This comprehensive analysis for WACSI & STAR-Ghana (2021) documents the experiences of selected civil society organizations in Ghana. By reflecting on their journeys, it offers valuable insights into the challenges and successes faced by CSOs, providing a roadmap for others aiming for sustainability and strengthening their operational frameworks.
The context for civil society organisations (CSOs) in
the Global South—delegitimizing discourse, restrictive
policies, and decreasing international funding—leads to
major concerns about the sustainability of civil society
(Susan and Daniel, 2017). In West Africa, even though
CSOs have significantly contributed to governance and
social development, most are still fragile and dependent
on donor funding mechanisms for survival (Elongué and
Vandyck, 2019). Also, CSOs are under immense pressure to
operate, survive and thrive in an increasingly competitive
sector (Arhin et al., 2018). The overall picture of civil
Society’s sustainability appears worrying and challenging.
As a response to these challenges, civil society actors
began discussions on issues related to the sustainability
of the sector to find lasting solutions (Hailey and Salway,
2016). In Ghana, the West Africa Civil Society Institute
(WACSI) partnered with Strengthening Transparency,
Accountability and Responsiveness (STAR) Ghana in 2015
to explore the scope of the problem from which a research
was published on the state of CSOs' sustainability in Ghana.
In 2019, a National Civil Society Sustainability Strategy was
developed. It contains eight recommendations, one of
which urges Ghanaian CSOs to reengineer their business
models to become more viable and sustainable.
This paper documents and analyses the trajectory.
challenges and lessons learnt by these CSOs in their
effort to become sustainable. It explores the degree of
relevance of four CSO sustainability convenings and three
sustainability workshops, which supported 106 CSOs and
56 CSOs, respectively to reflect on appropriate strategies
to increase their resilience and sustained impact. Its three sections contain solutions to the practical challenges
related to civil society sustainability in Ghana; theoretical
and practical lessons learned.
The first section focuses on the challenges faced by civil
society in a bid to remain sustainable. It explains how
Ghana’s graduation to middle-income status resulted
in donors curtailing some aid programmes in Ghana.
Another challenge is the shrinking civic space with the
poor regulatory, legal and environmental frameworks
that limit the effective operations of CSOs. The second
section focuses on the sustainability journey of CSOs
in Ghana. It presents the key milestones and highlights
many other aspects to sustainability, not just the financial
dimension but also the identity, interventions, and
operational sustainability. The third section presents
valuable experiences and lessons on how organisations
are responding to their sustainability challenges.
This paper has two main objectives: to document and
share civil society’s challenges and progress towards
sustainability as well as effectively use the evidence to
shape the discourse on CSO sustainability in Ghana and
West Africa. It is therefore important for development
stakeholders in the Global North and South because it
presents evidence that strongly reflects issues on the
ground that would challenge preconceptions, while still
maintaining a relevance to public policy and practice. It
offers a broad understanding of civil society sustainability,
exploring why this issue matters in the present geopolitical
context, reviewing what has changed from previous
analyses, and proposing ideas for what needs to change
as we move forward.
