Baseline study to establish indicators to assess and monitor African civil society organizations participation in governance

Abstract

Since its establishment in 1997, the African Centre for Civil Society of UNECA (ACCS) has developed a cluster of projects and programs around promoting the participation of civil society in development and governance. The initiative to establish baseline data and monitor civil society participation in governance builds on this on-going work and is an integral component of UNECA's strategy of establishing standards of good governance for the continent; disseminating best practices and pushing for genuine and lasting reforms amongst African governments. Monitoring Civil Society Participation in Governance is intended to monitor the participation dimension of governance and is a sub-set of the larger ECA project of "Monitoring Progress Towards Good Governance in Africa". The purpose of this paper is to introduce and examine in detail the system of assessment adopted to establish baseline data and monitor progress in civil society participation in governance in African countries.The section briefly discusses the quest for good governance and civil society participation in Africa in recent years and UNECA's programme initiatives in promoting good governance in the continent.