Submission: civil society partnerships fund (CSPF)
Transparency International Australia is pleased to provide the following comments and recommendations to the design of the Civil Society Partnerships Fund (CSPF).
Australia's International Development Policy states that tackling corruption is a global challenge. In countries such as Cambodia, Myanmar, and the Solomon Islands, corruption, kleptocracy, and shrinking civic space risk undermining democratic norms and emboldening governments to be more authoritarian. These trends reverse development gains and threaten regional stability.
For the CSPF to be transformative, it must provide both long-term stability and short-term flexibility, target those actors most critical to protecting civic space, strengthen the enabling environment for emerging and sustained civil society engagement, and be monitored and evaluated using robust evidence.
Transparency International Australia stands ready to work with DFAT and partners to ensure the CSPF is designed and delivered in a way that supports a thriving civil society in the Indo-Pacific, where people can freely meet, speak, organise, and hold power to account.