Civil society development cooperation

Civil society development cooperation plays an important role for the BMZ. As an independent development policy actor, civil society is engaged to strengthen human rights and democracy or to implement the 2030 Agenda. According to the BMZ, civil society can leverage flexibility, rapid response capability and local knowledge to reinforce societal transformation for achieving social and environmental sustainability in partner countries. In partner countries, civil society can serve as a watchdog and driver of reform efforts, and as a link between government and the people (BMZ, 2024). The particular role attributed to civil society development cooperation by the BMZ is also reflected in its current reform plan, as ongoing reform efforts also emphasise its significance (BMZ, 2026). 

DEval is examining the BMZ's civil society development cooperation based on what is termed a modular "building-block approach": an evaluative pilot study (set to begin in mid-2026) will form the basis on which a follow-up a strategic evaluation will build. Combined, these two elements cover the relevant knowledge needed from both a short-term and medium-term perspective. 

A core focus of the evaluative study will be on instruments for strengthening civil society in selected partner countries, and how these instruments can be adapted to the given situation of civil society in selected partner countries. The strategic evaluation will then build on these findings to take an overarching look at the BMZ's instruments of civil society development cooperation across the various countries considered. 

The evaluation will thus provide evidence-based findings for strategic onward development of civil society development cooperation. It will deliver groundwork for policy-based designing of support instruments in a challenging global environment. 

In its evaluative study DEval is implementing a case-study design. It will analyse diverse instruments for strengthening civil society in a small number of partner countries selected on the basis of specific criteria.  

The methods of the strategic evaluation will be determined together with its evaluation questions once the evaluative study has been completed. This will presumably also comprise a quantitative analysis of distribution models of financial means for civil society development cooperation.