Aid withdrawal, partnership and CSO sustainability in a time of
global economic change
INTRAC workshop
Tuesday 27th November 2012, 10.00 -17.00/ St Anne’s College, Oxford
Event overview and call for case studies
A one day workshop for civil society organisations, researchers and development agencies
to debate issues around partnership, civil society sustainability and aid withdrawal.
Overview
In a context of global economic change, many international NGOs are reviewing their work in
particular countries or with particular partners. In many places, funding is being withdrawn
from local civil society organisations as projects and programmes are phased out. The
catalysts for this are multiple: economic problems in OECD countries resulting in funding
cuts from governments for international development and financial difficulties for
international NGOs; economic growth in middle and lower middle income countries leading
to changes in aid requirements, aid structures and development priorities; pressure for
demonstrable evidence of impact and results coming from governments and stakeholders
which is causing NGOs to re-evaluate who they work with, where and how.
Aid withdrawal might be desirable in situations where its purpose has been served.
However, the process of withdrawing from established relationships is neither
straightforward nor trauma-free for any of the parties involved.
Big questions emerging include:
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What is the current picture of aid withdrawal, where is it happening, why and how?
What are local partner experiences of aid withdrawal, and how do they respond in
order to ensure the sustainability of their organisations and activities?
How does this experience differ across countries?
What good and bad practices can we identify?
What can we learn from this about partnership and sustainability?
What can we learn from this about aid effectiveness and organisational
development?
How can we better support local partners and each other through the process of aid
withdrawal?
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Building on INTRAC’s work on Civil Society at the Crossroads, and feeding into a broader
work programme on Aid Withdrawal and Partnership, INTRAC is holding a one-day
workshop to debate issues around partnership, civil society sustainability and aid withdrawal.
Objectives
This issue is affecting a huge range of organisations at the present time, and others have
gone through processes of aid withdrawal in the recent past. By sharing experiences and
approaches, we aim to support organisations (both the ‘exiters’ and the ‘exitees’) who are
going through the process as we speak. We will update existing lessons about good and
poor practice, and tease out new ones that reflect the current global environment.
A second major objective is to build up a body of new knowledge about what is happening in
the sector regarding aid withdrawal to bring it to the attention of practitioners, policy-makers
and researchers. Collectively, we have vast knowledge and experiences to share on this. By
documenting current and recent experiences of aid withdrawal, we will provide a major
contribution to debates about the changing aid environment.
We will aim to publish various documents from the workshop.
This workshop is part of an ongoing broader programme of work, which includes plans for
research into partner experiences of aid withdrawal.
Call for Case Studies
The workshop will involve a mix of formal presentations, panel debates and small group
discussions.
We want to build the debates around the real experiences of NGOs. If you are willing to
share a case study with us, please contact Rowan Popplewell: rpopplewell@intrac.org.
Programme
Full details of the programme will follow.
Participants
This workshop is open to representatives of civil society organisations, researchers and
development agencies.
Cost
The workshop is free for members of the INTRAC’s NGO Research Programme. Cost for
non-members is £80.
To book a place at the workshop, please return the booking form (on pages 4 and 5) to
zwilkinson@intrac.org
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Event Logistics
Venue details
St Anne's College Oxford, Woodstock Road, Oxford, OX2 6HS
Room: Tsuzuki Theatre, Ruth Deech Building
Map and Directions to St Anne’s College, Oxford:
http://www.st-annes.ox.ac.uk/about/how-to-find-us.html
Travelling to Oxford
By Air
The most convenient arrival airport is London Heathrow, from which there is a frequent
express coach service to Oxford. London Gatwick is a little further, but again there is direct
coach service to and from Oxford.
Birmingham International, Stansted and Luton have less frequent coach and/or rail
connections with Oxford.
By Coach
There are very frequent services from London Victoria Station and operated by Oxford Bus
Company (‘Oxford Espress’) and Stagecoach (‘Oxford Tube’), as well as from Heathrow and
Gatwick Airports. A rather less frequent service connects with Birmingham International
airports. There are connections with many other parts of the country, including a direct
service to Cambridge. The central bus and coach depot (Gloucester Green) is a 10 minute
walk south of the College. This link will take you to a map with directions to St Anne's from
the main coach station: View Map
By Train
There are frequent direct trains from London Paddington and regular links northwards via
Birmingham, southwards via Reading, and westwards via Didcot. Follow this link for online
timetables for the railways. The station is a 15 minute walk from St Anne's, but there is of
course a taxi rank at the station. This link will take you to a map with directions to St Anne's
from the train station: View Map
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INTRAC Aid Withdrawal, Partnership and CSO Sustainability workshop
Application Form
Workshop cost: £80
Please send completed application forms to: zwilkinson@intrac.org Fax: +44 (0)1865 201
852
Name
Job title
Organisation
Address
Telephone number
Fax number
Email address
Special requests
(e.g. dietary)
Where did you hear
about the workshop?
Method of Payment (tick as appropriate)
All payments will be in UK pounds (£).
Option 1: By Credit Card
Option 2:
By Invoice
 (Please fill out form on page 5)
 (An invoice will be emailed to you)
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Please charge my credit card
 MasterCard
 Visa
Card number
Expiry date
/
(mm/yy)
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(Last 3 digits in the signature
panel on the back of the card)
Name of cardholder
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cardholder
Billing address as it appears on
the credit card statement
Amount to be debited
£
Signature
Date
Notes
Cancellation policy
If you wish to cancel your place at the workshop, we will refund the fee according to the number of
weeks before you notify us of this. More than 4 weeks: 100% refund / Between 2 to 4 weeks: 50%
refund/ Less than 2 weeks or not attending the course: No refund. To cancel your place on the
workshop we require written notification.
Data protection: We would like to contact you occasionally to inform you of INTRAC events and
other relevant information. If you do not wish us to do this, please tick here 
Photography: You may be photographed at the event and your image used in brochures and on
our website. If you do not wish us to do this, please tick here 
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