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Nieuws & MediaBright Ideas Contest – Call for ‘ideas’ for the new policy framework ‘Strengthening Civil Society’ by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Belangenbehartiging & Beleidsbeïnvloeding Nieuws

Bright Ideas Contest – Call for ‘recommendations’ for the new policy framework ‘Strengthening Civil Society’ by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Partos is launching a competition to collect the most impactful recommendations on four priority themes for the forthcoming policy framework, ‘Strengthening Civil Society,’ expected to be released around September 2024. On February 8th, roundtable workshops will be hosted by Partos, engaging civil society stakeholders to discuss and solicit input based on the submissions received through the competition.

02 januari 2024

What have we done already?

The current policy framework for strengthening civil society by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is set to conclude in 2025. Over the past years, Partos, in collaboration with its members and international experts, has collected insights and developed recommendations to make the new policy framework for 2026 and beyond more inclusive, flexible, and, above all, effective. These insights include:

  1. General consultation by Partos among its members on the policy framework (2023).
  2. Policy paper with concrete recommendations from the Partos Shift the Power Lab to make the policy framework more inclusive and flexible (2022/2023).
  3. Voices on Power – interviews with recommendations from the Partos Shift the Power Lab by Southern leaders (2023).
  4. Dreampaper from the Partos Shift the Power Lab highlighting key issues from the ‘Power of Voices’ policy framework (2021/2022)

Bright Ideas Contest in preparation for roundtable discussions 8th February

The roundtable discussions will focus on four themes widely supported by civil society and Southern partners:

Recommendations have been developed already, which can be found in the Policy paper. Some of those recommendations are still too general. To further specify these recommendations, new ideas are needed. Therefore, Partos is launching a ‘Bright Ideas Competition’, culminating in the roundtable workshops on February 8th.

Anyone with a good idea regarding one of the questions below can submit it to Partos before February 1st by sending an email to alexander@partos.nl. An independent jury will select the best ideas, which will be presented and discussed in one of the four workshops scheduled for February 8th. Ideas can be submitted in a maximum of 400 words per idea and will be evaluated based on the criteria of 1. Concreteness, 2. Expected effectiveness, and 3. Feasibility.

Bright Ideas Contest

We are looking for bright ideas in the following areas:

  1. Ideas for text to be included in the new policy framework SCC to ensure that applicant consortia are stimulated to engage in locally-led or locally-consulted agenda and priority setting.
  2. Ideas for practical solutions for sharing risks that can be included in the new policy framework SCC.
  3. Ideas for a mechanism for financial accountability to be included in the new policy framework SCC that is workable and stimulates the development of more equal power relations.
  4. Ideas for a MEL system to be included in the new policy framework SCC, that meets all M&E objectives (accountability, learning and steering) and that does not require disproportionate time and resources for data collection.

For more background information, we recommend reading Policy paper en Voices on Power or watching the video:

Do you want to participate in the consultations? Register here for

Want to know more?

Do you have any questions, remarks or additions? Please do not hesitate to contact us

Alexander Medik Manager Quality, Learning & Innovationalexander@partos.nl
Koos de Bruijn Manager Belangenbehartiging & Beleidsbeïnvloeding06 24 20 46 55koos@partos.nl