• Stakeholder engagement

Stakeholder engagement

Based on perception of civil society representatives in Nicaragua, this study assesses constraints and potentials of civil society involvement in poverty reduction strategy (PRS) monitoring processes in Nicaragua. The study applies an innovative tool – the so called "CSO Participation Matrix" – which helps to structure the information, to identify critical gaps and existing potentials, and to identify key challenges to civil society's participation. The tool used in this study is intended to serve civil society organisations in strengthening their voice in the multi-stakeholder dialogue on PRS monitoring.

The study concludes with recommendations to enhance the role of civil society in the monitoring process. Key findings include:

• basic conditions for a significant role of civil society organisations (CSOs) in the PRS monitoring system are not met; consequently there is the need for a longer-term perspective on enhancing civil society's participation in national monitoring processes
• government does not seem to have developed an approach that appreciates civil society as a key actor in PRS monitoring nor to recognise its potential value added
• the collaboration among CSOs, to build strategic partnerships, and to improve CSO's capacity to translate research findings into powerful advocacy tools, needs to be strengthened
• the strongest potential of CSOs is found at the local level; efforts should therefore focus on raising awareness and empowering local people in order to enable them to hold public officials to account
• donors should rethink the balance between support to government and CSOs, work towards improving their coordination, and move from project-based support to core funding. The recently established multi-donor fund for supporting CSOs points to the right direction.

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