The African Development Bank Group [to 17 January 2015]
http://www.afdb.org/en/news-and-events/press-releases/

AfDB partnership with CSOs to spur development in Africa
15/01/2015
A committee comprising the African Development Bank and Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) has been relaunched with the aim of fostering partnership between the two players in order to enhance development on the continent.

The committee, reintroduced at a two-day meeting between the Bank and CSOs will discuss a work plan, modalities of its implementation as well as an accountability structure. “CSOs are our integral partners especially in the promotion of accountability, transparency and good governance. Accountability is key in terms of achieving our objective, and we could certainly do with an external reporting tool especially from CSOs,” Rakesh Nangia, Chair of the committee, said as he opened the meeting on January 14 at the Bank’s headquarters in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire.

Addressing the participants, who included regional civil society heads and representatives of key sectors within the Bank, he reiterated the importance of strengthening engagement with CSOs. “The Bank recognizes and values the expertise and contributions of CSOs, which are essential in achieving sustainable development in Africa,” said Nangia, who is also the Evaluator General of the Bank’s Independent Development Evaluation department (IDEV).

His remarks were echoed by Mamadou Goita, Chair of the Civil Society Coalition, who described the role of civil society as crucial in helping the Bank to frame projects that would be more relevant to communities. “We need to be involved from the first stage of designing a project because we know the context of our various communities. We can then help follow through to the implementation, monitoring and evaluation stages,” Goita said…