Untying aid and reimaginingthe role of global civil society

Dear Friends,

Join us to explore the impact and opportunities of Untying Aid for local, national and international civil society.

There is widespread agreement that shifting power and resources in the international system to Majority World/Global South civil society organisations (CSOs) is necessary to create a more equitable civil society. However, Minority World/Global North funding for civil society is mostly channelled to INGOs from their own countries. 

A new report by the #ShiftThePower movement – Too Southern To Be Funded: The Funding Bias Against the Global South  – has revealed that currently more than 90% of all OECD DAC member countries’ civil society support goes to CSOs from their own countries and other Minority World/Global North CSOs – and less than 10% goes to CSOs in countries in the Majority World/Global South.

This week a campaign launched to demand an end to the practice of ‘tied aid’ and calls for the removal of the legal, regulatory and procurement barriers in order to allow more direct funding to move from OECD DAC to Minority World/Global South CSOs. Tied aid was identified as a systemic blocker to a rich, diverse and balanced civil society by the RINGO Social Lab, and the campaign is being led by the Global Fund for Community Foundations. Find out more and sign the open letter here.

This campaign, coupled with the recent announcement by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA) that it will open up competition for its grant funding to non-Swedish civil society organisations, provides an opportunity to genuinely transform the funding landscape for civil society globally. Read our open letter to SIDA here.

This RINGO Community Gathering will reflect on the findings of the report and hear the latest updates from the ‘Too Southern To Be Funded’ campaign. We’ll collectively explore what opportunities this brings for reimagining global civil society and the purpose, structures, power and positioning of INGOs. 

Register now to save your spot!

The session will be in English with live interpretation in French and Spanish.

We understand that it may be challenging for some people in certain time zones to attend the gathering, and will endeavour to share a recording on the RINGO website after the event.

We look forward to seeing you there!