EPIC-Africa on the 3rd of May, announced the winners of the 1st edition of the African CSO Excellence Awards.
The Awards, launched in 2018 with the support of the Rockefeller Foundation, highlight the importance of organizational capacity to achieve program impact. They showcase civil society organizations who demonstrate excellence across eight key elements of organizational capacity: Strategic Ability and Adaptability, Leadership and Governance, Financial Health and Management, Human Resources and Staff Development, Operations, Communications, Partnerships and Alliances and Monitoring and Evaluation.
This year, the African CSO Excellence Awards received 950 registrations and 389 completed entries from 46 African countries. The winners were selected by expert evaluators from the philanthropy, technology and business sectors through a rigorous 2 stage questionnaire, in-depth document review, video interviews, reference checks, and a final jury evaluation to determine the winners.
For the expert evaluators, these organizations stood out because of their openness to being assessed and their commitment to learning and growth. They are not only modeling best practices in terms of organizational effectiveness, but also crucially, helping to start an important conversation in Africa about CSO transparency and accountability.
The Tanzanian CSO, HakiElimu, has been selected as the overall winner of the Awards. In addition to modeling excellence in all areas, HakiElimu stood out in their demonstration of the powerful relationship between organizational effectiveness and program impact.
John Kalage, Executive Director of HakiElimu said “We are delighted to have been selected as the overall winner for the EPIC Africa CSO Excellence Awards. HakiElimu will continue to strive for even higher standards of performance, accountability and legitimacy, as we share our expertise and learnings to help build on a vibrant, diverse and influential civil society in Tanzania and beyond. Only together can we continue to deliver tangible improvements to the lives of Tanzanians and Africans across the continent.”
The winners across each category and the overall winner will get an opportunity to fundraise on the international GlobalGiving platform, increase their media visibility and participate in networking opportunities through the African CSO Excellence Awards community.
The winners by category are:
Strategic Ability and Adaptability- HakiElimu (Tanzania)
Leadership and Governance- HakiElimu (Tanzania)
Financial Health and Management- Kenya Community Development Foundation (KCDF) (Kenya)
Human Resources and Staff Development- Ghana Center for Democratic Development (Ghana)
Communications- Kenya Community Development Foundation (KCDF) (Kenya)
Monitoring and Evaluation- Partage et Action en Synergie pour le Développement (PASYD) (Togo)
Operations- Hope WorldWide Kenya (Kenya)
Partnerships and Alliance- Centre d’Actions pour l’Environnement et le Développement Durable (ACED) (Benin)
Source: AfricaNews (APO)