November 2011, ACT Alliance has an important  opportunity to place democratic ownership and the role of civil society on the agenda.

With its recent report, Shrinking Political Space of Civil Society Action, ACT was one of the first networks in the world to bring this repression to light. The report finds that political, legal and operational space for organisations has diminished markedly in recent years.

Governments are hindering the work of civil society organisations in various discriminatory ways: from propaganda that labels them as being subversive to administrative restrictions making it virtually impossible for organisations to carry out activities other than pure service delivery.

In worst cases, the crack-down is more severe. Activists and civil society workers face discrimination, intimidation, assault and other physical harm.

What ACT is doing

ACT Alliance is campaigning to uphold democratic rights and participation as the single strongest pillar of effective aid. Democracy means that the population, in particular poor and marginalised people, have a voice in their country’s development policy.

ACT Alliance will keep pushing for recognition of locally-based organisations as important components in creating and upholding development policy.

Influential civil society organisations, such as faith-based networks, have a crucial role to play in monitoring commitments between donor and recipient governments, and ensuring government aid is used in a transparent way that promotes real and lasting development.

ACT members and partners play an important role in helping build citizens’ capacity to monitor their governments’ national and local budgets.