World Bank, World Learning look at challenges of financing local organizations
Monday, March 20, 2006
By: Larry Ekin, WLID

Session examined challenges of supporting civil society at a local level

Allen Jones, Policy Director at InterAction, began the event by welcoming everyone and noting that this session was the second of a series of seminars and technical workshops to explore development topics of mutual interest between the Bank and NGOs.  The first session was held in January and focused on discussing the Bank World Development Report on Equity and Development. Read more about that session.

World Learning Senior Vice President Pamela Baldwin made introductory remarks and noted that the large turnout for the event was “evidence of the strong interest in this very compelling topic.” Baldwin went on to highlight some of the issues confronting organizations working to strengthen civil society including “constantly changing donor priorities.” Are civil society organizations “really free to pursue their own missions, or are they captive to the directives of those in control of the purse strings?” she asked, adding, “How do they cope with the suspicions of others, including governments, about perceived motives behind their work and the financial support they receive?”

Bonnie Ricci, Program Director for World Learning for International Development (WLID), drew upon more than 20 years experience in financing hundreds of civil society organizations in amounts ranging from a few hundred dollars to several million. In addition, WLID has experience working with both formal and nonformal civil society organizations. World Learning most often functions as an intermediary and, as such, has to achieve a balance between monitoring and mentoring needs of donors and local stake-holders. (Click here for Bonnie Ricci's Powerpoint presentation.)

Ricci outlined four phases of civil society financing and noted some of the lessons and challenges associated with each. According to Ricci, the planning phase is an opportunity to identify and make contact with the widest possible range of CSOs, but, equally important, it “often sets the tone for what type of donor you intend to be in the eyes of the potential recipients.” Transparency and clarity are two cornerstones of the pre-financing phase. When things move to award phase, flexibility is important. In World Learning’s experience, it was often helpful to provide grants in phases with an early focus on training and mentoring that helped a CSO develop the capacity to manage the latter phase successfully. Finally, according to Ricci, mentoring and constant communication were two crucial elements during the post financing phase.

Samantha de Silva, Senior Social Protection Specialist at the World Bank, provided participants with general background on the World Bank’s approach to Community Financing and then highlighted some of the key lessons learned from the World Bank’s growing experience in Community-Driven Approaches to Development. De Silva pointed out that in addition to community-driven approaches often proving more cost effective, it also generated trust at the community level as well as increasing the sense of ownership and stimulating the local economy. De Silva also thought that donors could play an active role in leveraging community capacity through activities such as helping local groups secure access to services. In terms of a role for international or larger, national NGOs,  DeSilva outlined specific functions such as monitoring, information campaigns, and training or technical assistance. (Click here for Samantha de Silva's Powerpoint presentation.)

Sarah Cohen, a USAID Program Analyst, outlined a continuing series of challenges and questions regarding donor incentives, partnering mechanisms, and local level financing of civil society organizations. She acknowledged that USAID offers very few examples of funding local organizations directly, and attributed this, in part, to the rigorous reporting requirements established by US law very few local organizations would have the administrative know-how or technical expertise to fulfill these requirements. “Donors must create common methods, mechanisms, and monitor these impacts in context,” said Cohen. Cohen also noted that while everyone seems to agree that organizational development capacity building needs to be undertaken prior to project implementation, she wondered, “Who is going to pay for it?” (Click here for Sarah Cohen's Powerpoint presentation).

The ensuing discussion underscored the complexity of the subject as well the richness of experience represented in the room. Participants noted additional challenges to working with local communities such as local dynamics working with a refugee or internally displaced person population. Others called attention to the difficulty of monitoring activity when focused on behavior change rather than construction or other physical indicators. Some challenged existing social assessment mechanisms, charging that they tended to discriminate against the very target populations that they were intended to serve.  Seminar participants also recognized the urgency for recognizing indigenous management systems and operationalizing institutional learning.

Preeti Shroff-Mehta, World Learning’s Civil Society and Social Change Director, summarized the event this way: “This seminar series is a timely and great opportunity for a focused and yet informal dialogue involving donors, INGOS and many other stakeholders that will ultimately lead to knowledge sharing, enhanced collective understanding and hopefully better coordinated development actions.”

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