CSOs cry for govt, private sector support

Civil Society Organisa­tions (CSOs) in Ghana are in dire need of support from the government and private sector to run their activities.

This was disclosed at the launch of the 2022 CSO Sustainability Index Report by the Institute for Democratic Governance (IDEG) in Ac­cra, on the theme, ‘Ghana’s Economic Crisis: Threats and Opportunities for CSO Sus­tainability.’

The report captured seven areas including, Legal En­vironment, Organisational Capacity, Financial Viability, Advocacy, Service Provision, Sectoral Infrastructure and Public Image.

Presenting the report, a Development Consultant, Mr Douglas Quartey said most CSOs received support and funding from foreign organi­sations which was not sus­tainable because they were overburdened by the huge number of registered CSOs in the country.

“Foreign donors remained the main source of funding for most CSOs. The major donors in 2022 included bilat­eral and multilateral bodies such as USAID, UK Aid Direct, European Union, German Agency for International Cooperation and Embassy of Netherlands,” he stated.

He said the ongoing changes in the funding land­scape including the shift of donors’ focus to areas lacking a strong civil society compo­nent, such as trade, contin­ued to reduce the pool of funding available to CSOs.

He added that, although a few CSOs had diversified funding, there were limited opportunities for most organ­isations to develop multiple funding sources.

To address the challenge, the Senior Research Fellow at IDEG, Mr Kwesi Jonah said the current crisis offered an opportunity for CSOs to re­flect on several creative ways of surviving which include managing limited funds avail­able to stay in business.

“CSOs must also find ways of managing risks and put in efforts to limit spending while falling back on their board for connections and collaborations to help man­age the crisis,” he stated.

The government and the private sector, he said must also come on board to sup­port the activities of CSOs in Ghana.

“We need to form a stron­ger partnership that would lead to sustainability of the sector. It is a responsibility to educate ourselves on the roles of the CSOs towards na­tional development and push towards proper support from the government and private sector,” he stated.

He said, there was the need to engage in new con­versations with donors not to withdraw their support while NGOs must avoid competi­tions and engage in strategic partnerships.

 By Michael D. Abayateyea