KENYA: Porticus calls for more collaboration among Donor Agencies and Organizations
By Pamela Adinda, AMECEA Online News
Porticus Africa Regional Director, Christine Bodewes has said that collaboration has remained a major setback in the implementation of projects and is an issue that is cross cutting among the donor agencies as well as organizations, religious congregations as well as associations that work for a common goal. Bodewes said this while addressing Religious Sisters during the Hilton Foundation Convening in Nairobi on Tuesday October 18.
She wondered why it was difficult for both donors and organizations being funded to work together. “Individually we are able to do tremendous work, but collectively I have serious questions about it.
The lack of collaboration is very imminent and one wonders, what is going on, what is preventing us from working together?” She regretted that the tremendous amount of competition for resources by the various organizations, as well as the donor pressure could be responsible for the needs for collaborations.
She challenged the participants to think about how we can balance our work with the poor and the need for collaborations because I am convinced more and more that if we don’t collaborate we are not going to get very far.” She cited the example of Association of Religious Women in Uganda (ARWU) who put their minds and resources together and are now working to develop high quality formation program for the young women entering religious life.
“I find this an incredible example of collaboration. All of these women are busy, they are superiors of their congregations but they managed to get around a common need and a really important one,” she said.
She also challenged her fellow brothers and sisters from the donor world to think of how they can be better collaborators. Her concern was that it was not fair that they challenge their beneficiaries to collaborate when they as donors do not collaborate.
Bodewes believes that if Associations are strengthened they can be a very strong centralized structure for all women religious not just a particular congregation. “We are convinced that we can do more if we work with the associations and aggregate at a micro level for good work.”
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