CDC 132, 15 March 2012 [PDF 50kb] - AusAID

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The meeting also welcomed Chris Wark who has taken over the role previously held by Alex Oates as the CDC liaison point for NGO representatives in the CDC. The Chair made the following opening remarks: • AusAID has been restructuring to better position the organisation to manage the increasing aid program. The restructure has been largely completed, although some positions remain to be filled. NGO & Business Branch (NBB) reports to a new First Assistant Director General, Margaret McKinnon in Africa and Community Programs Division, reporting to James Batley, Deputy Director General, Country Programs Group. • The Chair acknowledged the leadership and contribution of the former Chair, Therese Mills, who has taken up the position of ADG Scholarships and Volunteers Branch, also in the Africa and Community Programs Division. 1. The meeting accepted the Minutes of the CDC Meeting 131 subject to including Jason Alferink as an observer. 2. Action log The meeting agreed that items should be removed from the Action Log where they have been completed. Other items should be removed because they will be addressed through implementation of the Civil Society Engagement Framework for discussion later in the agenda. The following item remains on the action log: • Revision of the NGO Head Agreement. Although the development of good practice guidelines for working with NGOs is no longer an action item for the CDC, the issue of developing such guidelines may come back to the CDC in the context of implementing action items in the CSEF. In this respect, the Chair advised that AusAID is in the process of appointing a steering committee to oversee implementation of the CSEF. The prupose of good practice guidelines is to ensure consistency across Australia’s aid program on working with civil society organisations. 3. Draft Civil Society Engagement Framework (CSEF) The Chair acknowledged that consultation with the CDC had been delayed until after AusAID’s consultation with ExCom on 7 March and that AusAID had not had sufficient time to incorporate ExCom’s comments prior to the CDC meeting. ACFID 2
was able to distribute ExCom’s comments to CDC members on the evening prior to this CDC meeting. It is expected that the CSEF will be launched in the next few months. It provides guidance to how AusAID will engage with civil society organisations across the aid program to address poverty up to 2015. The meeting noted that a strong civil society is also a development outcome in its own right. Russell Miles provided an overview of how ExCom’s comments and concerns would be incorporated into the next iteration of the draft CSEF and sought input from the meeting particularly in relation to the proposed ‘Intended Actions’. The meeting noted that both Code of Conduct and the accreditation process remain relevant to AusAID’s risk management practices in engaging with Australian CSOs. NGO members sought further information as to how AusAID conducts risk assessments of non-accredited NGOs (Australian, local and international), given the level of funding that non-accredited NGOs receive from AusAID. NGO members also noted that while accreditation is a risk management tool for AusAID, recognised development expenditure (RDE) is used both for allocating ANCP funds and as an indicator of independence from government. The draft CSEF places greater emphasis on performance and less on RDE as the basis for decisions on allocating funding. NGO members of the CDC sought to understand the impact of a changed allocation model on the future of ANCP grant funds, and discussed the merits of a ‘traffic light’ system as is currently used in AusAID’s QAIs. The Chair reminded the meeting that no discussions or decisions had yet taken place in respect of allocation models, and no timetable had yet been set for this work to be undertaken. NGO members suggested that some proposed action items on the draft CSEF were currently not well-aligned with objectives. They also suggested that a greater focus on ‘research’ as an action item could add greatly to how civil society is understood as both a contributor to the development of civil societies as well as a contributor to poverty reduction. The meeting also cautioned AusAID about unintended consequences in relation to Objective 3 – Reduced risks and shared accountability. 4. Outsourcing of the Administration of Accreditation and Overseas Aid Gift Deduction Scheme (OAGDS) Assessments Ruth Megirian spoke to the paper provided to CDC members and provided an overview of the rationale and history for outsourcing the administrative process for accreditation and OAGDS and AusAID’s proposed approach to meeting future demand. 3
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CDC 132, 15 March 2012 [PDF 50kb] - AusAID

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