The CSO Sustainability Index for Angola

Determining the CSO Sustainability Indexfor Angola

Formation of a team of Civil Society panelists; • Mosaiko, ADRA, PANNE, AJPD, APDCH, DW, USAID, ISUP,

Cazenga Gender Network , a lawyer and Kilamba Kiaxi Forum. A total of 10 panelists;

• The selection followed the criteria: to include some of the following:– NGOs– Research Center– Local community. – Faith-based organizations;– Academia, – Cooperatives, – Networks of organizations, – Lawyers,– International donors

INTRODUCTION

• The reports are produced by an expert panel of CSO practitioners and researchers in each country.

• The panels assess each dimension of CSO sustainability according to key indicators and agree on a score, which can range from 1 (most developed) to 7 (most challenged).

• The scores for each dimension are averaged to produce an overall sustainability score for a given country’s CSO sector.

• The scores are grouped into three overarching categories—Sustainability Enhanced (scoresfrom 1 to 3), Sustainability Evolving (3.1-5), and Sustainability Impeded (5.1-7)

• The index is a useful source of information for CSOs, governments, donors, academics, and others who want to better understand and monitor key aspects of CSO sustainability in Sub-Saharan Africa.

The Indicators• Legal Environment : Registration, Operation, Administrative Impediments and

State Harassment, Local Legal Capacity, Taxation, Retention of Earned Income.• Organizacional Capacity: Constituency Building, Strategic Planning,

Strategic Planning, Internal Management Structure, CSO StaffingTechnical Advancement,

• Financial Viability: Local Support, Diversification, Financial Management Systems, Fundraising, Earned Income.

• Advocacy: Cooperation with Local and Federal Government, Policy Advocacy Initiatives, Lobbying Efforts Lobbying: Attempts by CSOs to directly influence the legislative process, Local Advocacy for Legal Reform.

• Service Provision: Range of Goods and Services, Community Responsiveness, Constituencies and Clientele, Government Recognition and Support

• Infrastructure: Intermediary Support Organizations (ISOs) and CSO Resource Centers, Local Grant Making Organizations, CSO Coalitions, Training, Intersectoral Partnerships.

• Public Image: Media Coverage, Public Perception of CSOs, Government/Business Perception of CSOs, Public Relations, Self-Regulation

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY• For the seventh year, the CSO

Sustainability Index for Sub-Saharan Africa offers a snapshot of seven key dimensions affecting the sustainability of CSO sectors in Sub-Saharan Africa.

• The global financial crisis that began in 2008 continued to have serious repercussions, and many local currencies experienced steep drops in value.

• CSO sustainability remained fairly stable in 2015.

• Funding was still the most serious challenge facing CSOs throughout Africa and many smaller CSOs have suspended their activities.

• However, CSOs continued to provide vital services and adapt to new demands.

Legal Environment• A third of the countries report worsening

legal environments in 2015. • The main reasons included the• introduction of more stringent

registration requirements• the government’s targeting of human

rights and other advocacy organizations for harassment or repression.

• No country reports an improvement in the legal environment for CSOs in 2015.

• CSOs continue to be underserved by the legal profession.

• Few lawyers specialized in CSO law. • CSOs were unable to afford to hire legal

counsel and pro bono services were not available.

Organizational Capacity• The organizational capacity of CSOs

was highly varied• Some CSOs’ demonstrated strong

relationships with constituencies • while others had poor internal

structures and had a rapid turnover of staff.

• In some countries CSOs’ involvement diminished at the community level as organizations scaled down or ceased operations because of resource constraints.

• In the face of scarce financial resources, many CSOs in Sub-Saharan Africa turned increasingly to volunteers.

Financial Viability

• Financial viability remained the weakest category of CSO sustainability

• More than one-half of all countries surveyed have reported a slide in financial viability since 2013.

• Mainly because of year-on-year decreases in funding for CSOs from international donors who have changed there focus to work with individual local consultants rather than domestic organizations.

• Domestic funding is insufficient to fill the gap.

Advocacy• Most countries report improvements,

more than for any other dimension.• In Angola, CSOs hosted the first-ever

conference on The Right to Truth and Collective Memory in Building the Democratic Rule of Law, which called on public officials to look at CSOs in building a just and democratic society.

• Two major themes of advocacy were the rights of women and of the disabled.

• CSOs who depend on the government for funding, find it nearly impossible to hold the government accountable for fear of losing financial support.

Service Provision• Service provision has traditionally

been the strongest area of CSO sustainability in Sub-Saharan Africa

• new models and technologies could change their role in service provision

• Few CSOs charged for their services, either because the law does not allow it, beneficiaries are too impoverished to pay for services.

• CSOs that generated income from services tended to do so in knowledge-related areas such as research, publications, training, and consulting.

Infrastructure

• CSOs found that working through coalitions and networks made it easier to build constituencies and have impact on the ground.

• A number of countries report that partnerships between CSOs and the private sector are slowly but steadily emerging.

• Opportunities existed for evaluating MDGs and influencing various countries’ Sustainable Development Goals.

Public Image• The public image of CSOs was affected

by factors, including the structure of media ownership and the tenor of government statements about CSOs’ work.

• Service-providing CSOs working in partnership with the government or in close contact with local communities had a more positive public image than advocacy organizations, particularly

• those working on human rights, which often operate at a distance from people’s day-to-day lives and can be targets of government criticism.

• In most countries the majority of CSOs lack codes of ethics or, fail to adhere to them.

Conclusion• CSOs make vital

contributions in areas such as advocacy and service provision

• CSOs face challenges especially in their financial viability and relations with non-supportive or hostile governments.

• The CSO sector maintains a leadership role in realizing prospects for change and development in Africa.

CSO SUSTAINABILITY FOR ANGOLA: 5.8

ANGOLA• The year 2015 introduced fresh economic

difficulties into all aspects of life in Angola. • Global reductions in the price of oil and

poor productivity in other sectors of the economy continued to increase the country’s dependency on imports.

• The cost of living in Luanda rose more than 12 percent during the year.

• In the face of widespread scarcity, CSOs turned to emergency service provision to help meet the basic needs of Angolan citizens.

• Some incidents suggested a worsening human rights situation.

• A restrictive CSO law went into effect.

Legal Environment in Angola

• The government issued a new law to govern CSOs, Decree No. 74/15 on the Regulation of Non-

Governmental Organizations (NGOs). • The decree introduced significant new constrictions on the operations of

CSOs in Angola.• Few lawyers in the country are familiar with CSO law.• The Institute of Promotion and Coordination of Aid Communities

(IPROCAC) was given significant new powers to define priority areas for CSO interventions, guide programs, supervise operations, and restrict their access to funding.

• IPROCAC required CSOs to update their registrations under penalty of suspension of their activities or even closure. The registration process even more bureaucratic than before.

• The authorities turned down almost every request for permission to organize a public gathering.

• CSOs are not permitted to obtain income from providing services or selling products.

Organizational Capacity inAngola

• A large number of CSOs did not have funded projects and had to lay off permanent staff. However, the lack of funding

• Some organizations changed their strategies to strengthen their financial management systems to gain the confidence of donors.

• Few smaller organizations have strategic plans. • Some organizations sought to strengthen their management

systems.• A few organizations are adopting new technologies - Community

Water Association, has begun to use mobile phones to alert municipal governments and the public water company about problems with water delivery.

• Access to the Internet remains a problem for most organizations, especially in peri-urban and rural areas.

Financial Viability in Angola

• In 2015 few donors remained in Angola. • The European Union (EU), one of the remaining donors still active

in the country, issued only one call for proposals during the year.• Sixty-four organizations responded to the call and only four

received funding. • The funded projects focused mostly on capacity building for local

administrative staff and citizens councils (CACS), which engage local communities in the democratic process.

• This focus is typical of most projects funded by donors,• Donors are no longer as interested in service provision, the

mission of most organizations.• The financial systems of most organizations remain weak.• A few CSOs adopted better transparency practices.• Some older CSOs were founded with accountability practices and

an internal participatory culture already in place.

Advocacy in Angola

• In Angola some consultations and coordination take place between government authorities and the communities they govern, including CSOs.

• Most of these consultations take place on the local level.• The Development Forum of the district of Kilamba Kiaxi brought

together local authorities, citizens, and CSOs to discuss waste management, and the district administrator delivered the opening speech.

• On the national level, a conference on CSOs’ promotion of women took place in June.

• Joining CSOs were representatives MINFAMU, FONGA & UNDP.• Forum of Women Journalists and AJPD organized a meeting

about the laws affecting CSOs.

Service Provision in Angola

• Angolan CSOs provide much-needed services in agriculture, water, early childhood, technical and vocational training.

• There were no new calls for proposals for the provision of basic services.

• CSOs are not permitted to obtain income from providing services or selling products.

• The government does not usually recognize the important role of CSOs in service provision.

• With the efforts by individual municipal authorities of Hoji-ya-Henda, APDCH was requested to provide capacity-building training for CACS members.

Infrastructure in Angola

• Digital and physical libraries hosted by ADRA, Development Workshop and a few other organizations continued to operate.

• PAANE, an EU-funded project that promotes the participation of non-state actors in governance and the fight against poverty, created a website with reports, articles, surveys, CSO mapping, and other information about and of interest to the sector.

• There are no local grantmaking organizations in Angola.• OPSA and CEIC organized regular meetings with CSOs to

discuss Angola’s social and economic situation.• Partnerships between CSOs and business in Angola are rare. • The media are wary of partnering with CSOs and mostly focus

on covering government events.

Public Image in Angola

• CSOs did not benefit much from much coverage in either national or local media.• Journalists of the State media generally are not well informed about

CSOs and usually appear at their activities only if they know a government official will be present.

• However, the media are gradually learning to appreciate the important role of CSOs, and privately owned media in particular have begun to invite them to participate in radio programs and grant interviews in newspapers.

• Government officials alleged that some CSO organizations, particularly those engaging in human rights, support terrorism and money laundering.

• Some organizations like DW disseminate information about their activities through newsletters and websites.

• Some organizations use codes of ethics that address such topics as social media use by staff.

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SISTEMA NACIONAL DE INFORMAÇÃO TERRITORIAL

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