Amatae is a civil society strengthening programme funded by FCDO and SIDA, with a contract value of EURO 2.8M that distributes operational or ‘core’ grants to domestic civil society organisations (CSOs).
The project:
- Enables CSOs to develop a more secure and comprehensive structure from which to pursue sustainable advocacy work. The growth in funds for CSO projects has meant that civil society work is increasingly sitting in discrete parcels of resource and activity, allowing little opportunity to concentrate on comprehensive organisational development and advocacy.
- Presents opportunities, through Amatae’s capacity building programme, for participating CSOs to develop a ‘community of practice’ in areas such as financial management and to work together in mutual, supportive organisational development,
Amatae provides medium-sized grants to support organisations working on social and political issues across the country. Resource is directed towards a combination of organisational development and operational costs, giving the organisation a secure platform from which to conduct advocacy and the resource to design its own internal development programme.
Amatae’s support for sharing of good practice between mature and less experienced CSOs, and its resourcing of core activity, is crucial if the country’s civil society is to meet the challenges and make the most of the opportunities ahead.
Amatae was launched in January 2013 and is due to run until the end of 2016.