Message from our
People in the Congo Basin have been organising themselves in 2015 to achieve great things: promoting rights and protecting forests. From community level in Cameroon, where communities are making a living from forest products, to international level in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where organisations and communities have been mobilising to protect the Virunga National Park, the organisations we’ve worked with have been making a real difference.
Our part in that has involved, as ever, supporting organisations as they think through and improve how they organise themselves. It’s been a real inspiration, seeing what a group of determined people can get done! We’ve also been collaborating with others to ask bigger questions about how civil society could have even more effect. With Maliasili Initiatives, an organisation that works in East and Southern Africa, we published a report on the challenges facing African civil society organisations and throughout this year we’ve been using it to get conversations going about what support African organisations want and need in order to have an even greater impact – and about when support can become more of a hindrance than a help.
All in all, it’s been an inspiring and challenging year and the growing Well Grounded team is looking forward to working with even more fantastic African organisations in 2016!
executive Director Director
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Cath Long
Well Grounded executive director