Political and financial instability, including USAID’s dismantling and cuts in Official Development Assistance, have disrupted funding flows, undermining civil society organisations’ ability to plan strategically, deliver effectively, and innovate. With aid increasingly politicised and tied to geopolitical interests, international CSOs face heightened accountability demands to ensure transparency, sustainability, and relevance in crisis contexts. The International Civil Society Centre promotes localisation and power shifts by fostering alternative financing approaches, such as impact investing, blended finance, and outcome-based funding, that require clear value propositions, senior leadership commitment, and robust monitoring to safeguard results. These models call for diversified revenue streams, locally led decision-making, and inclusive governance to prevent misuse of localisation narratives for funding cuts. Read more here.
Source: ICS Centre
