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Armed Conflicts Negatively Affects Resource Flows to Non-state Actors 

October 16, 2024 In Newsroom, Uncategorized By

Armed Conflicts Negatively Affects Resource Flows to Non-state Actors 

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On 6 June 2024, WACSI organised a Knowledge Cafe where one of her 2023 research fellows, Rachad Bani Samari, provided details of his report titled Investigating the Effects of Armed Conflicts on Financial Resource Mobilisation among Non-Governmental Organisations in Burkina Faso. The webinar was attended by over 112 participants representing various organisations across Africa and beyond. 

The subject of enquiry was necessitated because resource mobilisation has constantly been a bane to civil society organisations and NGOs. Seeing that socio-political contexts in a region has a way of influencing resource mobilisation, Rachad aimed at finding how the socio-political context of armed conflict in Burkina Faso influences resource mobilisation of NGOs and their activities in the country.  

As part of the findings, Rachad observed that from 2020 to 2023, “the number of organisations that recorded a decrease in their international funding flows in Burkina Faso increased dramatically.”  According to Rachad, between 2015 and 2023, international funding for local organisations decreased as the number of conflicts increased in the country. He also noted that the reasons for the decrease of funding to organisations include a shift from development funding to humanitarian funding, and donors’ inability to visit sites to monitor and evaluate the progress of projects due to the insecurity issues in the country. He again observed a similar trend when it comes to local funding from citizens in Burkina Faso. He highlighted that, donations from citizens had decreased so much that “even the private sector cannot fund anymore… mainly because of the armed conflict situation.” This he explained that it is not because citizens do not want to donate, however, socio-economic challenges individuals are facing in the country continue to play a role in limiting their desire to donate and the amount being donated. 

Rachad indicated that due to the challenges organisations are experiencing, NGOs have adopted strategies that help to keep them in operation. Some of these strategies include leveraging social media to attract resources; dinner and crowd funding; hybrid funding, which involves sourcing some local funds to complement the external funding organisations receive; a shift in the focus area of organisations; and what the study referred to as “NGOs prostitution”, where organisations redirect their focus entirely to contemporary areas of interest to international non-governmental organisations (INGOs). These adaptation mechanisms help the organisations to draw some funding to help keep them running. 

He therefore recommended INGOs to “adopt a paradigm shift towards an entrepreneurial mindset” that “allows organisations to use funding while also investing in financial sustainability activities.” Also, he highlighted the need for “donors and NGOs to work together in planning the financial sustainability of the organisation” to help the organisations to survive and remain relevant. On the part of local organisations in Burkina Faso, it was recommended that organisations should endeavour to “enforce transparency and accountable in their work” to build trust with donors. Rachad highlighted the importance of enforcing transparency and accountability, stating that, “opaque approach to managing finances” inadvertently ruins the trust donors have for local organisations. Finally, the study recommended that local organisations should build consortia and engage in peer mentoring with ‘bigger’ NGOs who have already established themselves in trust and reputation with INGOs to boost their image and ensure they continue to remain relevant in the work they do. 

This study was an initiative that was supported by WACSI as part of its mandate of empowering the youth in West Africa.  WACSI has employed the research fellowship programme as a conduit to ensure that this mandate is addressed. The fellowship aims at empowering young individuals in West Africa with the needed research skill through a three to six-months hands-on research project to contribute to improving the NGO and specifically, the CSO ecosystem. The fellowship provides individuals access to WACSIs publications, visibility in Africa and beyond, and allows committed youth to promote development through research. Follow WACSI on all social media platforms to get up-to-date information on our activities across West Africa. 

Click to access the report. 

Click here to access the Knowledge Cafe video. 

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FIIFI BOATENG

Fiifi is a Ghanaian and currently serves as Communications and Information Officer at the West Africa Civil Society Institute. He joined the Institute in December 2020.

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