Global Affairs Canada and Cooperation Canada are co-Chairs of the Civil Society Policy Advisory Group (CPAG), which aims to advance to achievement of objectives outlined in Canada’s Feminist International Assistance Policy (FIAP) and the related GAC CSO Partnership Policy. The group supports the implementation of the CSO Partnership Policy Implementation Plan, focused on nine action areas: 

 

  1. Empowering women and girls, promote gender equality, and reach the poorest, most vulnerable and most marginalized as the most effective means to eradicate poverty
  2. Facilitating a safe and enabling environment for civil society
  3. Protecting human life and dignity
  4. Fostering CSO leadership in innovation
  5. Integrating the role of CSOs as independent actors into international assistance programming
  6. Establishing more predictable, equitable, flexible, and transparent funding mechanisms
  7. Fostering multi-stakeholder approaches to international assistance
  8. Engaging Canadians as global citizens in international assistance
  9. Promoting sustainability, transparency, accountability, and results

 

CPAG is comprised of GAC and CSO representatives specializing in the above-outlined action areas, but also representing sector diversity in terms of areas of professional specialization, organizational type and size, and geographic location, as well as individual identity factors such as gender, age, race, geographic and linguistic backgrounds etc. GAC Assistant Deputy Minister (ADM) for the Partnership for Development Innovation Branch oversees the strategic direction of the group, which continuously engages a broader set of sector experts to inform their work. 

Building on commitments of membership rotation, inclusivity and diversity, CSO members of CPAG now invite CSO  sector specialists to express interest in serving on CPAG for a two-year term. Interested colleagues are required to  commit approximately up to 10 hours a month to ongoing  work, and to attending bilingual quarterly calls. The group will at all times aim to ensure intersectional approach to all areas of work.

The Call for Expressions of Interest can be found here. Colleagues are asked to answer a set of questions to support the membership selection process, which will be conducted by current CSO members. The deadline to submit applications is the end of day 17 May 2021. Applications will be anonymized to minimize bias, but only fully completed forms will be considered. We are determined to ensure CPAG is a safe and inclusive environment for all. Section decisions will be made by June. 

To learn more about CPAG and the CSO Partnership Policy, please click here. Thank you very much for considering contributing to this vital advisory  group. 

With best wishes,

CSO CPAG Members