Decolonizing Aid – Women’s rights and women-led organizations

Moky Makura once said, "If you want real impact, giving shouldn't start with what is best for the giver, but it so frequently does." Unfortunately, this sentiment is all too common in the world of philanthropy, particularly regarding aid for Africa.

At CivSource Africa, our mission is to refine the practice of philanthropy and civil society's impact in Africa. In order to do so, we must first reflect on how philanthropy has been done in the past. We've engaged in this reflection process with other organizations and actors in civil society in the Ugandan context. Through conversations on decolonizing aid, reimagining donor-partner relations, and anti-racism conversations, we've explored better ways of being and doing philanthropy.

To further our efforts towards better ways of being and doing development, we organized an in-person conversation on decolonizing aid focused on donor-partner relations in women's rights and women-led organizations. This event brought together 23 organizations thematically aligned to women's rights work in Kampala, and took place on 22nd February 2023 from 9: 00 Am to 3:00 PM. The keynote address was given by Dr. Busingye Kabumba, and the sessions were facilitated by Twasiima Bigirwa.

The discussion centred on women's rights work, exploring possibilities for mutual aid, alternatives to the NGO model, and the invisibilization of grassroots organizations advancing women's rights on the ground. The panellists presented the huddles to decolonial radical change and knowledge ownership as a limitation to decolonizing. The participants shared the reality of pushback in the face of shrinking civic space and funding cuts and were prompted to interrogate their own perpetuation of colonialism in the way they treat their staff or go about their work.

At CivSource Africa, we are committed to synthesizing these conversations on decolonizing aid and will be publishing a report in this regard. We ultimately seek to create tools to help the social justice field (re)humanize and decolonize: to refine the practice of philanthropy and the footprint of civil society in Africa.