CSSP Partners inception meeting - Shifting the Power for collective impact
Since last year, STAR-Ghana Foundation and the West Africa Civil Society Institute (WACSI) have been implementing an eight-year Civil Society Strengthening Programme – Shifting the Power (CSSP – #StP) which seeks to enhance the effectiveness, responsiveness, and resilience of Civil Society Actors (CSAs).
With funding from Comic Relief and the Foreign Commonwealth Development Office (FCDO), there are three main grant components under the CSSP-#StP): the Catalyst fund, Civil Society Strengthening Fund (CSSF) and Resource Matching fund.
Read more: https://www.star-ghana.org/latest-news/564-shift-the-power-civil-society-strengthening-project-cssp-team-onboarding-begins-2
The CSSF aims to partner civil society organisations (CSOs) and movements for the implementation of their strategic directions and missions through flexible and restricted funding.
Ultimately, the CSSF is hinged on the sustainability of partner organisations.
An inception meeting to discuss in detail the CSSP/StP, aim of the CSSF and expectations of the partnership ahead of a contractual agreement with partners was held in Kumasi from 27th to 28th February 2024.
It provided space for STAR-Ghana and WACSI to interact and build relationships with the CSSF partners, and foster peer connection among them.
A central theme of the meeting was the concept of ‘Shift the Power’ which resonated deeply with all participants.
Facilitated conversations centred on practical strategies for operationalizing the StP philosophy within the organisations and collaborations.
Read more: https://www.gbcghanaonline.com/news/civil-society-strengthening-programme-launched/2023/
Unequal aid architecture
Speaking at the meeting, the Head of Programmes at STAR-Ghana, Eunice R. Agbenyadzi, noted that the work of most CSOs is heavily dependent on external funding sources, with those locally funded in the minority.
Thus, affecting the flexibility of CSOs to undertake initiatives that are truly in sync with their mandate.
“So, there are shifting priorities because we are funded by donors. We go where the money is. When donors withdraw, our work crumbles. So, dependency affects our ability to stay true to our mandate, and our sustainability. That is what the CSSF programme seeks to address.”
Read more: https://www.ghanaiantimes.com.gh/establish-partnerships-with-donor-agencies-for-transformative-development-csos-urged/
Again, she said that civil society in the global south is under resourced in terms of its ability to attract long-term financing and is getting weaker because it is financially starved. Also, the percentage of core funding as part of grant making has dropped, and a lot of support civil society receives is project-based funding.
“Organisations are not being funded to build themselves and their systems to be able to continue implementing projects. Only seven percent of the fund dedicated to civil society support from Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries reach CSOs in the global south. A lot of that money is sitting with International Non-Governmental Organisations (INGOs). That is why Shift the Power has become a global slogan at the talk of humanitarian and aid financing.”
According to Eunice, the whole aid architecture; the distribution, the decision around who gets money for what, is unequal.
Read more: https://www.star-ghana.org/latest-news/609-in-search-of-shift-the-power-red-nose-day
Why Shift the Power
Eunice explained the CSSP comes under the umbrella of ‘Shifting the Power’ with a key task to move money directly to global south CSOs.
The programme, she said, is designed to address some main gaps in how civil society is being supported.
“There is focus on capacity and sustainability of local organisations. That is why we have not asked for project ideas but for strategic plans. A key part of the work we will do is on financial sustainability and not only social sustainability (how organisations are valued by their communities and constituents).”
“The way civil society is funded can have constraints on its capacity and ability. So, we will work with organisations to diversify their income sources to reduce the over reliance on donor funding,” she added.
Read more: https://gna.org.gh/2023/04/star-ghana-partners-call-for-strengthened-equitable-civil-society-partnership/
CSO collaboration
Reflecting on the need to find mechanisms that can incentivise collaboration among CSOs to ensure that they make a sustainable impact on the problems that communities face, Ibrahim-Tanko Amidu, Executive Director of STAR-Ghana Foundation, said, “Competitive calls do not incentivise collaboration. There are silos of projects due to limitations with project calls that are focused on thematic areas that force organisations to specialise in areas where there is money or funding.”
“Grant-making organisations hardly do institutional funding calls with 99 percent of calls put out focused on targeted projects.
“So, moving away from providing core funding did a lot of damage to civil society. They were not responsive and lost a bit of their rootedness that make them able to intervene or interact on issues.”
“Donors and the mechanism through which they provide support begins to drive the agenda of what civil society should be doing. We forget that to achieve those thematic results we need an organisation that is sustainable, effective, efficient, and is rooted in the community.”
Alhaji Tanko urged all stakeholders in the development sector to move away from top-down approaches and put communities and social groups they serve at the centre of all that they do.
“We need to co-create with them, co-implement with them and be mutually accountable to each other. We need to pay equal attention to the vehicles (organisations) that we are going to use to achieve results -organisational strengthening is as important as the results we seek to achieve in the thematic areas.”
Watch more: https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1976673826023964
The meeting
Through collaborative exercises, partners conveyed a collective vision for a more just and equitable society. Themes of resilience, sustainability, and financial sustainability emerged as guiding principles underscoring their shared commitment to advancing social justice and amplifying the voices of marginalized communities.
Watch more: https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=3618359848431877
Fact sheet
- 26 out of about 120 applicants were selected when the call for proposals in relation to the CSSF.
- The fund seeks to support organisations in the implementation of their strategic direction and mission.
- This support will prioritise organisations whose strategic objectives and thematic areas of focus align with the CSSP-#StP prioritized sectors: access to services (health and education); Gender justice; Climate change and livelihoods; and Enabling Peace and Security.
- It will also support organisational strengthening.
