GROWTH - Grassroots Organizational Development – Working Towards Humanity
Berlin, 18 January 2021
Our local partner organisations play the most important role in the implementation of our projects worldwide. However, the independence of civil society actors and their development is undermined and restricted in many countries. This is where our GROWTH project, which started in 2018, comes in: independent civil society organisations can and shall play a vital role in realizing the 2030 Agenda, including localising the Sustainable Development Goals, protecting rights and promoting accountability, and providing valuable monitoring functions
The cross-border GROWTH project supports ten grassroots civil society organisations from Myanmar, Cambodia and the Philippines in their organisational development. The focus lies on strengthening the organisations' capacities and providing them with the tools to develop according to their needs and aspirations. The aim is to build up local capacities, promote leadership and ownership, and enhance organizational structures and processes. Thereby, the philosophy and values of each organisation are recognised and integrated into the activities. "Instead of simply transferring our own expectations and demands – and those of our institutional donors – onto others, we need to reconfigure the balance of power and levels of decision-making. In essence, it has to be about supporting local actors, recognising their capacities and resources, and facilitating their access to international funding", says Wiebke Kessens, Head of Strategy and Quality at Johanniter International Assistance.
After the first two years of the project, we have already achieved a lot.
Myanmar
In Myanmar, our partner organisations Meikswe Myanmar (MM) and Hualgno Land Development Organization (HLDO)are working to strengthen their human and financial resources. They are supported in their individual growth. Thereby, networking with other local actors plays a key role, to expand their scope of work and to achieve possible government support.
Celebration of our partner Meikswe Myanmar on the World Children's Day 2020.
Meikswe Myanmar (MM)is committed to adequate health care, disaster preparedness, greater education, and the empowerment of local communities as well as internally displaced people.
With strengthened human and financial resources, Meikswe Myanmar can play a leading role in social change at the community level. Thanks to the GROWTH project, MM has already been able to connect 85 different NGOs and civil society in northern Shan State. For MM, the objectives of the GROWTH project are perfectly in line with its five-year strategy and in support of UN Sustainable Development Goal 16: Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions. "Through the GROWTH project, our staff received many opportunities for capacity development, and that is why we can also see the long-term benefits of the project", says Naw Bway Khu (Snow), the Director of Meikswe Myanmar.
The main objectives of HLDO is to strengthen the capacity of each HLDO team member for their respective sector and to improve HLDO's fundraising capacity by systematizing the existing organizational culture and establishing a coffee farm for future income generation, since generating their own incomes is a general concern of small grassroots organisations.The GROWTH project provides constant training and coaching to HLDO staff, supporting the development of organsational policies and launching an organisational website and promoting links with other public and private stakeholders. Due to the limitation to find qualified local resources in Chin State, the main accompaniment and coaching is done by the Myanmar Johanniter team.
For HLDO, GROWTH is a unique project that is hard to see elsewhere in terms of organisational capacity building. The big differences: it allows for flexible implementation of project activities, adaptation to the context, sufficient time for the long process of capacity building, and the understanding support of the Johanniter staff. The organisation is certain: "Systematic support and coaching without pushing and pulling are the key to growing confidence," says Zir Than Hnuni, the Director of HLDO.
In the first two years of the GROWTH project, KCD focused on improving its organisational capacity, especially in the area of income-generating activities, so that it would no longer have to rely exclusively on donations. The established "Forum Theatre" (FT) especially turned out to be a promising approach for this strategy. In the "Forum Theater", communities are brought to the attention of social challenges through active participation. In the theater, these challenges are brought to the stage and through active interaction, joint solutions for the problems within the community can be developed. The approach generates income since it's used within a social enterprise framework for its organisation's primary financing.
The organisation was also able to apply for GPP (Governance Professional Practice) certification. The GPP was developed in 2004 by the Cooperation Committee for Cambodia to ensure NGOs' professionalism by following the developed ethical guidelines and achieving the set minimum standards. If KCD gets the certificate, they will gain good recognition and trust from the local, national authorities and donors.
Women Peace Makers (WPM)works on the issue of gender-based violence and conflict transformation. They aim to empower women and young people in particular to take the lead in addressing these issues.
For Suyheang Kry, the director of WPC, the GROWTH project led to changes on the organisational level. The organisation managed to strengthen its financial and programming system, staff capacity development, strategic plan, policies, and effective implementation. This in return allowed them to gain trust and confidence from the various supporters. For example, before the project, WPM had less than five donors; now they receive support from ten donors. The WPC staff has increased from five members before the project started in 2018 to now 16 members while advisors have increased from four to nine members in 2020. The next step is to work on a new internal structure that aims for a less hierarchical and more collaborative approach.
In addition, the Weaving Women Leadership's for Change (WWLC) network was launched. 33 women leaders of grassroots organisations from 15 provinces network to exchange ideas and to support and empower each other. The aim is to promote nationwide networking of grassroots organisations led by women. Furthermore, cooperation with the local organisation TPO was strengthened. With the financial support of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), it was possible to launch a joint project against gender-based violence.
Philippines
In the Philippines, the GROWTH project supports an alliance of six organisations on Mindano: EcoWEBBALAODKAABAYPASAKKKASILAK and HIPPEThese are primarily committed to resilience and disaster risk reduction. In the project, they have the opportunity to exchange ideas in workshops and learn from each other through peer learning. The focus lies on the development of guidelines on topics such as safety or self-assessment of with the help of the Core Humanitarian Standard (CHS).
focuses on the interlinked problems of poverty, conflict, governance, environmental destruction and climate change that put communities in Mindanao at risk and make them vulnerable.
Through the workshops within GROWTH, EcoWEB was able to gain additional insights into the concepts of localisation and partnership: "The contact with other partners through peer learning opened our eyes to other aspects of community work," says Arven Kim Arceno, the organisation's Communication Associate. During aCore Humanitarian Standard (CHS) workshop, the organisation was able to adapt and improve their own policies for which they had guidelines at hand.
BALAOD has accumulated 20 years of practical experience and responsibility working with communities and their partners, but these never have been written down. Thanks to the GROWTH project, they were encouraged to write down the best practices. By sharing with the other organisations, they were able to get new impulses to further improve their practices.
the right to health is a human right. That is why they advocate for access to health care for all people.
Participation in the GROWTH project opened up the possibility to look back at the past years and the work done and to evaluate and analyse it. Based on a CHS workshop, the organisation was able to identify its weaknesses and thus improve its structure. From now on, the CHS will be taken into account in every project.
Kasilak Development Foundation Inc. (KASILAK)advocates for environmental protection, sustainable agriculture, livelihood security, income generation and organisational and community development.
With the help of the GROWTH project and the CHS self-assessment, KASILAK was able to identify gaps in their work and to improve their policies. After the earthquake in Cotabato, the project supported KASILAK staff with emergency equipment and educated them on safety measures. As a result, safety during disaster relief was increased and staff members are better prepared for future natural disasters.
What happens next?
The Corona pandemic brings new challenges to both the partner organisations and the GROWTH project. Many of the events are now taking place virtually due to travel restrictions and extra-curricular Corona activities are being integrated into the various projects. Despite the current difficulties caused by Corona, the organisations will continue to receive capacity building measures to improve their important work. The pandemic also created the opportunity to strengthen virtual networking among the organisations, including across borders. This has enabled new forms of peer support and exchange.
The project is financially supported by the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).
With Strong Partners at Local Level
Our local partners play a major role in the implementation of our projects. We are emphasising the importance and capacities of local partners to donors and the public, and advocating for their direct support.
