There is no doubt that the over-reliance on the global north for funding social change is the primary reason that restoring the balance between the global north and south seems unfeasible if not impossible. Indeed, many argue that so long as the global south cannot generate its own resources to fund its development agenda, the fight for equality will always remain a mirage. In response to this daunting challenge, civil society organizations (CSOs) in the global south are seeking to diversify their funding and strengthen their local support base. A growing number of international organizations and funders are supporting global south CSOs to do this. Domestic resource mobilization and community giving therefore continue to gain prominence.
Many actors in the African civic space have taken note of this and have begun experimenting, testing, innovating, and investing in alternative ways of working with communities and resourcing their activities.
This paper clearly highlights a robust and seasoned argument for leveraging social capital to nurture and cultivate domestic resource mobilization and community giving as a mechanism for addressing the sustainability, credibility and legitimacy crises faced by African CSOs in these uncertain times.
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