Four non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in Sierra Leone, five from Liberia and three from Guinea have benefitted from a capacity assessment support from the West Africa Civil Society Institute (WACSI).

This assessment was conducted as part of ongoing capacity strengthening support to partners of the Fund for Global Human Rights (FGHR). The assessment was conducted to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the organisations that will inform the capacity development programme.

The main objective of the capacity-strengthening project is to strengthen leadership competencies including team-building skills of the middle-level staff of the Fund for Global Human Rights (FGHR) partners in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia.

The capacity development project focuses on areas related to organisational development, governance and leadership. The capacity assessments will inform the content of tailor-made training in response to the capacity needs identified. Subsequently, robust follow-up engagements including, mentoring, coaching and a shared learning convening will be organised for the participating organisations. The shared learning convening will enable targeted beneficiaries to share their strategies, challenges and milestones or results achieved through the support they received from WACSI.

The organisational capacity assessment benefited human rights organisations (CBOs and NGOs). It also covered eight (8) dimensions including governance, management practices, human resources, advocacy and external relations, knowledge and experience in human rights.

The team conducted assessments by visiting each organisation in its premises in a form of a facilitator guided focus group discussion and an average of 2 and half hours.

Preliminary results show that organisation have some modest capacity in areas such as advocacy and knowledge and experience in human rights but generally, there is a dearth of capacity in key areas such as M&E, and sustainability.

This programme is supported by FGHR. It is tailored to respond to the needs of its grant partners in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.

Leandre Banon, Capacity Development Programmes Officer at WACSI said, ” the exercise will help the organisations to do the introspection of their strengths and weakness. They will make use of the outcomes of the assessment to inform and support their internal capacity development process to leverage growth and development.”

The organisations involved in this capacity assessment are:

SIERRA LEONE

• Women Against Violence and Exploitation in Society (WAVES–S/L)
• Action for Community Tasks
• Women’s Action Human Dignity–WAHD
• Defence for Children International – Sierra Leone

LIBERIA

• Action for Justice and Human Rights – AJHR Formerly Youth in Action for Peace and Empowerment – YAPE
• National Children and Youth Advisory Board – NCYAB
• National Institute for Public Opinion – NIPO
• Youth Coalition for Education in Liberia YOCEL
• Defence for Children International – Liberia

GUINEA

• WAFRICA Guinée
• Association pour le Développement Rural et l’Entraide Mutuelle de Guinée (ADREMGUI)
• Sabou Guinée pour l’Enfance en Difficulté