The Ford Foundation has announced an $80 million initiative to build the resilience of civil society organizations in the Global South. 

The Weaving Resilience initiative was developed with partners in eight regions in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. The initiative lays the groundwork for interrelated yet localized resource hubs in Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Indonesia, Kenya, Lebanon, Mexico, Nigeria, Peru, South Africa, Tanzania, and Uganda so organizations can empower one another with the expertise and tools they need to build and sustain social change. Regional organizations will house and lead the hubs, enabling leadership to come directly from affected communities instead of from the Global North. Each will be grounded in its unique local context, meeting the greatest areas of need for the continuance of civil society: institutional resilience, strategic relevance, and holistic well-being. 

According to the foundation, across the world and especially in the Global South, authoritarianism has increased along with a compounding decrease in democratic values, which is  collectively deepening inequality. Since March 2020, 155 countries have placed new restrictions on public assemblies, according to the International Center for Not-for-Profit Law, while Civicus reports that barely 3 percent of the world’s population lives in countries that are considered to have open civic space.

“At the Ford Foundation, we believe that the people closest to a problem are also closest to its solution,” said Ford Foundation president Darren Walker. “We must listen to and learn from the individuals, communities, and organizations who have been courageously leading the way for years—particularly in the Global South, where civil society operates with insufficient resources, and yet, their resilience is more important than ever.”

(Photo credit: Getty Images/Elisank79)