‘Donors need to invest diplomatic weight in directly facilitating civic engagement with the state, as opposed to divesting all responsibility in intermediaries such as NGOs.’

An Opinion written for a high level policy forum bringing together senior DFID and NGO staff, MPs, private sector representatives, Africanists, development academics, and key journalists for discussion on the future of Africa in the run-up to the G8 meeting in Germany (6-8 June). The Forum was held on May 2nd, 2007 in London.