Dar es Salaam. Thirty youth-led and women-led civil society organisations (CSOs) from Dar es Salaam, Zanzibar and Songwe have completed a three-month capacity-building programme aimed at strengthening their ability to deliver community-based initiatives.
The programme, implemented by the Foundation for Civil Society (FCS) in partnership with UNICEF Tanzania, has also recommended 15 of the organisations for seed grants totalling Sh375 million.
Each selected organisation will receive Sh25 million to implement three-month interventions targeting children, adolescents, young people and women.
Introduced in April, the programme brought together about 90 representatives from the 30 CSOs for online training, mentorship and face-to-face sessions between May and August.
The training covered project cycle management, strategic communication and advocacy, institutional administration, financial and grant management, protection from sexual exploitation and abuse, resource mobilisation, partnership development, leadership and governance.
Speaking at the seed grants awarding ceremony, FCS Deputy Executive Director and Head of Programmes Quality and Learning Cynthia Bavo said the programme was designed to build on the organisations' existing links with communities.
"These organisations already have what matters most: they are trusted in their communities and they understand the problems children and adolescents face," she said.
"What this programme has added is the institutional strength to act on that knowledge and to account for it. We are now moving from strengthening institutions to investing in the solutions they are positioned to deliver."
The 15 organisations were selected through a competitive process based on criteria including alignment with UNICEF priorities, community needs, protection of vulnerable children and adolescents, quality of proposed interventions, child participation, gender responsiveness, monitoring, budget realism, value for money and risk management.
The beneficiaries include five organisations from each of the three areas—Dar es Salaam, Zanzibar and Songwe.
Their projects will focus on child protection, education and alternative learning, adolescent wellbeing, gender equality and prevention of violence against women and children.
A UNICEF Tanzania representative said supporting organisations already working in underserved communities would help sustain interventions beyond individual funding cycles.
"By investing in the capacity of youth-led and women-led CSOs, and then trusting them with resources, this partnership helps build a civil society that can keep delivering for children well beyond a single funding cycle," the representative said.
The programme also highlighted the importance of diversifying sources of funding, with participants encouraged to explore partnerships with the private sector, communities, donors and social enterprises.
A representative of Vodacom Tanzania Foundation said partnerships should be viewed not only as a source of funding but also as a way of building organisational resilience.
Giving Tuesday Tanzania Country Lead Alice Zayumba also urged CSOs to strengthen community-based resource mobilisation through individual giving, local philanthropy, fundraising campaigns, in-kind contributions, volunteerism, faith-based giving and private-sector support.
"Communities are not only beneficiaries; they are also a source of support," she said.
The 15 selected organisations are undergoing Manage Your Grants training from August 24 to 28, after which the funds will be disbursed.
Implementation of the three-month community interventions is expected to begin on September 1.
The selected organisations are Popular Inspiring and Relief Organisation (PIRO), Youth Empowerment and Skills Development Organization (YESDO), Gender and Social Reform Organization (GSRO), Kupunguza Umasikini na Kuboresha Hali za Wananchi (KUKHAWA), Barefoot College Zanzibar, Wakina Mama na Watoto Foundation, Women and Standard Changes Organization (WSCO), Community Initiative for Development Organization (CIDO), Ruge Mutahaba Foundation, Theatre Arts Feminists (TAF), Ella Foundation, Madina Climatic Organisation, Young and Alive Initiative, Jumuiya ya Vijana na Elimu Kaskazini 'A' (JUVIEKA) and Elisha Fashion Youth Support Foundation (EFAD).
