COVID -19 and African Civil Society Organizations

“CSOs have a long tradition of performing crucial developmental, humanitarian, and advocacy functions across Africa, often under challenging conditions. As a result, there can’t be any effective response to COVID-19 without the involvement of CSOs. However, at a time when their contributions are more critical than ever, they are also confronted with the negative impact of the pandemic on their operations and sustainability.”

The recent report from EPIC-Africa, The Impact of COVID-19 on African Civil Society Organizations: Challenges, Responses, and Opportunities” summarizes the results of a survey of over 1,000 civil society organizations in 44 countries across Africa. It provides a snapshot of how COVID has affected organizations, how they are responding, and the insights from the pandemic that can help to inform the way forward.

EPIC-Africa is a pan-African organization based in Senegal that was established in 2015 and is registered in the United States. It compiles data on African civil society organizations and provides advisory services. It also launched the African CSO Index and African CSO Excellence Awards.

DOWNLOAD THE REPORT HERE

Adwoa Agyeman’s core areas of expertise are organizational strengthening, strategic programming, grants management, partnership development, marketing, fundraising, civic-tech, and business development. During her career, she has managed over 650 international and domestic grants totaling over $50 million to scale and advance human rights, gender equity, well being, and economic inclusion. She has 20 years of experience in philanthropy that included serving as a grants manager at TrustAfrica in Senegal, and International grants administrator at the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids and senior program associate at the Moriah Fund, both located in the United States.

Rose Maruru is an international development professional with 25 years of experience working in program development and implementation, partnership development, stakeholder engagement, fundraising, capacity building, strategy development, talent management, and organizational development. She previously worked as a partnership advisor for Oxfam International in the United Kingdom, and civil society engagement consultant for the African Development Bank in Côte d’Ivoire. She was also director of operations at TrustAfrica in Senegal, bids and proposal manager for the Population Council in the United States, advisor for the Coalition for Children’s Rights in Yemen, and program manager for Save the Children.