The terms “constructive engagement” and “participatory governance” are used often in the social development arena. But, do people—even development practitioners—really know what they mean, and more importantly, how to put them into practice?

INCITEGov’s initial project Developing Regional Tools on Constructive Engagement towards Participatory Governance, focused on defining and broadening the concepts of participatory governance and constructive engagement. The project helped establish common ground among CSOs in the ASEAN region, and set the stage for INCITEGov’s new initiative, Strengthening the Capacity of National Civil Society Organizations and Advocates towards Constructive Engagement and People-Centered Governance.

The general objective of the project is to help build and strengthen CSO capacity to effectively engage government. More specifically, the project aims:

The project aims to foster a deeper understanding of the lessons learned, and identify areas of improvement in each of the project countries. In order to move forward with the constructive engagement process it will also be necessary to assess what enables and constrains CSOs in their efforts to work with government, as well as to come up with clear advocacy positions to pursue with their national governments. The hope is that CSOs will also be able to develop strategies they can use to influence government action, especially on issues affecting marginalized groups in their respective countries.

The training courses that will be developed are targeted for CSOs and advocates who want to begin the process of constructive engagement with the government from outside, and for the so-called “crossovers”, who want to pursue constructive engagement from within the structure of government.

The project targets people who came from, or are in, government service, and civil society and social movement leaders and advocates working at the national level and actively engaging government in the process. Initial project beneficiaries will be from the project countries of Cambodia, Indonesia and Philippines.

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