Celebrating community-led development – the EPIC Africa CSO Awards 2026
Every day across Africa, civil society champions do the essential work of helping people, making their voices heard and protecting human rights.
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Upcoming event: Rethinking funding models to build autonomy
What’s the real difference between traditional donor-driven funding and community philanthropy models? And why does it matter for communities? This webinar will be a research-backed …
How Zamkanda is reimagining Zambia’s waste
Just beyond the city limits of Lusaka, the Chunga landfill sprawls across 24 hectares. It’s more than a final resting place for the city’s trash; it’s an active source of methane, a powerful greenhouse gas seeping into the atmosphere. Most people look away. But Barbara Nöst, co-founder of Zamkanda, looked closer and wondered: what if the very waste creating this problem held the key to solving it?
Turning power on its head, a reverse call for applications
In November of 2010 eight young feminists from Africa, Asia, The Middle East, Latin America, the Caribbean, The United States, and Eastern Europe gathered in Beirut, Lebanon to envision what would become FRIDA | The Young Feminist Fund.
Relationships as the real infrastructure – reflections on the GFCF Community Philanthropy Symposium
In October 2025, I spent two weeks in Nairobi, Kenya, as part of the #ShiftThePower Fellowship. The first week was the GFCF’s Community Philanthropy Symposium at …
The battle for democracy has intensified online
After two weeks of massive Gen Z-led protests that toppled Nepal’s government, a right-wing political activist Durga Parsai released a video accusing Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) of orchestrating …
Who is funding the arts in the Global South?
There is something about this term “self-published” that downplays the local funding provided by communities in supporting the literary arts.
When the well runs dry: Rethinking development in the wake of donor withdrawal
In recent years, Africa has witnessed a quiet but significant shift in the development landscape. The gradual withdrawal of traditional donors, due to shifting geopolitical priorities, domestic pressures in donor countries, or the growing critique of aid dependency, has led to many African civil society organizations confronting a stark reality, donor support is no longer guaranteed.
A case for movement building as community power
Movements have existed and have been organising long before “funding” and will continue to do so.
From Nepal to Nebraska: Rediscovering the power within communities
In today’s context, where international aid is shrinking and trust in global institutions like the UN and development agencies are declining, the need to reimagine development has become more important than ever.