Weaving a Stronger Civil Society in the Global South
Ford FoundationCivil society is made up of a wide variety of organizations that exist outside government: schools and universities, advocacy groups, nonprofits, churches, and cultural institutions. These groups hold government representatives accountable for their decisions and advocate for the rights and interests of their members. Civil society organizations can participate in essential conversations about how to protect their rights and create a more equitable society.
In 2022, the Ford Foundation launched Weaving Resilience, a five-year initiative that dedicated $80 million to support civil society organizations throughout the Global South. Today, eight regional hubs made up of over 30 organizations provide services in more than 20 countries, all dedicated to eliminating inequality and increasing capacity, sustainability, and overall well-being among those working in social justice. Recognizing the varied needs, strengths, and cultural contexts of those working in each region, the majority of service-providing organizations are from the Global South and have a deep understanding of the local landscapes and priorities of each region.
Now, as Weaving Resilience reaches its midpoint, its focus is on bringing services to more organizations and thinking about how their local solutions can be shared globally. This is particularly true for the hubs in Southern Africa, Mexico, and Indonesia: Each started with the same goals of creating institutional resilience, maintaining strategic relevance, and caring for the holistic well-being of those working to protect and expand civil society. Each has brought distinct strategies and solutions that reflect the cultures and needs of their regions. As they continue to explore these, they are sharing their lessons and perspectives with other regions and building the forward-thinking collaboration that defines Weaving Resilience. Meet these hubs below.
Southern Africa
Weaving Resilience was introduced while Ford’s Office for Southern Africa was already engaged in sustainable capacity building with its partners. Drawing inspiration from the foundation’s BUILD initiative, which provides organizations with general operating and targeted organizational strengthening support, and leveraging the existing capacity-building framework at the office, Weaving Resilience provided an opportunity for bolder action. “We knew we had a lot of ground to cover—literally,” said Nicky Le Roux, senior program officer for the office. “The sheer geographical size and diversity of the region can be challenging.”
The office aimed to extend its reach to organizations that play a crucial role in communities but were often overlooked. A survey conducted in the field revealed that many of these organizations had been adversely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and were grappling with similar challenges. As a result, there was a pressing need for strategic organizational and mental well-being support.
To meet their needs in a structured manner, the Southern Africa hub is designed as a collaborative committee that makes decisions collectively. It comprises five service providers, Ford representatives, and a coordinator. The chosen partners are locally based, possessing a deep understanding of the context and experience in delivering specialized services to organizations operating at the local level. The services include digital and cyber-security training from Digital Society Africa, mental health support and wellness from the Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation, financial strengthening and resilience from Humentum, intensive guidance for civil society nonprofits seeking to enhance their organizational processes from SGS Consulting, and leadership coaching from Nabantu, which was added in the later stages.
Initially, the hub prioritized smaller, community-based organizations and social movements. Over time, it became clear that the hub’s services could assist organizations of all sizes, leading to an expansion of its scope to improve flexibility, meet demand, and increase impact. Its reach expanded from three to eight countries. “This expansive reach allowed the hub to address critical needs in areas such as gender equality, climate justice, health, and education, filling essential gaps, and fortifying the social justice sector in both broad and deep ways,” said Shaun Samuels, managing director of SGS. In-person support remains the primary form of engagement, as some organizations lack online access, while those that have access can receive services in a hybrid format.
Introducing a trauma-informed approach to this work has proven critical, especially for leaders operating in survival mode. Le Roux observed that when the people working to protect and strengthen civil society are in danger of burning out—or lack the space and resources to heal from trauma while pursuing their group’s mission—it can destabilize and undermine their impact. CSVR found this to be true for some of the organizations it worked with. “The metaphor ‘a hungry stomach cannot hear’ comes to mind, as it illustrates how well-being needs often become secondary to financial and strategic development needs,” said CSVR mental health specialist Sumaiya Mohamed.
One of the key takeaways was the need for trauma-aware leaders, as the hub found that the source of some challenges was misplaced. “Leaders are often caught off-guard trying to resolve ‘internal conflicts’ that they attribute to individual behaviors. Most of the time, these are often ‘fueled’ by a lack of awareness of the wounding from the work of being an activist,” said Mohamed.
Among the organizational challenges faced by the hub was that many small, community-level organizations lacked stable structures and operated largely through volunteer work with no paid staff. This can lead to unpredictable hours of operation and inconsistency in personnel. Le Roux said hub leaders are exploring long-term strategies to stabilize these situations.
With less than two years left, the hub leaders are thinking about how to make their work sustainable. The need for civil society support remains high in a context where funding might be declining. “In these last two years of the hub, we are planning to have deeper conversations, not only with our partners but with other philanthropies, asking, ‘What does sustainability really look like?’” said Le Roux. The Southern Africa hub partners see many more opportunities to support social justice leaders in the region. “Five years is just not enough,” she added.. “We’ve only just scratched the surface.”
Indonesia
When establishing the Weaving Resilience hub in Indonesia, the Ford program team in Jakarta referenced its work with the foundation’s BUILD initiative. This research, and many conversations with grantees, directed hub leaders to focus on communications and financial resilience for civil society nonprofits. Program officers are also devoting some of their regional grantmaking funds to establish an endowment fund for civil society strengthening, a long-term strategy that will allow the hub’s work to continue beyond the Weaving Resilience initiative.
The hub works with organizations based throughout the country to provide services to civil society organizations. Re.Search provides the hub’s financial resilience services and REACH provides communications support.
“REACH’s focus on the power of storytelling has not only improved our ability to connect with our audience but has also increased visibility and social media engagement for our work,” Ahmad Rifai, executive director of Kota Kita, a nonprofit focused on urban planning and civic participation, told Ford about the assistance they’ve received from the hub. “These changes have had a transformative impact on how we approach our work and establish ourselves as a trusted partner in urban development initiatives.”
In addition to providing services for Indonesian organizations, the hub has facilitated networking and knowledge-sharing between civil society partners. Laili Khairnur, executive director of Gemawan, an organization that works with underrepresented communities in Borneo, said, “Gemawan has joined several activities conducted by the Indonesia hub’s service providers, which has increased our organization’s capacity and enhanced our services to the public and community. We have also connected to broader networks and potential partnerships in the near future.”
Rifai and Khairnur would like to see continued connection and collaboration of nonprofits facilitated by the hub, as well as expand program options to establish online databases with accessible examples of best practices, templates, and case studies for civil society organizations. “Fostering regional networks or peer learning hubs could promote collaboration and mutual support among organizations facing similar challenges,” Rifai said.
“We believe that the stronger the organization, the stronger the movement,” Khairnur said. “Connection and collaboration within broader networking will help us to survive in the long term.”
It was with the future in mind that the Indonesia office created the Ananta Fund with $6 million from Ford’s social bond and other sources. This endowment will support the two arms of the hub beyond the initial five-year funding for Weaving Resilience, making it possible for more organizations in Indonesia to work on capacity building and institutional strengthening. “We want to develop not just the resource hub but also create an ecosystem of resiliencies,” said Alexander Irwan, regional director of Ford’s Indonesia office. “We would like what has been built to become a resource hub not just for Indonesia, but for the region of Southeast Asia.”
While balancing support for civil society organizations with building resources for the future poses challenges, Indonesia’s hub has gone from working only with BUILD grantees, to BUILD grantees and Ford grantees beyond the BUILD initiative, to other organizations working to expand and protect civil society in the country. That expansion is proof not only that these hubs can be effective but that the learning process itself can inform what support for civil society organizations looks like in the future. “One of the good things that I’ve learned from Weaving Resilience is that the process is very important,” said Diah Dwiandani, special assistant and communications specialist. “We can’t just focus on, ‘Go from A, B, to C.’ It’s probably, ‘Go from A, B, D and then C, and then probably go straight to H.’ You may have to go back a few steps, but then you can leap ahead. That’s something we’ve learned together through the resource hub.”
Mexico and Central America
Ford’s Mexico and Central America office decided to focus on numerous areas of civil society work, since civic space has been shrinking in many countries in the region. This meant working with 11 other foundations in co-designing a regional collaborative funders initiative aimed at enhancing the resilience of the civil society organization ecosystem. The group of funders, together with a cohort of four service providers from the region, established ECOS, a hub focused on collective security and well-being, strategic planning and communications, and compliance and finance. The hub has supported groups working on human rights, feminism, transparency and anti-corruption, and environmental justice.
ECOS reached out to smaller and medium-sized groups, and groups in and outside of urban centers in Mexico and Central America, that might face more challenges to their day-to-day stability. Over a period of six months, the four service providers working in the hub determined how best to align and support organizations when their needs overlapped or they might benefit from coordinating with other groups. All service providers were from the region, recognizing a key mission of the hub. ”It was really important that the providers were from the Global South, because what usually happens is that a fiscal sponsor from the Global North receives the funds,” said Ximena Andion, deputy director of Ford’s Mexico and Central American office.
The hub’s services operate on three tiers, allowing flexibility of involvement for civil society groups: Universal programs, such as public webinars and video trainings, are open to all; targeted services, such as group-focused workshops on strategic communications, require applications; and individual services, such as technical trainings on legal compliance, are provided one-on-one. Initially, the only way to apply for hub services was through a dedicated website, but as the hub has grown, groups are also joining through foundation referrals and word-of-mouth. Geographic range is expanding, too: Most early hub applications were from groups in Mexico, but through collaboration with other foundation partners and the four hub providers, applications from Central America are increasing.
“Even though we still receive applications through our website, we are pointing more towards the collective and universal services which we have found to be more efficient,” said Paty de Obeso, director of Creatura, one of ECOS’ four service providers.
One challenge still facing the hub: how to reach more grassroots and Indigenous groups with smaller teams that might not have the time to participate in the hub’s programs as they are currently structured. Hub leaders are prioritizing organizational flexibility to meet these needs. “One of the things we’re trying to understand is what is happening when an organization dropped out in the middle of the process, and what we can do better to adapt and support them,” Andion said.
Going forward, the hub’s four service providers are already discussing how they could work together beyond the end of Weaving Resilience’s scope. Andion is encouraged and hopeful by what has already been built. “It seems like such a self-evidently great idea to continue to have a hub like this to support these civil society goals,” she said. “But without dedicated financial support, these organizations will have to go back to finding a way to be sustainable in a more separated way. It takes an enormous amount of effort to keep things woven together.”
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