The Director’s Meeting, run by the Dutch organization Wilde Ganze, took place between 05 and 09 February, in Zanzibar, Tanzania (East Africa). Forty-four people took part from 15 member countries of the Change the Game Academy. These are: Kenya Community Development Foundation (KCDF/Kenya), Smile Foundation (India), The Institute for Monitoring and Evaluation (TIME /Sri Lanka), Association Burkinabe de Fundraising (Burkina Faso), Uganda National NGO Forum (Uganda), Corporación PODION (Colombia), CASA Gambia (Community Action Support Association/Gambia), Satunama Foundation (Indonesia), Cordaid (Nepal), West Africa Civil Society Institute (Ghana), Development Expertise Centre (Ethiopia), West Africa Civil Society Institute (WACSI/Cameroon), Advocacy and Policy Institute (Cambodia), Rhiza Babuyile (South Africa), CESE (Brazil) and the Foundation for Civil Society (FCS/Tanzania), which hosted the meeting.
Over 4 days, a number of presentations were made about successful experiences at partner organizations and bilateral meetings were held about programme governance, based on input from the last meeting held in India in 2022. That meeting proposed the establishment of a Change the Game Alliance, with defined roles for a Management Committee, Secretary, themed subcommittees and practice communities, aimed at broadening the participation of programme members to run activities, valuing regional differences and promoting greater exchange of both successful experiences and the challenges each organization faces in their country. CESE will join the Marketing and Branding Subcommittee and will contribute to the practice communities.
Executive Director Sonia Gomes Mota and Communications Coordinator Patricia Gordano represented CESE at the meeting. Sonia presented the organization’s progress within the programme and highlighted the Local Fundraising and Mobilizing Support training run in partnership with Misereor, the Ford Foundation and Terre Des Hommes Suisse.
On the last day, the participants visited 2 groups supported by the host Foundation for Civil Society (FCS) of Tanzania: JUVIEKA (Youth and Education Association) an organization that works with young people and women from communities in Zanzibar, based on mobilizing support and training in human rights, gender, management and transparency in public funds. After two fundraising courses, the organization was able to undertake a fundraising activity in these communities in order to run more workshops for young people and women.
ZAFELA (Zanzibar Female Lawyers Association), an organization composed of 70 female lawyers who run mobilizing support activities to denounce rights violations suffered by children, young people and women in order to propose reforms and public policies for the country. As well as activities, the organization also runs Mobilizing Support courses and workshops with young people from communities in Zanzibar.
