Civil society organizations (CSOs) can make a vital contribution to health and health systems. They have the potential to contribute to policy-making, service delivery and governance. CSOs work on a wide variety of health-related issues, reflecting their diverse constituencies.

Working with CSOs can be very beneficial and attractive to governments. CSOs have first-hand intelligence about issues and population groups that may otherwise have no voice in the political process. 

Working successfully with CSOs requires governments to clarify what they expect from their engagement with civil society. Governments need to be realistic about what CSOs can and will deliver and they need to establish how they can help the CSOs to deliver. 

In the WHO European Region, countries have adopted different approaches to CSOs. Some governments are actively trying to develop context conducive to government–CSO interaction through empowering regulation and funding mechanisms. Other countries have been more reserved and have rarely worked with CSOs or even promoted them. 

The European Observatory’s programme of work aims to help governments that wish to work with CSOs.