‘You’re not our bosses’

African civil society organisations tell off international partners

Kampala, Uganda | RONALD MUSOKE | Partnerships between global conservation organizations and their African-led counterparts might be critical to conservation efforts in Africa but they face challenges over power relations, transparency, and mismatched interests, according to a new report.

Published on Aug.31 by Maliasili, a Tanzania/U.S-based organization that supports locally-led African conservation civil society organizations, the 42-page report is entitled, ‘Rooting for Change: Strengthening Local to Global Partnerships in African Conservation.’

The authors say efforts by African civil society organisations to slow the loss of nature and tackle climate change are key to planetary conservation success because they are rooted in local contexts, and are part of communities who have conserved lands across the continent for generations.

They point out that global climate and nature protection targets, including the 30×30 goal to protect 30% of the planet’s land and oceans by 2030, increasingly recognize the need to place indigenous people and local communities at the heart of decision-making and implementation.

And, in order to continue achieving conservation impact, relationships must be strengthened between community groups and the international non-governmental organisations (INGOs) whom African NGOs often turn to for funding, technical support, and networking.

Almost all of the African conservationists who spoke to the authors said the relationships with international organisations were “very important” to their work and should continue, but must be reformed to make them more effective, equitable partnerships.

“The intention of our report is to document African conservation leaders’ experiences with these partnerships, and harness their views and recommendations for maximizing the positive potential of such partnerships,” said Resson Kantai Duff, the Portfolio Funding Director at Maliasili.

“We focus on their perspectives and voices because we recognise that given existing power asymmetries it can sometimes be harder for them to be heard in global discussions, and their views are critical to any evolution of partnerships in positive ways,” she said.

“Ultimately, the way that these partnerships are approached, structured, and maintained, needs to be collectively re-imagined. There is a real opportunity here for international organisations to build trust by recognising local capacity, bringing visibility to groups doing important work with local communities, and allowing organisations closest to the problem to set the agenda.”

Partnerships with Global NGOs good but challenging

The report was released on Aug.31 at the Business of Conservation Conference in Kigali, Rwanda. It features interviews and survey responses with more than 60 staff at dozens of African local and grassroots organisations working in marine, wildlife, landscape, and forest conservation, and indigenous land rights, in 18 countries.

According to the report, 88% of respondents agreed that international NGOs (INGO) partnerships are very important for their work while 82% agreed that partnerships with INGOs provide critical resources. However, 71% said partnerships with INGOs were “challenging.”

The authors found that international organisations provide local groups with funding and resourcing, technical advice, advocacy and policy support, and networking. However, the researchers note that the structure of the engagements of international organisations with local organisations can sometimes create significant barriers that block effective partnerships from developing.

“Confusion over the role of the international organisations, differences in expectations between both sides, poor communication, complex and inflexible bureaucracy, and a failure to share credit for success, were among the challenges local organisations reported,” the report reads in part.

Close to two-thirds (64%) of the respondents agreed that international organisations’ top-down approach is a significant barrier, and 82% said ensuring clear roles was necessary to meaningful and effective partnerships.

Ewi Lamma, the Environmental and Climate Justice Advocate at Forest Resources and People in Cameroon, told the report authors that, “Every organisation should strive for more partnerships because it elevates the organisation, elevates the individuals within the organisation, and it also can build the organisation’s capacities to be able to broaden their scope and handle more sectors within their mission and vision.”

However, she added that INGOs should “clear the atmosphere of being domineering and work as partners, as teams, and not as a boss working with a subordinate.”

Jonathan Yiah from the Sustainable Development Institute in Liberia, said: “As much as possible (INGOs) should enable the local civil society groups to be in the driving seat and they can be in the background supporting us.”

Short-term engagements by international NGOs, often tied to specific projects, means the trust, respect, and understanding that might develop over time and that sustain effective partnerships, cannot take root. At the same time, investing in local capacity is key.

Andrew Giahquee from the Skills and Agricultural Development Services in Liberia said: “You don’t empower people within the period of six months or one year. They expect you to tell them that these communities are now experts…just within the period of six months or one year. It is not possible.”

“We know INGOs from the West come here with their plans and how to implement them. But this does not work here because we know how we do things. We are asking our donors to co-create the projects and then we implement them. We are moving away from client-implementing agency relationships,” said John Kamanga, the South Rift Association of Land Owners in Kenya.

The report highlights a series of steps both international NGOs and local conservation organisations can take to address the challenges. The researchers say international NGOs should be cautious about trying to implement their ideas and instead take the lead from the local organization, valuing local knowledge and approaches.

They should also recognise that partnerships are more than just funding, approach their relationships more broadly and comprehensively, and simplify administration and bureaucracy.

For their part, local African organisations should outline and articulate needs, build autonomy and recognize their power, and build buy-in to their overall mission above chasing funding just for single projects. They should maintain professionalism with effective systems that entrench accountability, the report notes.