The eastern Africa workshop of ODI's new Civil Society Partnership Programme's (CSPP) Regional Consultation was held in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, on the 21st and 22nd February 2005, in collaboration with the Economic and Social Research Foundation (ESRF) - Tanzania. The workshop provided a forum for representatives from policy research institutes and non-governmental agencies to discuss the opportunities and challenges for CSOs to use evidence to inform policy, learn about the latest worldwide research and practice in this area, share experiences about ongoing activities and identify opportunities for collaborative work. 

This two day event included a regional workshop session followed by a national seminar. The regional workshop involved 22 participants from CSOs within Tanzania and from Uganda and focused mainly on the issues of CSOs and policy influence cutting across both countries. The national seminar generally focused on issues pertinent to the Tanzanian CSO environment and involved participants from various CSOs in the country and representatives from donor communities.