On October 1-2 2009, the World Bank Institute (WBI), GTZ, and the Affiliated Networks for Social Accountability (ANSAs) convened 35 key proponents of the good governance and transparency agenda at GTZ headquarters in Frankfurt, Germany to develop a common vision for strengthening state – civil society engagements in partner countries. Participants were drawn from the donor community, civil society, academia, and various government agencies, and from a wide range of regions around the world.

The workshop was supported by the GTZ Advisory Project Good Governance and Democracy, which is commissioned by the federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). The formal objectives of the event were to:

• Examine the state of play of the good governance agenda, with a particular focus on demandside governance and social accountability, and identify gaps in support that need to be filled;
• Explore substantive partnerships on key thematic areas;
• Create greater coordination, networking and knowledge exchange and identify concrete ways to move forward.

The workshop framed the issues at hand in an action-oriented way -- focusing on the gaps in support and requisite capacities – to emerge with an enhanced understanding of the current state of play and a shared vision for moving ahead in filling these gaps. To this end, much of the workshop was structured as small brainstorming group work. Over the course of the two days’ discussion, participants examined how to revitalize the social accountability aspect and overall governance agenda within their respective institutions and to seek creative, innovative, and concrete steps in moving forward.