For the purpose of attracting the necessary money from donors, civil society organizations (CSOs) and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have been tasked with being adaptable and sensitive to developing trends of people’s rights and equitable access to development.
In a time when the industry is dealing with declining financing sources, this, in the opinion of Dr. Esther Ofei-Aboagye, a seasoned researcher, policy analyst, and development management expert, has become important.
“Institutional leadership for national NGOs in the West African sub-region must develop the capacity to be predictive and be able to forecast the critical factors that can affect their organisations. I think a critical case in point is the funding landscape. We find that a lot of NGOs and CSOs are struggling to diversify their resources, exploring who is out there and trying to maintain their focus.
“Over the years, partnerships have been diversified in interesting ways – including funding sources. If you look at the way funding landscapes and trends have shifted over the last five years, resulting in downturns because of the weakening flows of financial economies and shorter periods for specific partner interests, you will see that being swift in exploration is a matter of survival,” she said.
In a speech at a public lecture in Accra to mark SEND West Africa’s 25th anniversary with the subject “25 Years of Championing Transformative Advocacy and Livelihood Security for the Poor and Vulnerable,” Dr. Ofei-Aboagye made the plea.
The Speaker promoted the adoption of a diverse and multi-stakeholder approach to executing their mandates by moving beyond just service delivery, all the while maintaining focused on organizations’ vision and the advantages of being agile. She referenced some of SEND’s methods with this strategy that are worth imitating.
“Development organisations have to be multipurpose in their orientation. The pressure has been on NGOs and development organisations to get out with service delivery; but after we continue and we do advocate and take the people along, they need critical services on their doorsteps. But how do you do this without spreading your efforts too thin?
“The focus of good governance that has engaged development organisations over the last decade is critical. It has underpinned the advocacy and engagement efforts of SEND and other organisations.
“But there is still an urgent need to make a difference in the services available to people in their day to day lives, so there is still a case for non-state agencies to construct support services alongside their rights-based advocacy. Such livelihood work has proven innovative and impactful.”
According to Dr. Ofei-Aboagye, while maintaining its original focus and vision, as emerging events bring out new areas of vulnerability, people’s rights and wellbeing, SEND’s experiences over the years have also indicated that viable and mutually beneficial relationships can be formed between state and non-state entities at all levels.
Tapping into local sources
The speaker contends that shifting patterns in the finance of CSOs and NGOs’ operations have made it necessary for those organizations to seek out local funding sources in addition to international ones.
“While they are interested in all of this, they must also support and highlight the nuances that will foster local philanthropy in engaging various philanthropic entities and funding facilities,” Dr. Ofei-Aboagye urged.