Context
The Istanbul Principles for Development Effectiveness are a set of internationally recognized standards developed by the Global Assembly of the Open Forum for CSO Development Effectiveness, a diverse coalition of civil society organizations from around the world. The principles were created through a process of extensive global consultations in 2010 and 2011 which involved civil society organizations in more than 50 countries. The principles represent a shift from a paradigm of “aid effectiveness” – which focuses on the effective delivery of aid, to the exclusion of issues fundamental to development – to one of “development effectiveness” – which focuses on how civil society organizations can work effectively for sustainable development. This paradigm shift parallels a similar shift in public engagement work from transactional to transformational engagement.
The Principles are:
- Respect and promote human rights and social justice.
- Embody gender equality and equity while promoting women’s and girls’ rights
- Focus on people’s empowerment, democratic ownership and participation
- Promote Environmental Sustainability
- Practice transparency and accountability
- Pursue equitable partnerships and solidarity
- Create and share knowledge and commit to mutual learning
- Commit to realizing positive sustainable change
Since they were endorsed at the first Global Assembly of the Open Forum in September 2010, many organizations have begun to implement the Istanbul Principles in their development work. While a lot of thinking has gone into applying the principles to development work, practitioners are just beginning to consider implications of the principles for public engagement work. This tool can provide a starting point for discussion within your organization about how your public engagement approaches reflect these principles.
More information about the Istanbul Principles for Development Effectiveness can be found on the Open Forum for CSO Development Effectiveness website.
Questions for Practitioners
These questions were developed as a tool to assist organizations as they reflect on the challenge of incorporating the lessons of the Istanbul Principles into their own public engagement programs. Some questions address the messages and goals of our public engagement work (what are we talking about, what solutions are we presenting, what is the “ask”), while others address the ways that we engage the public (who are we targeting, how are they engaged and involved).
Overarching questions:
- Have we as public engagement practitioners articulated values or principles for our public engagement practice?
- Is our public engagement work integrated with our development work? How?
- How are these values communicated through your public engagement?
Istanbul Principle #1. Respect and promote human rights and social justice.
Civil society organizations are effective as development actors when they… develop and implement strategies, activities and practices that promote individual and collective human rights, including the right to development, with dignity, decent work, social justice and equity for all people.
Questions for public engagement practitioners:
- Does our public engagement work emphasize the rights of people?
- Does the way we conduct our public engagement activities foster equity within our communities?
Istanbul Principle #2. Embody gender equality and equity while promoting women’s and girls’ rights
Civil society organizations are effective as development actors when they… promote and practice development cooperation embodying gender equity, reflecting women’s concerns and experience, while supporting women’s efforts to realize their individual and collective rights, participating as fully empowered actors in the development process.
Questions for public engagement practitioners:
- Does our public engagement work address issues that are priorities for women?
- Are women’s voices heard through our public engagement work? Are they shown as leaders in development? Are both women and men presented as expert voices?
- Are we engaging both men and women? Do their roles in our public engagement differ?
Istanbul Principle #3. Focus on people’s empowerment, democratic ownership and participation
Civil society organizations are effective as development actors when they … support the empowerment and inclusive participation of people to expand their democratic ownership over policies and development initiatives that affect their lives, with an emphasis on the poor and marginalized.
Questions for public engagement practitioners:
- Do we engage people in a participatory way?
- How are the priorities of our public engagement work set? Who is involved in the process?
- How are we building democratic ownership and participation through our public engagement?
Istanbul Principle #4. Promote Environmental Sustainability
Civil society organizations are effective as development actors when they… develop and implement priorities and approaches that promote environmental sustainability for present and future generations, including urgent responses to climate crises, with specific attention to the socio-economic, cultural and indigenous conditions for ecological integrity and justice.
Questions for public engagement practitioners:
- What are we doing to ensure that environmental sustainability is a key message of our public engagement?
- How are we modeling environmental sustainability through our public engagement activities?
Istanbul Principle #5. Practice transparency and accountability
Civil society organizations are effective as development actors when they… demonstrate a sustained organizational commitment to transparency, multiple accountability, and integrity in their internal operations.
Questions for public engagement practitioners:
- To whom are we accountable? To our donors? To people in the Global South? To our partners? To our funders?
- How do we act on this accountability?
- Are the results of our public engagement work made transparent? How do we share messages that we receive from the groups we engage?
Istanbul Principle #6. Pursue equitable partnerships and solidarity
Civil society organizations are effective as development actors when they… commit to transparent relationships with civil society organizations and other development actors, freely and as equals, based on shared development goals and values, mutual respect, trust, organizational autonomy, long-term accompaniment, solidarity and global citizenship.
Questions for public engagement practitioners:
- How do we support our Southern partners through our public engagement programming?
- How do Southern partners influence our public engagement? Does our public engagement live up to our partnership principles?
- How does our public engagement work build mutual respect and solidarity?
Istanbul Principle #7. Create and share knowledge and commit to mutual learning
Civil society organizations are effective as development actors when they … enhance the ways they learn from their experience, from other civil society organizations and development actors, integrating evidence from development practice and results, including the knowledge and wisdom of local and indigenous communities, strengthening innovation and their vision for the future they would like to see.
Questions for public engagement practitioners:
- How do we collaborate with other civil society organizations and development actors in our public engagement?
- How do we share our learnings and incorporate the experiences of others into our public engagement activities?
- How do we engage in mutual learning from a North-South perspective in our public engagement work?
Istanbul Principle #8. Commit to realizing positive sustainable change
Civil society organizations are effective as development actors when they … collaborate to realize sustainable outcomes and impacts of their development actions, focusing on results and conditions for lasting change for people, with special emphasis on poor and marginalized populations, ensuring an enduring legacy for present and future generations.
Questions for public engagement practitioners:
- How does our public engagement promote critical thinking and analysis of root causes?
- What are the results of our public engagement programming? Changes in awareness? Attitudes and perceptions? Capacity? Behaviour?
- How do those results contribute to long-term sustainable change?
