Governance

Strengthening Public Institutions: Global Communities promotes sound governance by supporting public institutions to be more accountable for their decisions, to operate with greater transparency and to respond more effectively to citizens’ requests. Applying participatory methodologies and measurement-based tools that lead government officials and managers through a systematic process, Global Communities supports institutions to strengthen core skills and systems, including leadership, strategic and operational planning, open budgeting and budget execution, financial accountability, citizen outreach and dissemination of public information.

Government-Citizen Consultation for Transparency and Participation: Working with government institutions to improve their ability to respond to citizens’ demands for information on public sector expenditures, public processes, and decision-making, Global Communities trains and supports government offices and agencies to make information more available and accessible. At the same time, Global Communities supports citizens and civil society to engage in inclusive, open debate to set and articulate their priorities and advocate with public authorities to address gaps in policy and deficiencies in service delivery.

Global Communities applies the principles of community-driven development and community engagement. Working with individuals, Global Communities focuses on those who are most often excluded from public life and the decisions that affect them, including women, youth, people with disabilities and underrepresented groups. We promote women’s public participation by preparing women to assume leadership roles in public life and by supporting men, women and public leaders to recognize and address social, economic and political barriers to inclusion and gender equity. Global Communities equips and supports youth to become actively involved in debating and influencing decisions and actions that affect their lives and futures.

Skills and Systems: Our capacity-strengthening initiatives work with public agencies, civil society organizations and citizen groups to address weaknesses and gaps in skills, knowledge, processes and practices at individual, organization and system levels by enhancing leadership, management, organizing and advocacy within and between structures and sectors. We train and support youth, women and men to lead and manage organizations and groups, to become active in public processes, to work as sources of change within their communities, and to effectively articulate their views and interests in open spaces.

Global Communities works with a range of organizations and structures, from fully established non-governmental organizations to informal associations, social and political networks, community committees and economic cooperatives. We help these organizations and groups strengthen procedures and processes in internal governance, communications and outreach, management and administration and evaluation and learning and to mobilize and manage resources to sustain services and initiatives.

Relationships and Resources: Global Communities helps organizations and groups of all sizes to amplify their voices, reinforce their efforts and increase their influence by establishing relationships and engaging in consultation and collaboration with government officials, private sector representatives and civil society groups. We train and advise organizations to reach out across sectoral boundaries to build collaborative relationships, identify common priorities and leverage complementary strengths.

We leverage our experience and tools in financial inclusion and economic development to support capacity building of civil society organizations. Our experiences in micro and small and medium business development and the establishment of microfinance institutions across the Middle East, Africa, and Europe contributes to our ability to capture emerging opportunities for civil society groups to expand their resource mobilization activities and engage with the private sector.