Opening remarks by Minister Elmore at the Voices of Civic
Leadership plenary on Day 1 of the Global Partnerships
Conference.
"Thank you for having me.
What brings us together today is a simple idea
- that development works best when people have
power over the decisions that shape their lives.
As we have heard in the previous session, for decades,
countries and communities have called to lead their own
development, yet progress has been slow and uneven. This
conference is a chance to change that.
And we know what works.
When solutions are shaped locally, they are more effective, more
trusted, and more likely to last.
That matters more than ever as development shifts and
changes.
We're working in a world of rising
inequality, declining trust, and shrinking civic
space.
No single actor can tackle that alone.
The answer lies instead in genuine
partnership, built on mutual respect, mutual
accountability, mutual interest and mutual
learning.
The previous plenary highlighted how
partnerships between countries can help
them shape their own development paths.
But achieving tangible impact on the
ground simply isn't possible without a strong
and vibrant civil society.
That's why today I am pleased to announce on this panel
a new programme called ‘Partnering with Civil
Society'…
…through which we will
invest almost £40m over the next six years.
And alongside this, the UK is committing £21 million over
the next three years to support LGBT+ organisations, and those
working with them, especially in the most challenging
environments.
This is about doing things differently: taking a whole
system approach to strengthen the resilience of civil
society.
We will deliver better outcomes for local
organisations by inviting in networks to lead, coordinate
and collaborate.
And over time, this will reduce reliance on external funding by
building stronger, more resilient systems.
Put simply, this is about shifting power.
The Partnering programme will build on the UK's Civil
Society Covenant launched last year, which set out a
clear principle - that civil society is not an add-on,
but central to stronger economies, better decisions,
and real accountability.
And it means changing how we work.
Making us more flexible with funding…
More decisions made locally…
Less top-down delivery…
And stronger accountability to the
communities which NGOs serve.
But the new Partnering programme is just
one step.
The two plenaries this
afternoon, and this Conference more widely,
is about moving beyond commitments to delivery.
That's why I'm delighted we have
such a distinguished and diverse
panel to explore how locally-led action
can strengthen systems, build legitimacy, and deliver change at
scale.
And I'm also delighted that the panel will
be expertly moderated by Aidan, CEO of the Open Government
Partnership. Something I'm looking forward to is
taking on the role of co-chair in the coming
year, we're looking forward to working closely with
Aidan and OGP members - bringing countries,
local governments and civil society together to drive
openness and accountability.
Because ultimately, fundamentally this comes down to
one question - how do we turn the idea of shifting power into
real change on the ground?
That's the challenge for all of us today, and I look forward to
working with you to tackle it together."
