Semi Annual report EASUN 2009, first half - about the Moshi Dialogue

Planning Meeting for North/South NGOs Dialogue on Capacity Building

EASUN staff and representatives of three NGOs from the North, i.e., Netherlands (PSO), Denmark (DMC & PATC), met in Moshi, Tanzania, from 18-20 May 2009 for detailed planning of a consultation between Southern (East Africa) and Northern NGOs, planned for November 2009.

Shaping the dialogue content

The main task of the planning meeting was to prepare the draft agenda for the November event, now known popularly as the Moshi Dialogue. The expressed overriding concern of the planning meeting was to make the dialogue process positively engaging (i.e., participatory, reflective and appreciative of the diverse experiences of participants from South and North). This will be necessary
to ensure that Northern and Southern civil society actors are able to come to shared commitments, even as they acknowledge their different experiences, circumstances and current questions.

The meeting put a number of issues on the agenda for the dialogue, which are considered likely to lead to more effective management of partnership relations. They include: 1) building a common identity of Southern and Northern NGOs as civil society organizations; 2) managing essential areas of commonality, such as a specific value base; 3) advocacy to influence human centered policies and
partnership management instruments.

A major outcome expected from the Moshi Dialogue process is to generate visible impact on practices and interventions of Northern and Southern NGOs in institutional and social development activities, particularly approaches that will promote growth, sustainability and authenticity of civil society organizations in the South.