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Covid-19: CBOs face 45% decline in funding
Some Community Based Organizations overly survive on donations from foreigners. Covid-19 disruptions have forced a reduction in funds availability. PHOTO/COURTESY/GETTY IMAGES
Community-based organisations (CBOs) in Uganda and East Africa have suffered 45 per cent decline in funding following the Covid-19 pandemic outbreak last year, an East Africa Philanthropy Network (EAPN) research has revealed.
Mr Moses Isooba, the executive director of the Uganda National NGO Forum told Sunday Monitor on Friday that the cause of the decline has been because Western countries that have been funding the organisations are instead looking at how their citizens can survive the pandemic.
“We are anticipating that this is going to continue for the next couple of years and we know many development organsations will close shop. Like any pandemic, Covid-19 has affected the social-economic businesses in the country and the whole region,” Mr Isooba said.
The report has indicated that more than 89 per cent of all CBOs in East Africa are facing 45 per cent decline in funding.
Whether it is the governments of the region mitigating the impacts of the pandemic on the citizens, to the private sector investing through Cooperate Social Responsibility (CSR) in supporting government interventions or the philanthropy sector rising to the occasion to ensure communities are supported against the ravaging effects of the pandemic, there is an overarching feeling that recovering from the pandemic requires all actors in the development spectrum to pull together; all hands must be on deck,” the report reads in part.
Speaking at the unveiling of the study findings, Mr Evans Okinyi, EAPN’s chief executive officer, said: “The full impact of the social and economic disruption the 2020 global pandemic caused on philanthropic foundations is not yet fully known. Studies such as these provide a glimpse into how charities are adapting and redirecting responses in order to remain relevant in this period.”
The report also revealed that funding for local Non-Governmental Organisations has also reduced by up to 38 per cent but the International Non-Governmental Organisations and governments reported a growth in the number of actors directing resources through them during the same period.
However, the same also noted that 46.6 per cent of the local actors demonstrated resilience by generating their own resources, while 42 per cent was received from their communities and good Samaritans.
Mr Okinyi explained the trend saying 41.9 per cent of those organisation that received additional funding geared towards Covid-19 responses did so because they exuded greater credibility in addressing the complexities and sensitivities around the disease.
He also said out of the income generated, priorities were given to health, livelihood and emergency support.
On the contrary, funding for education and food security took a nosedive, possibly owing to the closure of learning institutions.
Regarding major channels of giving, mobile money and bank transfers were the leading conduits at 61.5 per cent each, followed by online means at 35.9 per cent. Credit cards were the least mentioned at 7.7 per cent underscoring the drive towards local giving, the report revealed.
This report was conducted around the five East African countries over the last one year.
About EAPN
East Africa Philanthropy Network (EAPN) an organisation that brings together local charitable trusts and foundations in the region.
