No one needs to remind international CSOs that they face pressure from both ends. Donor countries that once spawned or nourished them are now looking for more direct connections to locally-based groups serving local needs. And aid-receiving countries are adopting highly restrictive policies they justify by questioning the legitimacy of foreign funding to civil society groups. The key question posed by the Global Perspectives conference, taking place in Mexico City beginning of November, was: What can CSOs do about it? Implicit in the agenda was that CSOs need to change their operating models and challenge other fundamental assumptions about how they do and fund their work if they are to continue to further their missions. As David Booth of the Overseas Development Institute laid out on Day One: to remain effective, ICSOs will need to become more politically smart, adaptive and locally led. Read what they found here.
Source: Disrupt & Innovate