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NNGO Voices: Leader Perspectives on Locally-Led Development

July 6, 2023

The development sector is moving towards shifting power to local development, decolonizing aid, and building a more equitable development architecture. Funders, INGOs, national/local NGOs (NNGOs), and governments play crucial roles in making these changes a reality. Humentum has published reports exploring different stakeholder perspectives, and this report focuses on the perspective of NNGOs. It presents insights from senior NNGO leaders in six African countries, discussing their perspectives and recommended solutions for power shift. This report is a valuable critical to the Collective Journey to Equitable Development series.

Regional Portrait of Catholic Care for Children in Eastern Africa: A study based on information from Kenya, Malawi, Uganda and Zambia

May 16, 2023

Catholic sisters are champions of care reform. Working with governmental, civic, and church leaders, and within their local communities, they are leading efforts to transition from institutional care toward family- and community-based care. Their leadership, service and spiritual witness have advanced the common good through a profound commitment to working on behalf of the vulnerable and marginalized. Focused on east Africa, this regional portrait offers data and information on care reform and the significant shifts and progress led by Catholic sisters in the region.

“This Is Why We Became Activists”: Violence Against Lesbian, Bisexual, and Queer Women and Non-Binary People

February 14, 2023

According to interviews Human Rights Watch conducted with 66 lesbian, bisexual, and queer (LBQ+) activists, researchers, lawyers, and movement leaders in 26 countries between March and September 2022, forced marriage is one of ten key areas of human rights abuses most affecting LBQ+ women's lives. Human Rights Watch identified the following areas of LBQ+ rights as those in need of immediate investigation, advocacy, and policy reform. This report explores how the denial of LBQ+ people's rights in these ten areas impacts their lives and harms their ability to exercise and enjoy the advancement of more traditionally recognized LGBT rights and women's rights:the right to free and full consent to marriage;land, housing, and property rights;freedom from violence based on gender expression;freedom from violence and discrimination at work;freedom of movement and the right to appear in public without fear of violence;parental rights and the right to create a family;the right to asylum;the right to health, including services for sexual, reproductive, and mental health;protection and recognition as human rights defenders; andaccess to justice.This investigation sought to analyze how and in what circumstances the rights of LBQ+ people are violated, centering LBQ+ identity as the primary modality for inclusion in the report. Gender-nonconforming, non-binary, and transgender people who identify as LBQ+ were naturally included. At the same time, a key finding of the report is that the fixed categories "cisgender" and "transgender" are ill-suited for documenting LBQ+ rights violations, movements, and struggles for justice. As will be seen in this report, people assigned female at birth bear the weight of highly gendered expectations which include marrying and having children with cisgender men, and are punished in a wide range of ways for failing or refusing to meet these expectations. Many LBQ+ people intentionally decenter cisgender men from their personal, romantic, sexual, and economic lives. In this way, the identity LBQ+ itself is a transgression of gendered norms. Whether or not an LBQ+ person identifies as transgender as it is popularly conceptualized, the rigidly binary (and often violently enforced) gender boundaries outside of which LBQ+ people already live, regardless of their gender identity, may help to explain why the allegedly clear division between "cisgender" and "transgender" categories simply does not work for many LBQ+ communities. This report aims to explore and uplift, rather than deny, that reality.

Sexual Harassment in the Media – Africa Report

July 12, 2021

In 2020, WAN-IFRA Women in News (WIN), in partnership with City, University of London,  set out to establish the extent of sexual harassment in news organisations and to gauge their effectiveness in managing it. The research project focused on regions where WIN operates: Africa, the Arab region, Southeast Asia and Russia. In addition, a survey of Central America will begin soon.This report is a summary of its findings in Africa. The project included an online survey and interviews. Some 584 media professionals completed the online survey. They were from eight countries in Africa, namely Botswana, Malawi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe. The overall tally includes eight responses from within Africa that were outside the focus countries. WIN conducted supplementary interviews with 32 media executives from those countries.

Understanding the Barriers to Girls' School Return: Girls' Voices from the Frontline of the COVID-19 Pandemic in East Africa

May 30, 2021

From October 2020 - March 2021, AMPLIFY Girls, undertook a multi-country qualitative research study to ask girls why they were dropping out of school and their recommendations to get young women back to school and back on track.The results are painful but important.At the highest level, our findings suggest that pregnancy is the primary driver of girls' dropout from school during the pandemic, but that pregnancy is a symptom of underlying, acute, economic vulnerabilities and is augmented by situations of social and physical isolation that are often mutually reinforcing. The overwhelming majority of FGD participants cited transactional sex for basic goods (such as food, clothing, and menstrual hygiene products) as the primary cause of unintended pregnancies in their communities. Accordingly, we found that economic precarity leading to transactional sex and unintended pregnancies was the most common pathway leading to girls' dropout. Our research also suggests that the social stigma surrounding teen pregnancy and motherhood is the single biggest factor keeping girls from returning to school post-pandemic.AMPLIFY Girls has recommendations for the world. They center around community-driven organizations and the incredible work they are doing in communities for girls and their families.

Learning Through Play: Increasing impact, Reducing inequality

January 1, 2021

What is the potential of children's play to promote equality in outcomes and address learning gaps between children from more advantaged and less advantaged backgrounds? Drawing evidence from early childhood learning programmes across 18 countries, as well as from interviews with the authors of various contributing studies, this report aims to understand whether and how the evidence about play and learning relates to tackling the learning crisis, especially in terms of inequality in learning outcomes around the globe.This report published by the LEGO Foundation shows that play not only helps children learn, it also supports inclusion, and reduces inequality, therefore demonstrating that policymakers and international organisations need to pay close attention to play. Building on their findings, the authors suggest four areas for future investment, innovation and investigation.

Generosity in the Time of COVID-19: A Compilation of stories on Giving in the time of the Covid-19 Pandemic in Uganda, Volume 4

October 22, 2020

We are honored to bring you the forth and final installment of the "Generosity During COVID" reports.It has been a true pleasure looking for and recounting these stories and expressions of Ugandan generosity, community solidarity and Ubuntu.Our aim has been to share the stories of the 'little givers' - those whose stories while every bit as worthwhile, are not likely to make their way into the public domain. By telling the story of the 'little giver' by which we mean, those with limited economic means at their disposal, we want to show that ALL givers count.We want to both #ShiftThePower - that is, highlight and spotlight the great contribution that local communities make to meeting development needs and propelling societal advancement, to also continually #ShiftTheGaze - from only/mostly big donors and givers with vast amounts of wealth, to consistently showcase how all kinds of individuals and communities are expressing generosity, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.We think it is important to shift that gaze in a way that enables us to acknowledge and also think about how to grow and strengthen giving from the ground up. It is important to build the right kind of infrastructure that is socially embedded, culturally appropriate and owned by givers in Africa.Finally, telling these stories has reminded us of the power of the collective. Indeed one of the African proverbs that aptly captures this moment is: "If people come together, they can even mend a crack in the sky." 

Local Philanthropy in Uganda: A Scan of the Regulatory Environment

October 6, 2020

This report is produced by CivSource – Africa as the first of two products from a research that was conducted to explore the landscape for philanthropy in Uganda through a case study of five districts, namely Kampala, Masaka, Mbarara, Gulu and Arua. It is a scan of the legal and policy environment for philanthropy in Uganda and addresses three objectives: Explore laws relevant to philanthropy in Uganda, as well as their implications; Describe the regulatory drivers of the constricted civil society space and; Identify experiences of local philanthropists with the regulatory environment.

Finding Philanthropy: Exploring the Practice of Giving for Public Good in Uganda

September 23, 2020

This is a popular version of the study exploring the landscape of giving for public good (GPG) in Uganda. It is organized in six chapters notably: the introduction and background (chapter 1); understanding and motivations of GPG (chapter 2); influences, changes and challenges in GPG (chapter 3); givers experiences with the regulatory environment (chapter 4); forms and mechanisms of GPG in Uganda (chapter 5); conclusions, recommendations and emerging research areas (chapter 6). 

Amplifying Voices: Decade Edition 2005–2015

January 22, 2020

This is a special edition of Amplifying Voices that includes highlights of the Open Society Initiative for East Africa's work from 2005 to 2015. Amplifying Voices documents different journeys the foundation has traveled with its partners since its launch in 2005 and the collective efforts to realize human rights and freedoms for all.Amplifying Voices pays particular attention to those on the margins of society, including stories of working on the forced sterilization of HIV-positive women or those with mental health illnesses, promoting the rights of sex workers, or addressing the question of human rights and counterterrorism.The Open Society Initiative for East Africa started as a one-program initiative in 2005 in Kenya and today has grown to include eight programs in the region. Geographically, the foundation now works in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, South Sudan, and Sudan. It addresses issues including health and rights, disability rights, and food security.

Building Youth Life Skills: Lessons Learned on How to Design, Implement, Assess, and Scale Successful Programming

June 27, 2019

There is growing recognition that youth need more than formal or vocational education to thrive in school, work, and life. They also need life skills - a set of cognitive, personal, and interpersonal strengths that position them for success in their lives and livelihoods. To leverage the growing momentum and give youth access to these vital tools for success, the Partnership to Strengthen Innovation and Practice in Secondary Education (PSIPSE) supports grantee partners testing diverse approaches to strengthening life skills. The PSIPSE commissioned an in-depth study of 18 projects in 7 countries, uncovering actionable lessons on how to design, implement, assess, and scale youth life skills programming in low- and middle-income countries. The study is intended for practitioners and government officials interested in building, improving, and expanding work around life skills, as well as donors looking to advance this field and provide useful guidance to their grantees.

Building Youth Life Skills: 8 Tips for Practitioners

June 27, 2019

There is growing recognition that youth need more than academic knowledge to transition successfully into employment and adulthood (Dupuy et al. 2018). They also need "life skills," a set of cognitive, personal, and interpersonal strengths that position them for success in their lives and livelihoods. Life skills can enhance young people's agency and resilience, improve their psychosocial well-being, and predict a range of long-term outcomes, including health, job performance, and wages (Kwauk et al. 2018; OECD 2018, Kautz et al. 2014). The Partnership to Strengthen Innovation and Practice in Secondary Education (PSIPSE), a donor collaborative, has invested in 18 projects to strengthen life skills in young people. This brief offers eight lessons based on the experiences of these projects—on the design, delivery, measurement, and scale-up of youth life skills programming in lowand middle-income countries (LMICs).