• 28.08.2025 at 06.45
• Performance audit

Support for civil society organisations’ development cooperation

The amount of support granted to civil society organisations (CSOs) for development cooperation and its share of development cooperation appropriations have grown significantly. The CSOs are mainly satisfied with the actions of the grant provider, the Ministry for Foreign Affairs.

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One way of implementing development cooperation is the development cooperation carried out by civil society organisations, for which the Ministry for Foreign Affairs grants support. By supporting CSOs, Finland aims to strengthen the civil societies of developing countries, thereby promoting its development policy objectives. The audit assessed how the Ministry for Foreign Affairs has succeeded in creating conditions for CSOs’ development cooperation as a part of Finland’s development policy.

In the budget for 2025, Parliament allocated EUR 534 million to the budget item for actual development cooperation. Of this amount, EUR 98 million was allocated to CSOs. The amount of support granted to CSOs has increased significantly: in 2019, the support was around one third lower compared to the current level.

The importance of Finnish CSOs’ development cooperation has been emphasised strongly in development policy guidance documents. In accordance with the policy lines, the support for CSOs has been increased and its share of development cooperation appropriations has grown significantly. The conditions and administrative requirements set for CSO support can be met mainly by large and established organisations. This is partly inconsistent with the diversity mentioned in the guidance documents as a characteristic of civil society organisations.

The Unit for Civil Society (KEO-30), which is responsible for CSO support at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, has managed the grants appropriately, and the organisations have mainly assessed the Unit’s actions positively. CSOs’ development cooperation generates extensive information on results, but it is not fully utilised. The Ministry for Foreign Affairs has used external experts whose independence has not been verified to help with the processing of grant applications and the monitoring of grants.

According to the Government Programme, the focus of Finland’s development cooperation will shift to the work of Finnish CSOs. It is therefore increasingly important that the development cooperation carried out by the CSOs is linked with other development cooperation.

The National Audit Office recommends that the Ministry for Foreign Affairs should ensure sufficient competence and resources for the management of government grants. The NAOF also recommends that the Ministry should develop its performance reporting so that the information can be better utilised by the Ministry and organisations. In addition, the Ministry for Foreign Affairs should verify the independence of external experts in a documented manner and, where necessary, assign different actors responsibility for the preparatory tasks of the grant phase and the monitoring of the use.