DFID Civil Society Review

At the start of July DFID announced a thorough review of the way it engages and supports civil society. We very much encourage our members, in Scotland and Malawi, to feed into this review to help inform a closer and more constructive engagement between DFID and civic society, for greater shared impact.

DFID are clear that they are keen not just international development NGOs but all of wider civic society engaged in international development and partnerships, are encouraged to feed in their views.

The review has five core Lines of Enquiry:

1. Effective civil society
2. Effective knowledge and influence
3. Effective collaborations and partnerships
4. Effective approaches
5. Effective relationships and engagement

We encourage members to feed in to the review. You can do this in four different ways:

(1) Online Discussion:

Each week DFID is publishing a blog relating to one of the lines of enquiry. There have so far been two blogs released: a general introduction, and one on the first Line of Enquiry, ‘Effective Civil Society’.

Beneath each blog is a comments space which members can use to join the ongoing discussions

(2) Online Surveys:

Each week DFID will also release a new online survey, relating to one of the lines of enquiry. They’re quick ten-question surveys which don’t take long to complete and build on the themes of that week's blog. Members will have three weeks, from the date it is posted, to complete each survey.

The first survey, on effective civil society, is now published and the deadline is 28th August.

(3) Live Twitterchats:

Every Thursday at 13.00 Bond will facilitate a live twitter chat around that week’s line of enquiry, using the hashtag #DFIDCSPR. Details can be found each week on the Bond website.

The next Twitterchat is taking place on Thursday 20^th August, 13.00-14.00, looking at ‘effective knowledge and influence’. Members need to book a place on the chat by clicking here.

For those who missed last week's twitterchat, you can watch the Storify of it here.

(4) Face to face event:

We are told that there will be an event in Scotland to discuss the review and that this will provide members with the opportunity to discuss their views face to face. We do not yet have details but will let members know as soon as we do. However, we really encourage members to not just wait for the event but to also feed into the online discussions. Miss it, miss out!

To help with planning, here are the key dates for the next four weeks:

DFID’s further FAQs are available online. You can follow @DFID_inclusive for information on the blogs, survey and twitterchats.

For SMP enquiries on the review, please contact David Hope-Jones,