NGOs as innovators in extractive industry governance. Insights from the EITI process in Colombia and Peru

This paper explores NGO participation within the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), a multi-stakeholder governance arrangement focused on generating greater transparency in the governance of extractive industries, and in particular in fiscal arrangements around mining, oil and gas operations. Using the cases of Peru and Colombia, we examine what motivates NGO participation in EITI, how NGOs have pursued innovations within EITI, the extent to which they have succeeded in achieving their goals, and the factors limiting or shaping their achievements. We draw on interviews conducted between 2013 and 2018, participation in global EITI meetings, and secondary material. The paper examines political and conceptual discussions regarding the opportunities that EITI may or may not afford to NGO-led innovation, while linking these to more general debates on achieving progressive or even transformative change through reformist institutions, as well as the roles of NGOs in multi-stakeholder governance processes.