Accra, July 14, GNA – The West African Civil Society Institute (WACSI) in partnership with Star-Ghana Foundation have organised a week-long meeting, in Accra dubbed: “Giving for Change” for philanthropic organisations in Africa and beyond to enhance ‘giving’ for social change.
The meeting christened: “Giving for Change Learning and Reflection Partner Meeting” seeks to create space to reflect on past operations and their impacts across the continent and facilitate documentation of best practices and guidelines on community philanthropy and domestic resourcing to guide the programme’s implementation.
It would also be used to identify additional opportunities for follow-on action to amplify needs and recommendations for progress.
The opportunities include providing Giving for Change consortium members and national anchor partners in the eight implementing countries a chance to champion regionally and globally, the core thematic areas, and/or find spaces and opportunities to collaborate with one another.
Mr Jimm Chick Fomunjong, Head of Knowledge Management and Communication Unit, WACSI, Cameroon, said Africans contributed in many measurable ways to the continent’s development through philanthropy.
The meeting would enable partner organisations to re-engineer their philanthropic thoughts, while developing a guideline to inspire global action, he explained.
“We will learn from each other from our individual countries, share experiences, and replicate. We also want to encourage Africans to develop the taste of giving irrespective of how small the amount is to cause a positive change,” he said.
Mr Fomunjong said other philanthropic ways could be helping to fight malnutrition by giving farm produce and helping to deal with food shortages especially in the current challenging economic atmosphere.
Mr Ibrahim-Tanko Amidu, the Executive Director, Star Ghana Foundation, reiterated that philanthropy was not new to Africa and it was only time to rekindle it.
“Philanthropy isn’t new to us. We do it through many ways such as communal labour, show love when someone is distressed, and when someone is bereaved. We call it charity. We just need to scale it up and devise better ways to go about it,” he said.
Ms Jenny Hodgson, a representative from the Giving for Change Foundation, expressed optimism that the meeting built on existing knowledge and resources for the benefit of participatory countries.
She said the meeting would ensure that the five-year programme sponsored by the Dutch government with 25 million Euros was fruitful.
Mrs Esther Meester, Wilde Ganzen Foundation, Netherlands, said the programme would drive development for international cooperation.
Participating organisations inlcuded Dalia, KCDF, Association Burkinabe De Fundraising, Africa Philanthropy Network, Star Ghana Foundation, WACSI, Uganda National NGO Forum, and Micaia.
GNA