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CSO-CGIAR Forum at AGM06: From Dialogue to
Action
The CGIAR held its first-ever Forum for civil society
organizations (CSOs) at its recent Annual General Meeting, hosted
by the World Bank in Washington, DC. Attended by more than 100 CSO
representatives, the event featured a series of lively group
discussions aimed at identifying lessons learned and new avenues
for improved collaboration, drawing on the experience of nearly 50
current CSO-CGIAR partnerships. These partnerships were presented
in a three-day Innovation Marketplace
A persistent question on the minds of participants, as reflected
both in the discussions and comments made in an evaluation of the
forum, was "What will the CGIAR now do with our ideas and
feedback?"
 Report to the Business Meeting
As a first step, all of this material - that is, the hundreds of
cards indicating lessons learned and suggested next steps as well
as the evaluation forms - were carefully compiled immediately after
the close of the Forum. This output was shared in summary form with
the three persons - farmers Fernando López of Uruguay and Glyvyns
Chinuntha of Malawi, together with Rajul Pandya-Lorch of the
International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) - who were
designated by the CSO-CGIAR Forum Advisory Group to make a joint
presentation to the Business Meeting at AGM06. Click here to read the Summary
Report presented at the Business Meeting.
Next Steps
Response of the Business Meeting:
A
dozen or more CGIAR Member representatives shared their views on
the Forum, urging the CGIAR to build on the momentum it had
created. They further noted that the Forum represented "a step
in the right direction" and had established "a new
dynamic in CSO-CGIAR partnerships." Members also offered ideas
about the future role of a special advisory group and underlined
the great potential of the Pilot Grant Program. Echoing much of the
input from Forum participants, Members also emphasized the
importance of capacity strengthening and more dynamic, two-way
communication in CSO-CGIAR partnerships.
A series of discussions will take place during the coming months
to determine how the CGIAR can act on those suggestions in seeking
to further enhance its engagement with CSOs.
The Strategic Framework:
The Forum and
Innovation Marketplace, as well as the Virtual Conversation that
preceded these events, were not isolated, one-off events but formed
part of an overall strategy for enhanced CSO-CGIAR engagement. The
strategy
(and annex )
provides a framework for follow-up on the Forum, in response to
input from participants and the AGM06 Business Meeting, and for the
Pilot Grant Program.
Pilot Grant Program:
The call for
concept notes and guidelines for the development and implementation
of projects, are being prepared and should be available by January
30, 2007. In the meantime, see the Preliminary Information Briefs
in English,
French, and
Spanish, on the
program distributed during the CSO-CGIAR Forum.
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