Implementation Plan: Canada’s Civil Society Partnerships for International Assistance Policy – A Feminist Approach

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• Objective 1: Empower women and girls, promote gender equality, and reach the poorest, most vulnerable and most marginalized as the most effective means to eradicate poverty
• Objective 2: Facilitate a safe and enabling environment for civil society
• Objective 3: Protect Human Life and Dignity
• Objective 4: Foster CSO leadership in innovation
• Objective 5: Integrate the role of CSOs as independent actors into international assistance programming
• Objective 6: Establish more predictable, equitable, flexible, and transparent funding mechanisms
• Objective 7: Foster multi-stakeholder approaches to international assistance
• Objective 8: Engaging Canadians as global citizens in international assistance
• Objective 9: Promote sustainability, transparency, accountability, and results

Objective 1: Empower women and girls, promote gender equality, and reach the poorest, most vulnerable and most marginalized as the most effective means to eradicate poverty

Recognizing that women and girls are diverse and powerful agents of change, Canada’s partnerships aim to support and build on their strength and innovative contributions to reduce poverty for all. Canada will work with Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), including local women’s organizations and other partners, to tackle the root causes of gender inequality and address the systemic discrimination that prevents women and girls from realizing their human rights and reaching their full potential, recognizing that inequalities exist along intersectional lines.

To reduce poverty and ensure sustainable and transformative change, all members of society must be empowered to reach their full potential and exercise their human rights. Greater gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls can deliver strong economic growth, reduce chronic hunger, help cut down extreme poverty, lead to longer-lasting peace, benefit entire families and help empower those who face discrimination. Men and boys must also be engaged in the fight for greater gender equality, take opportunities to advocate and lead by example by respecting the rights and interests of women and girls. Civil society provides a vehicle for the voices of the poorest, most vulnerable and most marginalized–including children and youth, seniors, persons with disabilities, refugees, internally displaced people, Indigenous peoples, religious groups, ethnic communities and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, two-spirit and intersex (LGBTQ2I) people–to be heard by their governments and for individuals to hold their leaders to account.

Key Activities/Milestones

Global Affairs Canada will:

• With CSOs, conduct a scan of existing materials and training capacities among Canadian civil society organizations (CSOs) on gender-based, feminist, intersectional and human-rights-based analysis to identify how materials could be shared to mutually support ongoing program design and implementation efforts
• Consult and engage with CSO partners on the draft Feminist Approach policy guidance
• Explore opportunities to pilot joint Global Affairs Canada (GAC) – CSO training (both in Ottawa and at missions in the field)
• Support CSOs to develop and implement a comprehensive approach to prevent and address sexual misconduct in international assistance

Key Activities/Milestones

Global Affairs Canada will:

• Work with CSO partners to build mutual capacity to further consult and engage a broad range and diversity of women and girls throughout the project life cycle, including in humanitarian and urgent response programming contexts, for example, through knowledge sharing webinars and sharing of tools and training materials
• Revise guidelines for CSOs embedded in GAC’s programming process tools to reflect a feminist approach, and strengthen the integration of gender equality, including to measure gender equality outcomes and collect sex and age disaggregated data
• Revise the gender equality assessment form and process to reflect the Policy’s feminist approach

Key Activities/Milestones

CSOs will:

• Undertake mapping of what CSOs are doing to integrate consultation and engagement of women throughout the project life cycle in collaboration with the Women’s Rights Policy Group, le Comité québécois femmes et développement and/or CCIC
• Ensure that decisions on project focus respond to the specific inputs provided by the women consulted
• Use these findings as the basis for strengthening consultation and engagement practices among all GAC civil society partners, enhancing the Action Area guidelines produced for civil society, and providing training to help realize this milestone

Key Activities/Milestones

Global Affairs Canada will:

• Increase CSO engagement with and build support for women’s organizations and movements across sectors in the Global South
• Where appropriate, embed in project planning documents expectations or requirements to work with women’s organizations and movements as partners in the design and implementation of initiatives in all sectors
• Build onpartnerships established with women’s organizations working through the Women’s Voice and Leadership Program
• Build and streamline the Feminist Learning Series in collaboration with the Women’s Rights Policy Group in order to build strategic knowledge on implementing a feminist approach to international assistance, including on innovative ways of working with women’s organizations and movements to advance women’s rights and ensure it links up with government and CSO learning and development
• Continue to socialize the report and recommendations from the GAC, Match International and Nobel Women’s Initiative Workshop in January entitled, Shifting the Power: Opportunities for Innovative Partnerships with Women’s Movements, with CSO partners, namely the Women’s Rights Policy Group
• Draft an insight paper on the nexus of gender and innovation
• Build evidence and learning, and track innovations from implementing programming engaging with women’s organizations and movements

Key Activities/Milestones

Global Affairs Canada will:

• Implement the Women’s Voice and Leadership Program and build a body of evidence and learning on the critical outcomes of the program
• Advocate for the role, participation and leadership of women’s organizations and movements in policy dialogue at all levels
• Continue to develop and fund different evidence-based programs that further support the aims and goals of diverse women’s organizations around the world

Key Activities/Milestones

Global Affairs Canada will:

• Support CSOs, including women’s organizations that work to increase participation of women in peace negotiations and conflict-prevention efforts through advocacy, policy and programming
• Table in Parliament annual progress reports on the implementation of C-NAP 2017-2022 every September, highlighting work with CSO partners, including women’s organizations and movements
• Organize bi-annual meetings of the Advisory Group for C-NAP and co-chair these with the Women, Peace and Security Network – Canada. Participants also include indigenous organizations
• Co-host with Uruguay in 2020 the global Women, Peace and Security Focal Point Network to exchange lessons/best practices, discuss challenges and opportunities to advance women, peace and security
• Launch the G7 Women, Peace and Security Partnerships Initiative that was announced as part of Canada’s G7 Presidency, confirm country partnerships, and develop a workplan for Canada’s partnership with Côte d’Ivoire, which will include consultations with local civil society, in particular women’s organizations

Objective 2: Facilitate a safe and enabling environment for civil society

In Canada and other countries, an empowered civil society is a crucial component for championing positive transformative change, including gender equality, inclusion, respect for diversity and human rights, peace and security, and development. The sustainability of international assistance investments, and consequently effective contribution to poverty reduction, depends on the ability of populations to hold governments to account over the long term. For civil society to thrive, it must operate in a safe and enabling environment that promotes inclusive, transparent and accountable institutions, respects human rights and where the rule of law protects and promotes the freedoms of expression, association and peaceful assembly. Increasingly, it is important that this enabling environment extends from physical to online spaces as well, which are often the locus of public debate and mobilization. Many actors, including governments, have a role to play in creating an enabling environment for civil society to operate effectively and independently. This includes understanding and mitigating the distinct barriers and risks faced by civil society entities, including human rights defenders and women’s, LGBTQ2I, youth and Indigenous organizations and networks.

Key Activities/Milestones

Global Affairs Canada will:

• Map out existing consultation mechanisms with civil society, with a view to ensuring effective coordination and accessible communication with CSOs
• Map the range of civil society organizations Global Affairs Canada works with directly, in order to diversify and strengthen its civil society partnerships
• Encourage multi-stakeholder approaches in support of an enabling environment for civil society

Global Affairs Canada and Civil Society will:

• Ensure that a large variety of stakeholders are engaged on relevant issues, including those with expertise in gender analysis, and gender equality and equity

Key Activities/Milestones

Global Affairs Canada will:

• Work with like-minded States and civil society organizations to raise and advance the issue of civil society space in multilateral and bilateral fora, with a particular focus on challenges faced by women’s rights defenders and others working on gender rights issues
• Continue to build awareness across the Department and missions of its “Voices at Risk: Canada’s guidelines on supporting human rights defenders”, including its provisions for women's rights defenders and others working on gender rights issues
• Work to promote the inclusion of language on women’s organizations, women’s rights defenders, and others working on gender rights issues in relevant multilateral resolutions or statements
• Work with CSO partners to share learnings on supporting a safe and enabling environment for all genders with relevant Department and partner staff, for example through knowledge sharing webinars and sharing of tools and training materials on gender-based analysis
• Support and strengthen women’s organizations and movements in developing countries for example, through the Women’s Voice and Leadership and the Equality Fund initiatives

Key Activities/Milestones

Global Affairs Canada will:

• Ensure the effective dissemination of, and training about, its updated “Voices at Risk: Canada’s guidelines on supporting human rights defenders” to mission staff, and seek feedback on the implementation of these guidelines across mission activities including diplomacy, development cooperation, and trade
• Encourage the continued use of diplomatic mission resources to support civil society and particularly initiatives to develop enabling environments for civil society
• Work to promote the inclusion of language on enabling and protecting civil society across multilateral initiatives, including any resolutions it sponsors in international forums
• Explore possibilities to reinforce learning opportunities, including pre-deployment training, of employees on the role of civil society in inclusive governance and effective development cooperation, as well as on how to effectively work with civil society abroad, including human rights defenders. Identify opportunities, where possible, for context-specific gender sensitive training or knowledge sharing

Key Activities/Milestones

Global Affairs Canada will:

• Continue chairing the Community of Democracies Working Group on Enabling and Protecting Civil Society and seek to further promote and protect civil society space within the Community of Democracies, including by working to ensure meaningful representation by States and civil society organizations
• Work to identify other global leadership opportunities to promote and protect an enabling environment for civil society, such as the G7 and G20’s Engagement Groups (e.g. C7/20, Y7/20, W7/20) to incorporate diverse CSO views in the development outcomes of the G7 and the G20
• Use its multilateral and bilateral missions to have local, regional and global events that recognize and promote the contributions of civil society, for example through events and awards that help shine a light on particular contributions and situations.
• Ensure that its work to promote and protect an enabling environment for civil society includes gender equality considerations and, where possible, gender-based analysis

Global Affairs Canada and Civil Society will:

• Encourage participation and representation within civil society of marginalized groups within their activities

Key Activities/Milestones

Global Affairs Canada will:

• Require missions producing regular country human rights reporting to note trends and opportunities to enhance an enabling environment through engagement with a country’s government, institutions, civil society and private sector, and to include gender-based analysis in these reports. Where feasible, include online trends and opportunities related to new communication technologies
• Provide or support additional opportunities for context-specific gender-based human rights training for personnel responsible for regular country human rights reporting

Key Activities/Milestones

Global Affairs Canada will:

• Through its Bureau for Human Rights, Freedoms and Inclusion, as well as other appropriate bureaus, work to ensure that departmental leads on relevant policies and programs, such as those related to conflict prevention and conflict resolution, are informed of, and able to factor in, considerations related to a safe and enabling environment for civil society
• Recognizing their importance for the successful promotion and protection of an enabling environment for civil society in conjunction with a feminist approach, encourage the following elements to be considered across its departmental policies and programs, including partnership agreements, implementation plans, official statements, and/or other initiatives as appropriate:
  • Gender equality analysis framework and integration of intersectionality, including through the Gender-Based Analysis Plus (GBA+) and a Human Rights Based Approach (HRBA)

Objective 3: Protect Human Life and Dignity

Global Affairs Canada’s humanitarian assistance programming aims to save lives, alleviate suffering and maintain the dignity of people affected by conflicts, acute food insecurity and natural disasters by providing principled, timely and needs-based responses. Global Affairs Canada recognizes the need for complementarity between security, humanitarian action and development programming in protracted and complex crises. The Department also recognizes the importance of international humanitarian law and the humanitarian principles of neutrality, impartiality, independence and humanity.

Humanitarian CSOs are an essential element of Canada’s response to humanitarian crises around the world, and women’s organizations play a unique role in addressing the needs and rights of women and children, and their communities, in humanitarian situations.

Key Activities/Milestones

Global Affairs Canada will:

• Work together with CSOs to advocate for compliance with international humanitarian law in armed conflict, international human rights law, and international refugee law
• Global Affairs Canada will continue to advocate for the respect of humanitarian principles, including defending and supporting unfettered and safe access for humanitarian workers, including medical personnel, through United Nations humanitarian resolutions and other fora
• Work together with CSOs to strengthen the prevention and response to sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV), and engage local and women’s organizations, including as part of Canada’s leadership on the Call to Action on Protection from Gender-Based Violence in Emergencies
• Encourage CSOs to implement the Minimum Standards for Prevention and Response to Gender-Based Violence in Emergencies; the Guidelines for Integrating Gender-Based Violence Interventions in Humanitarian Action; and the GBV Accountability Framework in order to address SGBV needs, including developing and refining gender-sensitive and culturally appropriate, community-based complaint mechanisms and referral pathways
• Encourage CSOs to implement the Minimum Initial Service Package for sexual and reproductive health. Global Affairs Canada will continue to work with CSOs to advocate and address sexual and reproductive health and rights needs for those affected by conflict and crises, especially women and girls

Key Activities/Milestones

Global Affairs Canada will:

• Encourage CSOs to work more with local/national responders, including local women’s organizations, where possible and appropriate in humanitarian responses, as indicated through A Feminist Approach: Gender Equality in Humanitarian Action
• Encourage CSOs to strengthen the organizational and response capacity of local humanitarian actors with the perspective to support their long-term sustainability
• Global Affairs Canada will seek more transparency on how international organizations (United Nations agencies, ICRC, IFRC, and CSOs) partner with local and national responders, particularly local women’s organizations, including financial flow-through and capacity building, in line with Canada’s Grand Bargain Commitments and the International Aid Transparency Initiative
• Support opportunities for increased participation and visibility of local humanitarian actors at high-level international fora

Global Affairs Canada and Civil Society will:

• Continue to build the evidence base, through the Grand Bargain, on the benefits of multi-year funding and reduced earmarking to encourage humanitarian actors to also provide flexible and predictable funding to local and national partners

Key Activities/Milestones

Global Affairs Canada will:

• Encourage CSOs to apply a gender-responsive approach to all humanitarian initiatives, integrate gender-based analysis in needs assessments and in humanitarian response plans, and support the collection and analysis of data disaggregated by sex, age, and other diversity factors
• Encourage CSOs to support the leadership of local responders to conduct pre-, post- and during crisis gender-based analysis and acknowledge the specific and intersectional needs and priorities of marginalized individuals, particularly women and girls
• Support the use of ethical research practices, including respecting anonymity, data protection, and the de-identification of data, dependent on context
• Encourage CSOs to share gender-based analysis data through existing coordination mechanisms

Key Activities/Milestones

Global Affairs Canada will:

• Work with CSO partners to improve gender-responsiveness in humanitarian action, as committed to in A Feminist Approach: Gender Equality in Humanitarian Action
• Encourage CSOs to systematically ensure the participation, leadership and empowerment of women and girls in humanitarian processes, including through the participation of women in key planning and decision-making positions and governance structures
• Promote development investments in gender-transformative activities from the outset of humanitarian responses, including the protection and advancement of the rights of women and girls in fragile, conflict, and crisis situations

Key Activities/Milestones

Global Affairs Canada will:

• Continue to engage with CSO networks on key policy, operational and multilateral issues, and support the facilitation of discussion, knowledge-sharing, and dissemination of lessons learned
• Work with CSOs to strengthen safeguarding against sexual exploitation and abuse, and adhere to standards of best practice, reporting, transparency, and accountability as set out under the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) Strategy on Protection from and Response to Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (PSEA) and Sexual Harassment, the six core principles of the IASC Plan of Action and Core Principles of Codes of Conduct on PSEA in Humanitarian Crises, and the IASC Eight Minimum Operating Standards on PSEA
• Promote active CSO participation and leadership in humanitarian and multilateral fora, including where possible as part of the Canadian Delegation

Objective 4: Foster CSO leadership in innovation

Innovation ^{Footnote 1} presents significant opportunities to maximize the impact of Canada’s work in international assistance and advance shared priorities for Global Affairs Canada and its partners. Global Affairs, therefore, seeks to collaborate with Canadian civil society organizations (CSOs) and other key partners to identify and adopt innovative approaches to international assistance, and deliver results more effectively and efficiently, particularly where pressing development challenges would benefit from new or improved innovative solutions. This includes CSOs at the local level, given their important role in generating locally driven, innovative solutions that reflect local priorities and approaches and are, therefore, often most enduring.

Key Activities/Milestones

Global Affairs Canada will:

• Consult with CSOs on the Innovation Guidance to departmental staff and partners in support of the Feminist International Assistance Policy
• Continue to work with CSOs to create more space for generating and implementing innovative solutions in international assistance (e.g. continued engagement on ways to empower and incentivize partners, including through incubating, testing or identifying opportunities to scale)
• Invite the integration of new or improved innovative solutions in programming initiatives submitted by partners through calls for proposals, unsolicited proposals, and other programming mechanisms, where relevant
• Support the testing of innovative solutions by Canadian international assistance partners, including Small and Medium Organizations, to generate learning applicable to all CSO programming

Key Activities/Milestones

Global Affairs Canada will:

• Work with CSOs to identify how to improve systems to better support partner efforts to innovate, and make connections where relevant with the work underway on Objective 6.
• Seek input and ideas from CSO partners through various forums, including the Multi-Stakeholder Community of Practice on Development Innovation, regarding:
  • Tools to help equip staff and CSO partners looking to innovate.
  • Monitoring and evaluation good practice on innovation including impact assessment.
  • Opportunities and challenges with innovation processes – from design and testing to scaling.
  • The creation of safe spaces for sharing innovation insights and lessons on what worked and what did not among Global Affairs Canada partners.
• Consult internally and with partners on opportunities and challenges to fostering innovation, including implications for institutional processes (e.g. results-based management, funding mechanisms and tools, financial management and oversight)

Key Activities/Milestones

Global Affairs Canada will:

• Reinforce existing knowledge sharing networks and practices focused on innovation and transformation, with a particular focus on inclusive innovation and leaving no one behind to achieve Agenda 2030
  • Continue to co-host and organize the quarterly meetings of the Multi-Stakeholder Community of Practice on Development Innovation with CSO partners on a range of innovation topics for knowledge sharing on good practice and lessons learned
  • Promote continued dialogue, learning and sharing on innovation in international assistance at Canadian missions abroad and involving local partners and stakeholders
  • Organize Development Innovation Learning Series events, jointly with CSO partners and networks, on emerging innovation issues such as scaling, artificial intelligence and others
• Look for more ways to support efforts towards bringing global knowledge to local innovation ecosystems and bringing local innovation learning to Canada’s innovation partners and networks nationally and internationally
  • Collaborate with CSO partners to tell the innovation story by gathering data and developing a portfolio overview of innovative solutions supported by Global Affairs Canada and implemented by CSO partners
• Share knowledge, through documentation and events, on: good practice, lessons, and case studies of the implementation of the Whistler Principles to Accelerate Innovation for Development Impact, particularly as it relates to gender equality and human-rights based approach

Objective 5: Integrate the role of CSOs as independent actors into international assistance programming

Global Affairs Canada recognizes CSOs as independentactors that provide resources, expertise and networks that help achieve Canada’s international assistance objectives. Canada understands the importance of considering a diversity of perspectives in international assistance programs and strategies, and is committed to deepening, extending, and operationalizing principles of democratic ownership.

Key Activities/Milestones

Global Affairs Canada will:

• Utilize online tools (eg. portals, webinars, dialogue platforms) to ensure that consultations, capacity building opportunities and dissemination of knowledge are accessible to a wide diversity of CSOs, regardless of their geographic location, size or resources
• Map CSOs that are currently engaged with Global Affairs Canada, with the aim of understanding the synergies and opportunities to diversify
• Promote two-way communication and dialogue platforms to enrich policy dialogue. This may include in-country engagement between Global Affairs Canada missions and local partners, specifically those that have not previously been engaged, and have the outcomes of these engagements feedback to Global Affairs staff in Canada
• Develop guidelines that provide practical information and support to build and engage in diverse partnerships in order to help inform meaningful consultation with a diversity of Canadian and local partners, both by Global Affairs Canada and Canadian CSOs

Key Activities/Milestones

Global Affairs Canada will:

• Build upon lessons learned from the Canadian Small and Medium Organizations for Impact and Innovation Initiative to develop a long-term mechanism to fund more and diverse actors

Global Affairs Canada and CSOs will:

• Recognize and utilize the expertise that exists among CSOs and Global Affairs Canada by co-creating capacity building opportunities in areas such as: risk management, gender transformative approaches, and the nuts and bolts of common procedures involved in managing Global Affairs Canada grants and contributions. Integrate a train-the-trainer approach to ensure longevity and replicability of learning
• Facilitate, in collaboration with provincial and regional councils for international cooperation and CCIC, mentorship and knowledge sharing among CSOs to support those that are unfamiliar with Global Affairs Canada project management procedures and tools
• Review existing guidance and training materials to enhance GAC and CSO use of a feminist lens and human rights based approach in the conduct of consultations to support voice and agency and seek to reduce barriers to engagement

Objective 6: Establish more predictable, equitable, flexible, and transparent funding mechanisms

To support a robust CSO ecosystem, Global Affairs Canada is committed to working with CSOs of diverse size and scale, sector and region to achieve Canada’s international assistance priorities and empower women and girls and promote gender equality. While the Department engages with civil society in many forms, funding is recognized as a component of this engagement.

Global Affairs Canada recognizes the importance of providing a variety of merit-based selection mechanisms to allow for diverse Canadian, international and local CSO partners, to plan and deliver international assistance initiatives. At the same time, Global Affairs Canada encourages CSOs to be financially independent and to seek funding from multiple sources, as this enables them to better secure their own sustainability.

Global Affairs Canada understands that equitable access to a mix of short-, medium-, and long-term funding, appropriate to the context, can enhance the achievement of international assistance outcomes and support a thriving civil society sector.
Global Affairs Canada also recognizes that responsive selection mechanisms and more flexible funding can provide the impetus for innovative approaches, and that CSOs require time and effort to plan their programming.

Key Activities/Milestones

Global Affairs Canada will:

• Build on lessons learned during the implementation of Calls for Proposals processes and incorporate into future Calls
• Pilot a new set of requirements for proposal development to ensure that the level of effort required is proportional to the level of funding and the level of authority required for making a decision on the proposal
• Explore additional options for making selection processes faster and more predictable, including introducing service standards for a number of critical stages of the process
• Pilot a streamlined approach to engage with organizations/partners who have received Global Affairs Canada funding for multiple initiatives over several years
• Explore options for more predictable funding frameworks, taking into account an organization’s overall capacity and effectiveness and the quality, impact and outcomes of its current projects, including gender equality outcomes

Key Activities/Milestones

Global Affairs Canada will:

• Publish clear, current and comprehensive information and guidance on the range of funding selection mechanisms on the Department’s website
• Publish information on upcoming and open Calls for Proposals on GAC’s website,including the status of calls
• Keep the information online relevant, up-to-date and optimized to meet usability and accessibility needs

Key Activities/Milestones

Global Affairs Canada will:

• Provide effective support through rapid response mechanisms, including expedited approval processes, to meet gender-responsive humanitarian needs in a timely fashion working with civil society partners, including local and women’s organizations
• Explore innovative and responsive funding mechanisms to address the multi-year needs of protracted crises and to promote coherence between humanitarian and development cooperation, including by leading policy development, and by providing multi-year humanitarian funding to UN and CSO partners
• Provide support in at least five countries through multi-year funding and monitor and evaluate the outcomes of these responses including gender equality outcomes

Key Activities/Milestones

Global Affairs Canada will:

• Develop clear tools and approaches to make it easier for partners to prepare budgets that meet GAC requirements
• Publish a Reporting Guide that will clearly articulate to CSOs, GAC’s reporting requirements and streamline these requirements
• Streamline internal fiduciary risk management tools and processes to reduce administrative burden and increase efficiencies
• Communicate these changes broadly to partners and provide information regarding new processes and policies

Objective 7: Foster multi-stakeholder approaches to international assistance

All relevant actors, including CSOs, the private sector, the research community, multilateral organizations, national governments and other actors (such as Canadian youth and cultural communities), contribute to development in distinct and complementary ways. Global Affairs Canada is committed to supporting multi-stakeholder approaches and seeks to foster effective partnerships among these actors. Global Affairs Canada recognizes the important role that dialogue plays in facilitating mutual respect and accountability, particularly in the context of multi-stakeholder approaches.

Key Activities/Milestones

Global Affairs Canada will:

• Continue to recognize and support CSOs as development actors in their own right, including by encouraging the participation of CSOs in multi-stakeholder partnerships for international assistance
• Support the GPEDC as the primary multi-stakeholder forum for effective development cooperation by advocating for its functioning through multi-stakeholder approaches. For example, Global Affairs Canada will continue to:
• Advocate for CSO and private sector representation and for their contribution to the decision-making processes on the steering committee and at the associated senior level meetings
• Support IATI as a multi-stakeholder norm-setting forum on transparency in support of effective development cooperation. For example, Global Affairs Canada will continue to:
• Advocate for CSO and private sector representation and for their contribution to the decision-making processes on the Members’ Assembly and Governing Board
• Work closely with members of the IATI community, including CSO representatives, to maximize the use of open data on international assistance in support of development effectiveness and sustainable development results
• Through Canada’s participation in the multi-stakeholder Task Team on CSO Development Effectiveness and Enabling Environment, highlight the work of the Task Team in order to advance effective CSO participation in global, national and local international development-related processes
• Promote inclusive membership and governance processes in regional, national and local multi-stakeholder forums through Canada-led convening initiatives. For example, Global Affairs Canada will continue to:
• Advocate to improve cross-sector representation
• Promote governance processes that are inclusive of all relevant stakeholders, including representation from poor, marginalized and vulnerable populations
• Seek to include representatives from marginalized and vulnerable populations and undertake measures to avoid exclusion of underrepresented groups;
• Work with civil society and other partners, as appropriate, to set clear parameters for each instance of multi-stakeholder engagement and determine the manner in which power dynamics will be addressed, such as whether the partnership is being created for decision-making or dialogue

Key Activities/Milestones

Global Affairs Canada will:

• Continue to work with CSO partners, for example through the Task Force on Improving Effectiveness, to identify how to improve systems to better support efforts to collaborate and partner; and make connections where relevant with the work underway on Objective 6
• Consult internally and with partners on opportunities and challenges to fostering collaboration and partnerships, including implications for institutional structures (e.g. funding mechanisms and tools), through the Task Force on Improving Effectiveness and other relevant engagement opportunities
• Promote principles of effective multi-stakeholder engagement in domestic, bilateral, and multilateral fora, including inclusion and participation, with a view to leaving no one behind
• Catalyze support for gender equality and the rights of girls and women in developing countries through multi-stakeholder approaches (e.g. Partnership for Gender Equality Programming, Women’s Voice and Leadership projects)
• Help build the capacity of CSO partners within existing partnerships to work in multi-stakeholder partnerships that include representatives from the private sector, women as well as poor, marginalized and vulnerable groups
• Seek to advance sector specific multi-stakeholder roundtables in developing countries and encourage partner country governments to engage in multi-stakeholder dialogue, based on transparency, mutual respect and accountability, in line with the principles of the Open Government Partnership
• In collaboration with CSO partners, convene stakeholders to engage with the international development research community

Key Activities/Milestones

Global Affairs Canada will:

• Support and mobilize multi-stakeholder partnerships that contribute to the achievement of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. For example, Global Affairs Canada will continue to:
• Include participation from a variety of stakeholder groups on the Canadian delegation for the High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development
• Encourage multi-stakeholder partnerships to mobilize financing for the SDGs that supports principles of effective development cooperation
• Work with Canadian CSOs and other partners to encourage the participation of representatives from poor, marginalized and vulnerable populations in international fora in relation to the 2030 Agenda
• Convene multi-stakeholder representatives in support of Canada’s international development priorities at the High Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development
• Advocate for multi-stakeholder participation, including representation from poor, marginalized and vulnerable populations, in international meetings on the 2030 Agenda
• Actively engage with Canadian and international CSOs through established multilateral civil society structures such as the G7 and G20’s Engagement Groups (e.g. C7/20, Y7/20, W7/20) to incorporate diverse CSO views in the development outcomes of the G7 and the G20
• Engage in sector-specific multi-stakeholder partnerships (e.g. education; SRHR; Women, peace and security; gender equality)
• Advocate for support to multi-stakeholder partnerships through Canada’s contributions to over 50 active World Bank trust funds (e.g. during executive board meetings and consultations on draft guidance documents)

Objective 8: Engaging Canadians as global citizens in international assistance

Canadian CSOs are globally recognized leaders for their expertise in the areas of peace and security, humanitarian action and sustainable, transformative development. They also have a unique and positive approach to supporting local CSOs to build capacity and take ownership of their programming and results. Their strong relationships with local CSOs, including women’s organizations, strengthen Canada’s engagement at the community level and enhance Canada’s networks abroad. Global Affairs Canada is committed to engaging with diverse Canadian CSO partners, to build their capacity and maximize the global impact of Canada’s CSO community. Establishing new Canadian CSO partnerships can increase the effectiveness of the Department’s and CSOs’ own international assistance efforts, and ensure that Canada’s investments yield lasting results.

Canadian CSOs play a key role in expressing Canadian values and telling Canada’s feminist international assistance story, which can foster global citizenship, particularly among youth, and help inspire Canadians to engage in transformative action to reduce poverty and overcome gender inequality. CSOs engage Canadians in a broader and deeper understanding of international issues, including promoting global citizenship and mobilizing citizens to participate actively in Canada’s international assistance efforts.

Key Activities/Milestones

Global Affairs Canada will:

• Collaborate with key partners to develop and share good practice as well as innovative approaches to gender-integrated global citizenship education, public engagement and communications, joint mobilization, data collection and learning
• Develop a shared understanding, in collaboration with diverse CSOs, including women’s and girls’ rights organizations and small and medium-sized organizations, of global citizenship education and public engagement approaches, a sectoral theory of change, and guidance on gender-sensitive and transformative targets, as well as indicators that reflect the priorities presented in the FIAP, and Agenda 2030
• Support Canadian partners to collaborate, and strengthen networks for global citizenship education and public engagement on Canada’s development priorities, including gender equality and women’s rights, through periodic online and face-to-face dialogue and learning activities

Key Activities/Milestones

Global Affairs Canada will:

• Participate in partner initiatives that support innovative and multi-stakeholder approaches to global citizenship education and public engagement, particularly those that support or integrate gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls
• Provide an improved project browser tool to enable users to search an online, interactive tool and download information to learn more about CSOs’ international assistance efforts funded by GAC
• Highlight civil society partners’ contributions through multimedia arts, and develop mutual approaches to creating and amplifying content related to CSO partner activities using innovative technologies
• Request submissions from partners for digital media to support GAC engagement activities and profile partner activities

Key Activities/Milestones

Global Affairs Canada will:

• Establish predictability for global citizenship education and public engagement funding, including allowable amounts integrated into calls for proposals with Canadian CSOs
• Provide larger, longer-term global citizenship education and public engagement funding, in order to deepen reach and collaborate with diverse populations of Canadians, including new immigrants, indigenous communities, and youth, to promote active global citizenship and gender equality
• Deepen collaboration between GAC and CSOs to support global citizenship education and public engagement across Canada, and in relation to major events and alliances
• Support dialogue with civil society related to public engagement and global citizenship, in domestic and international fora

Objective 9: Promote sustainability, transparency, accountability, and results

Canada is committed to sustainability, transparency and accountability. Access to comprehensive, timely information about international cooperation facilitates the coordination, monitoring and accountability necessary to achieve sustainable results. Canada is committed to being a model publisher and user of open data regarding its activities and results. It also aims to improve access to information about the activities and results of its CSO partners, including those of the local organizations supported by Canadian CSOs. Global Affairs Canada looks to all of its development partners to uphold similar transparency and accountability standards, and increase the impact of Canada’s development investments.

Key Activities/Milestones

Global Affairs Canada will:

• Enhance reports on Canada’s international assistance, including by exploring more interactive ways to present information
• Improve the information on Canada’s international assistance activities published through for example statistical reports, IATI datasets, the Project Browser, website and social media
• Publish more detailed information on each process on the Calls for Proposals website as appropriate and relevant
• Maintain momentum on implementing the recommendations of the Task Force on Improving Effectiveness’ Solution Team on the application processes that contribute to advance transparency related to call for proposal processes (noting that several recommendations are currently implemented or in progress)
• Examine project platforms from other donor countries (e.g. the UK’s Development Tracker, the US’ Foreign Aid Explorer), and develop an innovative, accessible Canadian platform to access project information
• Leverage information from CSO partners in its communications, including social media, to enhance visibility and awareness of Canada’s international assistance results and amplify CSO partners’ contributions, activities and results
• Support the development of skills and tools to facilitate the use of open aid data in partner countries

CSOs will:

• Share information on the Task Force on Improving Effectiveness’ through their networks, such as the Canadian Council for International Cooperation (CCIC), the Inter-Council Network of Provincial and Regional Councils for International Cooperation (ICN), and others

Key Activities/Milestones

Global Affairs Canada will:

• Establish a GAC-CSO working group to develop a concrete approach concerning the implementation of transparency and accountability standards by CSO partners, with a particular focus on IATI. Its deliverables will include specific publishing requirements; means to provide technical support; monitoring approach; good practices and capacity-building needs concerning the implementation of transparency and accountability standards by CSOs, among other items
• Work with the IATI community, including CSO representatives, to reflect the needs of CSOs as publishers and users of data on international assistance in the IATI standard and tools

CSOs will:

• Disseminate information, build awareness and increase understanding related to transparency & accountability standards including IATI, including benefits of Canadian CSOs joining the IATI community

Key Activities/Milestones

Global Affairs Canada will:

• Disseminate and promote the use of evaluation and research by periodically hosting or convening knowledge events on current topics of interest related to international development with participation from relevant stakeholders (e.g. researchers, CSOs, private sector)
• Expand outreach efforts for its departmental data strategy to include external organizations such as foreign governments, CSOs, universities, and private sector organisations, in order to promote knowledge sharing and the exchange of best practices
• Promote multi-stakeholder partnerships to facilitate learning in the areas of measurement, evaluation and results

Related links

• Summary: Canada’s Policy for Civil Society Partnerships for International Assistance – A feminist approach
• Canada’s Policy for Civil Society Partnerships for International Assistance – A Feminist Approach
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