How do CBO leaders in eastern and southern Africa define social change, effectiveness, and success – and how can funders better support them?

This entry was posted on December 11, 2022, in International Development and tagged , , . Bookmark the permalink. Leave a comment

I am proud to share this peer-reviewed article I co-authored alongside Susan Wilkinson-Maposa, and my colleagues who are CBO leaders: Mary Kabati, Prosper Ndaiga, Saeed Wame and Moses Zulu. In this piece, we discussed the community-based organisation (CBO) leader and practitioner perspective on social change and partnering. Through surveys, interviews, and convenings involving CBOs from nine countries in eastern and southern Africa, we found that many CBOs focus on mobilizing, engaging, and empowering the community to take charge of their own development, in contrast to international aid’s focus on program implementation and service delivery. We recommended that donor–CBO partnering arrangements integrate this role and definition of effectiveness.

You can read the full article at Development in Practice. If you do not have access to Development in Practice, you are welcome to contact me for a copy of the article.

Community-based organisations and child well-being in sub-Saharan Africa: defining social change, effectiveness, and success Susan Wilkinson-Maposa,Sadaf Shallwani,Mary Kabati,Prosper Ndaiga,Saeed Wame & Moses Zulu Pages 334-345 | Received 29 Oct 2021, Accepted 26 Jul 2022, Published online: 06 Aug 2022 Cite this article https://doi.org/10.1080/09614524.2022.2108763 CrossMark LogoCrossMark ABSTRACT International development agencies often support community-based organisations (CBOs) to improve the wellbeing of children and their families. The relevance, impact, and sustainability of these funding partnerships are neither widely nor consistently understood. This article discusses the CBO leader and practitioner perspective on social change and partnering. Surveys, interviews, and convenings involving CBOs from nine sub-Saharan African countries found that – distinct from international aid’s focus on program implementation and service delivery, many CBOs focus on mobilising, engaging, and empowering the community to take charge of their own development. Donor–CBO partnering arrangements should integrate this role and definition of effectiveness.

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