Strengthening Institutions and Civil Society

Government institutions are more accountable and responsible to the needs of citizens. Citizens and civil society are empowered to participate in management of collective resources and governance. While empowering citizens to make demands and hold to account those who are meant to be responsible for delivering services and at the same time supporting local public institutions to provide better, more effective services to their constituents, ACTED specifically encourages different stakeholders – from groups of citizens, CSOs  and private sector to (local) governments and supportive sector institutions – to work effectively together in co-constructing ways to act collectively and in their own best interest and thus be agents in, dynamic development processes.

Standard list of activities:

• Support to public institutions that provide basic services such as provision of training, technical assistance and/or resources to authorities and service delivery agents; for example, municipal waste management, decentralization, transparent procurement, etc.;
• Facilitation of inclusive and participatory local development planning through a bottom-up process;
• Strengthening the institutional capacity of CSOs (for example organizational and financial management, program implementation, external relations and fundraising);
• Supporting the formation of civil society initiatives, including developing alliances and promoting networking among CSOs at local, national, regional and global levels;
• Provision of training and small grants to CSOs to support their core mandate programming;
• Supporting CSOs and individuals for more effective engagement to promote their rights, incl. through media
• Promoting independent and pluralist media;
• Promoting dialogue between citizens and institutions/authorities/service providers through organization of platforms, fora, public hearings, etc.;
• Empowering citizens to ensure that services are delivered in a transparent and accountable manner (using social accountability tools such as Citizen Report Cards, Community Scorecards, social audits);
• Promotion of socio-cultural activities and events.