PHA-Exchange> New Publication: Community Based Organisations

[claudio at hcmc.netnam.vn]

from Patrick Burnett <patrick at fahamu.org.za> -----

Community Based Organisations: An Emerging Force within the
Third Sector
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Press release
8 April 2005
Fahamu
http://www.fahamu.org.za

What are Community Based Organisations (CBOs) and where did they
come from?
What is their role in the protection and promotion of human
rights?
What are their strengths and weaknesses?
And what are the information, technology and training needs of
these organisations?

Answers to these questions can be found in new research con-
ducted by Fahamu and the Centre for Adult Education. The study
was conducted in nine Southern African countries, documenting
for the first time, valuable information on the training and in-
formation needs and human rights priorities of CBOs surveyed.
The survey was funded by the Foundation for Human Rights (FHR)
and the Open Society Initiative of Southern Africa (OSISA).

Since about the mid-1990s, there has been growing interest in
the development community about CBOs. Although the definition of
these organisations is sometimes subject to ambiguity, the term
CBO is in practice widely used to refer to non-urban organisa-
tions of the 'poor'. As a result of their perceived closeness to
the communities in which they work, they are thus seen as a cru-
cial factor in development and human rights work.

"This research offers stakeholders a wealth of information to
assist CBOs in building human rights capacity both within indi-
vidual countries and across the region," said Anil Naidoo, Ex-
ecutive Director of Fahamu South Africa.

Conducted between October 2002 and August 2003, the CBO research
revealed common trends across the region. For example, most CBOs
started as a response to a specific need or problem and were
thus typically involved in legal and human rights work,
HIV/AIDS, health issues, and income-generation projects.

Not surprisingly therefore, the campaigning nature of these or-
ganisations emerged clearly in the research. Seventy percent of
the 89 organisations surveyed had been involved in at least one
campaign, with a significant number of organisations involved in
more than one.

But 94% of the organisations involved in campaigns reported ex-
periencing difficulties with these, and most reported more than
one difficulty. Lack of community participation, or resistance
by the community to the campaign was most often cited.

Education and training for both CBOs and the broader community
were given most often as the solutions to problems related to
campaigns. Financial assistance was also frequently cited.
Ninety-seven percent of the CBOs surveyed believed that they had
impacted positively within their context.

The tentative nature of the organisations was highlighted by the
research, with less than half of the organisations having paid
staff. Funding and a lack of skilled staff was a common problem.
The research highlighted that less than half of the organisa-
tions had paid staff.

A number of leadership and management problems within CBOs and
the existence of undemocratic practices in some organisations
was cause for concern, the research said.

CBOs from Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Namibia, South Africa, Swa-
ziland, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe were involved in the sur-
vey.

Fahamu, through the use of information and communications tech-
nologies, is committed to serving the needs of organisations and
social movements that aspire to progressive social change and
that promote and protect human rights. Fahamu initiated the re-
search in order to establish how best to support CBOs in the
protection and promotion of human rights and the report contains
recommendations on the information and training needs of these
organisations. The CBO report follows on from Fahamu's work in
developing pioneering distance learning materials for non-
governmental organisations and meeting the information needs of
these organisations through the development of Pambazuka News,
an e-newsletter for social justice in Africa.

A copy of the full report may be downloaded as Adobe PDF file
(136 pp. 2.7 MB!) at:
http://www.fahamu.org/downloads/CBOSurveyReport.pdf

Visit http://www.fahamu.org.za for more information or
mailto:info at fahamu.org.za

FAHAMU SOUTH AFRICA CONTACT DETAILS:
Anil Naidoo
Fahamu SA Trust
PO Box 70740 Overport, Durban
KwaZulu Natal 4067, South Africa
mailto:info at fahamu.org.za
http://www.fahamu.org.za


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