A project advocating the need for a game-change in local non-governmental organisations to diversify funding sources for generational social progress has been launched in Tamale.

The project would create community foundations in the country to pool resources and share ideas to bring about the needed change and development in the communities.

The year-long pilot project is being implemented by Pure Trust Social Investors Foundation (PTSIF) in partnership with Ghana Philanthropy Forum, both non-governmental organisations, with funding from Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, based in the United States.

As part of the project, a number of community foundations will be created in the northern, middle and southern sectors of the country to help champion community development through pooling of local resources and ideas.

Dr Muntari Mahama, Board Chairman of PTSIF, who launched the project, said it would increase awareness among the public, duty bearers, and national and community leaders on the concept of Community Foundation and generate common interests for development.

He said in the era of Ghana beyond Aid agenda, “The project will contribute in building capacities of community members to realise, mobilise and utilise their own capabilities to build a prosperous society, leaving no one behind.”

Dr Mahama said dwindling foreign aid and new emphasis on trade were affecting the operations and survival of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) as external donor funding had reduced.

The need for a game-change in local NGO funding was to diversify funding sources to drive generational social progress hence the need to create and deepen citizens’ participation in development financing and philanthropic work.

Madam Mamo Mohapi, Programme Officer at Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, Africa Regional Office, South Africa, who spoke via zoom during the launch of the project, was hopeful that it would raise some interest at the local level on community foundation.
She said it would generate interest in the country on giving to local entities, which “we believe have the power of building trust and ownership in communities and really giving communities the power to deal with their own local issues.”

Mr Habib Haruna, the Chief Executive Officer of PTSIF and Community Foundation Development in Ghana project officer, expressed the need for all to embrace the project, saying; “It will bring about the development that we all yearn for.”

“It is an opportunity to connect and show our communities how useful we are and how we can be profitable to our communities.”

Dr Ben Ocra, Director of Ghana Philanthropy Forum, said the project was important considering the era in which the world was, especially for the post-COVID-19 recovery process.

He said the Ghana Philanthropy Forum, over the years, had preached the need for developing indigenous philanthropists and local giving in the country, adding: “So, we are happy that our efforts in this regard have yielded the intended results.”

Madam Lamnatu Adam, Executive Director of Songtaba, a local NGO, lauded the project and said: “If we are able to get communities to do something for themselves, it will be good for all of us.”