Civil society organisations

As we began to study interactions between local governance institutions and local communities, our attention started to shift to a separate focus on civil society organisations, whilst keeping an interest in state-civil society relationships.

Civil society organisations often play a crucially important role in providing services to vulnerable and marginal populations affected by discrimination, illness, remoteness, war or political transitions, or natural disasters. At the same time civil society is expected to advocate for and contribute to social and political change.
Recent evaluations and research have focused on the effectiveness of civil society organisations as a channel for aid and assistance. What is the impact of aid on recipients, organisations, and institutions in the recipient country? We have carried out evaluations of the work of civil society organisations in Eastern Europe and Russia, Latin-America, Asia, and Africa. Some of the evaluations have been commissioned by funding agencies, others by civil society organisations.
Moreover, we have been engaged in a number of organisational reviews of civil society organisations for the Norwegian Development Agency, Norad.
We define civil society organisations broadly. In addition to evaluations and studies of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and community-based organisations (CBOs), we research religious organisations, from local church networks to the Muslim Brotherhood, trade unions, and youth gangs in urban areas.

Projects:

Evaluering av Høyres og Senterpartiets samarbeidsprosjekter med politiske partier

Industrial relations under global stress

Development Cooperation through Norwegian NGOs in Guatemala

Norwegian NGOs in South America

Religious Civil Society Networks in the Great Lakes Region as Partners in Peace

Bander og politisk vold i Kenya

Evaluation of the Norwegian Centre for Democracy Support

Utredning om minoriteter i Russland

Det muslimske brorskapet i regionen rundt Afrikas horn