The West Africa Civil Society Institute (WACSI) and the STAR-Ghana Foundation (SGF) have commenced a four-day training to improve the operations of 12 Southern Community of Practice (CoP) organisations.

The training, under the Giving for Change project, is designed to cover mobilising support, local fundraising and knowledge sharing.

Development Diaries understands that the Giving for Change project is funded by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs to promote active citizenship for change in the West African country.

‘WACSI in collaboration with STAR-Ghana Foundation is providing a [four-day] (11–14 May, 2022) training on mobilising support, local fundraising and knowledge sharing for 12 organisations that make up the Southern Community of Practice (CoP) group within the Giving for Change project’, WACSI said in a social media post.

Findings from a 2021 WACSI study showed that the Covid-19 pandemic challenged the resilience of the third sector in Ghana.

The WASCI study further found a number of barriers that hinder the potential of CSOs to contribute meaningfully towards Ghana’s national development. Prominent among them are limited funding and lack of perceived legitimacy and credibility of CSOs at the grassroots.

A report from the Advocacy Accelerator also shows that financial sustainability of CSOs is challenging and nonprofits are generally fragile and dependent on donor-funding mechanisms for survival in Ghana.

Another report by the Affinity Group of National Associations (AGNA) noted that the threat to CSOs sustainability in Ghana is mainly due to lack of resources, both human and financial, to thrive without project-based donor-funding.

Photo source: STAR-Ghana Foundation