ABSTRACT
This chapter presents a research project, examines the involvement of non-state actors (NSAs) in drawing up the Country Strategies in two of the Africa, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries, and compares this with the experience in two countries from the Asia and Latin America (ALA) group where, as yet, there exists no legal requirement. The research project examines the degree and quality of civil society participation in the production of the first set of European Community (EC) Country Strategy Papers (CSPs) within the context of the EC aid reform process currently under way. It shows that there was a greater effort to consult with civil society groups in the ACP countries than in the ALA countries. In the two non-ACP countries, the local consultants documented other local examples of civil society participation in policy dialogue, to supplement the limited examples which had been associated with the development of the EC Country Strategy Papers in those countries.
