©Forus
Support
Overview
Welcome to Forus SUPPORT Pillar, strengthening the impact of national and regional platforms of civil society organizations worldwide.
This is a space for member-led processes of mutual learning and accountability.
Together we strengthen and share the capacities of Forus national and regional platforms to ensure they can effectively represent, convene, and coordinate NGOs and civil society actors around a common agenda for inclusive and sustainable societies.
capacity strengthening
Vision
Forus envisions a world where civil society organizations lead and innovate, driving sustainable and inclusive development on a global scale.
Through our capacity strengthening initiatives, we aim to:
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Support national and regional platforms in achieving their organizational goals, engaging members effectively, and responding to local needs.
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Reinforce national and regional platforms to be functional, legitimate, accountable, inclusive, and efficient NGO networks.
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Enhance the ability of civil society organizations to advocate for their constituents and remain effective and independent despite growing restrictions for civil society.
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Increase the capacity of national CSOs to hold governments and decision-makers accountable and support global solidarity among CSOs in the Forus network and beyond.
Forus Approach
Forus views capacity strengthening as a horizontal process that emphasizes learning together and from each other. Forus' approach is impact-oriented, needs based, peer-to-peer, and aims to develop leadership, promote expertise and innovation, and facilitate the exchange of practices at national, regional, and global levels. The ultimate goal is to strengthen the voice of civil society worldwide and achieve ambitious and measurable impacts in sustainable and inclusive development.
©Both Nomads
Organisational self-assessment
Network wide exercise to reflect on the status and performance of the network to collectively celebrate the progress made annually and contribute to the prioritisation of areas to improve.
National Platforms Partnerships
Diverse range of tools that include dedicated financial and in-kind support to selected groups of members per year to fund their organisational development plans and close the gaps identified in their organisational self-assessment.
Leadership Development Programme
Hybrid (online and in-person) process of collective learning and collaboration reflecting among a small group of members interested in innovating and dynamizing the governance and management structures and approaches of their network.
Peer Learning & Exchanges
In coordination with members availabilities and interest, members will exchange in a semi-structured space on a selected topic that they feel comfortable and that will contribute to the development of other national platforms. Whether it is about members engagement, volunteers’ coordination, fundraising, campaigning, etc.
Learning Modules
Core competencies have been identified as crucial by most of Forus members through the annual Membership Surveys. The training on this areas will be provided by internal and external practitioners in areas such as a) resource mobilization and effective financial management; b) monitoring and evaluation and ethical data collection and management; c) strategic communications, storytelling and public speaking; and d) digital skills, security, awareness and the opportunities of artificial intelligence in social change. Members shape and expand these areas of interest and learning through the different feedback channels and accountability mechanisms.
Accountability Mechanisms
We are committed to a culture of continuous learning and improvement. Our accountability initiatives include:
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Peer-Accountability Circles: Quarterly sessions to share success stories and challenges.
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Failures Club: Occasional meetings to discuss lessons learned from less successful projects.
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End-of-Year Reflections: Platforms share their stories of change in their preferred format describing the feedback their constituents are giving to the platform’s work, the recognition they are growing at the national level and new resources secured. All members will complete a self-assessment survey to compare the progress and impact at the end of each cycle.
Join Us on This Journey
Let’s Get Started
- Explore our resources: Access a wealth of materials, including strategic guidelines, toolkits, best practices, podcast episodes, stories and case studies from across the Forus network.
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Participate in the programme(s) that best fit your network: Join our capacity strengthening initiatives tailored to your needs. Learn more about the 2024-2025 capacity strengthening
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Connect with peers: Engage in peer-learning exchanges and collaborative projects with other national or regional platforms from the Forus network. Discover Forus members.
Capacity strengthening
Contact Us
For more information on our programmes and how to get involved, please reach out to our team at [email protected]. Together, we can build a stronger, more impactful civil society.