EU project to help strengthen CSOs

Civil-society organisations will receive support to build capacity in their organisations under the Cropper Foundation’s (TCF) newest project, Ignite CSOs (Improving Governance, Networking, and Inclusivity Towards Empowered Civil Society Organisations).

The project, funded by the European Union, is being implemented by the Cropper Foundation in partnership with the Veni Apwann organisation.

In a release, the foundation said the project’s broad mission over its 30-month roll-out from January 2024 is to strengthen the capacities of local civil-society organisations (CSOs) to serve and represent the interests of vulnerable communities and to engage more effectively in policy dialogue at the national level.

The release said the project will take on two main areas of focus simultaneously.

“The first builds on civil society’s ongoing contribution to the efforts of the government to better align its non-profit policy and legislation to international Financial Action Task Force (FATF) requirements. Civil-society actors like TCF have been working closely with the attorney general and legal affairs representatives to identify and address the adverse unintended consequences of the passage of the Non-Profit Organisations (NPO) Act (2019) to the local non-profit/NGO sector. The project intends to formalise and advance cooperation among stakeholders, which includes the banking/financial sector.”

The other aspect of the project will involve creating and deploying CSO-tailored capacity-building courses and programmes in a digital framework, co-curated by CSOs and local professional organisations such as the Project Management Institute (PMI) Southern Caribbean Chapter and the Human Resource Management Association of TT (HRMATT).

TCF CEO Omar Mohammed said the programme was a golden opportunity. “It will enable us to consolidate and catalyse the work we in civil society have been doing for years around improving our ability to deliver to the most vulnerable and developing our organisations and mechanisms to hold ourselves more accountable. Add to that the big-picture work of promoting the enabling environment that supports our role as advocates, equipped to advance accountability as a principle, a standard to be upheld at all levels,” Mohammed said in the release.

Veni Apwann director Sandra Pyke-Anthony said the organisation was excited to sow the seeds of new and continued collaborations across professional organisations and government agencies alike.

“Eventually we hope to see the fruits they yield for TT. Like the old African proverb says, ‘If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.’ We know we have far to go, and we believe that working together, we can and will we get there.”

The Cropper Foundation/Veni Apwann proposal was among 26 applications the EU Delegation received to its call for proposals on CSOs and governance. The award of the grant was announced in November.

EU Ambassador Peter Cavendish congratulated TCF and Veni Apwann on their achievement of the award.

Speaking at the launch of the programme at the Kapok Hotel, St Clair, on March 15, he said, “Ignite CSOs was selected for funding not only because it was relevant and well-designed but also because it showed a remarkable understanding of the not-for-profit sector. Your work not only addresses critical issues of governance and respect for the rule of law but also plays an important role in combating inequalities through advocacy and raising awareness. We are excited to see how your project will unfold as we work together to bring about positive change and further the cause of good governance and development in TT. We are anticipating good old Trinbagonian stick-to-itiveness!”

To learn more about and/or get involved with Ignite CSOs, visit www.thecropperfoundation.org/portfolio/ignite-csos/ or email outreach@thecropperfoundation.org.