About us

The French National Platform of International Solidarity NGOs

Founded in 1994, Coordination SUD brings together more than 130 NGOs, more than one hundred of which via six groups (CLONG – Volontariat, CNAJEP, Coordination d’Agen, CRID, FORIM and Groupe Initiatives). These NGOs are active in the fields of humanitarian aid, development assistance, environmental protection, the defense of disadvantaged people’s human rights, and international solidarity education and advocacy. Coordination SUD is a non-profit association under the French law of 1901. It is financed by its members’ dues, public grants, and private funds.

1/MISSIONS AND OBJECTIVES

Coordination SUD fulfills a dual mission of supporting the professionalization of French NGOs and representing their positions to public and private institutions in France, Europe and around the world.

Coordination SUD’s objectives for 2010-2012 are to:

-       strengthen the professionalism of NGOs to improve the quality of their activities;

-       position NGOs as essential actors in development cooperation and humanitarian aid policies;

-       support the elaboration of shared positions on international solidarity issues; and

-       expand the influence of development and relief NGOs.

2/MEANS OF ACTION

2.1. BUILD AND PROMOTE SHARED POSITIONS

Coordination SUD’s commissions and working groups, made up of representatives of its members, are arenas for consultation in which shared positions on the major international solidarity challenges can be elaborated.

-       The thematic commissions under the International Action and Europe Committees are:

  • Agriculture and Food (C2A),
  • Official Development Assistance (ODA) and Innovative Financing,
  • Climate and Development,
  • Education and Vocational Training,
  • Gender,
  • Humanitarian Issues,
  • Health and Development.

-       The thematic working groups under the ‘Financing and Institution Building Commission’ (COFRI) are:

  • the French development Agency (AFD) Support System to NGO’s initiatives,
  • the Sectoral Innovation Facility for NGOs (FISONG),
  • European Financing,
  • Ethics and Transparency,
  • Quality, Effectiveness, Accountability.

 

2.2 A SECRETARIAT AT THE SERVICE OF ITS MEMBERS

The executive secretariat coordinates and oversees Coordination SUD’s collective work and provides its members with a range of services.

-       The Advocacy Unit builds members’ advocacy capacities and facilitates discussions on practices and the construction of shared positions. It monitors European development aid policy stakes, and oversees Coordination SUD’s participation in CONCORD. Finally, it facilitates the representation of French NGOs in international debates (United Nations, World Bank, IMF, WTO, G8-G20) and oversees bilateral cooperation with NGO platforms in developing countries and Europe and with other civil society actors.

-       The NGO Support Unit runs the Financing and Institution Building Commission (COFRI). It offers monitoring services, information dissemination, training engineering, professional clubs, support/advice, and an NGO needs observatory for the various aspects of financial, organizational and institution building. It is developing a web tool to foster mutual knowledge among NGOs and businesses.

-       The Associative Life and Communication Unit runs the members’ network. It organizes the major events in the association’s life, guides candidates for membership, welcomes new members, and runs the members-only extranet. It communicates to showcase the work and positions of Coordination SUD’s collective arenas and of its member NGOs.

 

2.3 REFERENCE INFORMATION

- the website www.coordinationsud.org is an international solidarity information portal containing members’ news, job offers, calls for tender, and event listings.

-       the quarterly journal Nouvelles de SUD sheds light on the major international solidarity issues.

-       the general information newsletters Point d’information hebdomadaire (PIH) and the Support Unit’s bulletin Actualité des financements et ressources (Financing and Resources News) provide regular activity updates.

-       Coordination SUD’s publications analyze and document key collective work in the form of studies and analysis, reports, etc. Annual publications include the analysis of official development assistance in the draft finance law and feedback on United Nations climate change summits.

 

2.4 SPECIFIC PROGRAMS

-       The Fund for institutional and organizational capacity (FRIO) co-finances external expertise on the various aspects of French NGOs’ organizational and institutional performance. Its secretariat is carried by Coordination SUD’s NGO Support Unit.

The International Forum of national NGO Platforms (IFP) has brought together national and regional NGO groups since 2008. IFP is run by a Facilitation Group composed of ABONG (Brazil), ACCIÓN (Chile), CONGAD (Senegal), Coordination SUD (France), VANI (India), PIANGO (Pacific Islands), InterAction (United States), Espace Associatif (Morocco), CNONGD (DRC) and SADC Council of NGO (Southern Africa). Coordination SUD hosts the IFP secretariat and its Facilitation Group; with the assistance of an international editorial group, it runs the quadrilingual portal of national NGO platforms: www.ong-ngo.org