Civil Society Organisations from across the world will from Monday, July 11, 2022, converge in Accra to reflect on the progress “Giving for Change” project 18 months after its implementation.

Launched on June 17, 2021, in Ghana, the Giving for Change (GFC) programme seeks to transform the way development was done by promoting local giving as a strategy for achieving community-led development.

The five-day meeting, which will start on July 11 and end on July 15, 2022, will bring together GFC partner representatives and CSOs from Africa, Asia, and South America to learn, share ideas, strengthen relationships, and reflect on the progress of the initiative over the past 18 months of implementation.

It was also designed to strengthen local ownership, buy-in and rights claiming, challenging the notion that development was something that was “done to” communities by external actors, a statement jointly signed by STAR-Ghana, the anchor institution and West Africa Civil Society Institute (WACSI), the strategic partner, ahead of the conference, said.

The statement said the GFC highlighted the importance of domestic resource mobilisation by increasing local ownership, unlocking agency, and strengthening communities’ ability to claim entitlements from different actors.

Funded by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the five-year programme is implemented through alliances and covers eight countries in Africa, Asia, and South America.

The programme has a coordinating alliance consisting of the Global Fund for Community Foundations, the African Philanthropy Network, Kenya Community Development Foundation and Wilde Ganzen Foundation.

“This meeting is the first of its kind and will be an opportunity for the partners to strengthen relationships and reflect on the strategic direction of the programme. The meeting will equally create room for partners to identify additional opportunities to harness and scale up the programme.”

“This may include opportunities for the GFC consortium members and national anchor partners in the eight implementing countries to champion the core thematic areas of the programme at regional and global levels,” the statement added.