By the People, for the People: Government Adoption for Local Organizations

Governments, for all their shortcomings, are still possibly the most effective vehicle for scaling impact nationwide. This is because they already have—at least in theory—the coverage that organizations can then build on to reach vast regions of a country. On the African continent, bureaucracy and other roadblocks like corruption often hamper the efforts of nongovernmental entities when they attempt to collaborate with national or local authorities. Despite these obstacles, there are Segal Family Foundation grantee partners who have managed to make great headway in aligning their work with that of the governments where they operate.

In recent years, the importance of collaboration between nonprofits and government entities has become increasingly evident. Governments provide nation-wide infrastructure, human resources, and policy frameworks that can guarantee depth and breadth of intervention. In Zambia, Lonnie Hackett and Ignicios Bulongo of Healthy Learners began with that end in mind. The co-founders had a vision to bring healthcare to schools, based on the fact that Zambia has ten times as many schools than health centers. “The government recognizes that the education system provides an unparalleled platform for reaching children and investing in health,” affirms Zambian Minister of Education Douglas Syakalima. Healthy Learners’ success is primarily attributed to their strategic intention to implement Zambia’s first-ever National School Health and Nutrition Policy (developed in 2006) and the first-ever School Health and Nutrition guidelines which were developed in 2008. In collaboration with the Zambian government, they currently have a reach of over 480 schools, 850,000 students, and 4,000 health workers—a $7 government infrastructure and labor force match for every $1.50 Healthy Learners invests. In the journey from ideation to government adoption, Healthy Learners’ vice president Sarah Bush urges organizations to be mindful that governments do have other priorities. It is therefore important to present projects in a manner that aligns with existing efforts and to demonstrate how they fit into the bigger national picture. For Healthy Learners, this meant leaning into the Zambian government’s ‘education for all’ mandate and that of bringing healthcare closer to communities. Power struggles can potentially arise between organizations and government authorities post-adoption. Bush emphasizes being okay with remaining in the background (especially for organizations that have foreign leadership) and taking a supportive approach that places program ownership into the government’s hands—with the aim of minimizing dependency and fostering stake.

Doris Mollel, founder of the Doris Mollel Foundation (DMF), found that a softer voice is sometimes heard louder in the halls of power. She has faced numerous hurdles in her work advocating for premature babies and their mothers: the typical roadblocks in dealing with government figures, politics and bureaucracy, as well as patronizing attitudes towards her as a young woman. Speaking about DMF’s hand in bringing about extended maternity leave for mothers of pre-term babies in Tanzania, Mollel says she did not originally set out to change national policy. After hearing about the added difficulties preemie mothers faced atop typical postpartum challenges, her approach was “how can we solve this together?” Getting that done was another matter entirely. Working with various ministries and officials required a level of patience and tenacity that Mollel says is vital for leaders who are interested in walking the government adoption and scaling path. “So many meetings, so many summonses, so many last-minute reschedules,” Mollel describes. “It really requires one to have a calm heart and be able to nimbly change strategy as the wind blows.” 

Similar to Mollel, Christelle Kwizera also initially faced challenges of perception when starting the initial borehole projects that later became Water Access Rwanda. A university student at the time, Kwizera had made most of the plans while abroad in the United States. Upon arriving in Rwanda to sign memoranda of understanding with the requisite ministries, government officials were shocked to find her at the helm of such work. Being told she was too young to enter into government agreements, Kwizera ended up needing to engage proxies in order to be taken seriously. It’s a hurdle she continues to face, albeit to a lesser degree as the organization has grown to a level where it speaks for itself. Over the years, Water Access Rwanda’s relationship with the country’s government has evolved in an overall positive trend: in 2020, Water Access Rwanda received their first funding from the government for COVID relief, thereafter securing their first project grant for water harvesting. Recently, they received approximately $100,000 for another project—an indicator of the government’s trust and willingness to collaborate. Kwizera observes that government regulations and processes aren’t optimized to the realities of organizations on the ground: service delivery is often delayed by bureaucracy as numerous permits and licenses must be obtained from various agencies. The organization is currently supporting the government to create frameworks with clear guidelines for how the private sector can be involved in water access work. 

There are vast opportunities for the social sector (NGOs and social enterprises) to work with and scale through government partnerships. Carolyn Kandusi, one of Segal Family Foundation’s senior program officers in Tanzania, emphasizes that social sector actors must accept that building relationships with the government is a marathon rather than a sprint. Continuous engagement is essential to help the government recognize and appreciate the positive impact of NGOs’ models. The most successful organizations have dedicated time and effort to working hand-in-hand with specific government ministries and officials to assess the effectiveness of their interventions and foster mutual understanding and support. Kandusi, who recently completed the Policy Leader Fellowship at the European University Institute School of Transnational Governance, points out that philanthropy can be catalytic in providing the necessary funding to sustain enduring partnerships between governments and NGOs. During a conversation with a Tanzanian government official, it became clear that many organizations submit requests for memoranda of understanding, yet it’s only practical to collaborate with those that have robust systems, thorough evaluations, and actively engage the government from the outset. “Learning from the success of the public-private partnership model, which has been institutionalized and enacted in many African countries, social sector organizations and donors have an opportunity to collaborate with governments to create a clear framework for their engagement,” Kandusi adds. “This will cover processes such as due diligence, financing, piloting, and scaling to help ensure efficiency and impact.”