Cvil Society in Kono District, Serra Leone
Civil society in Kono District, Sierra Leone – Sahr O Fasuluku Preprint Civil society in Kono District, Sierra Leone: Capacity, constraints, and potential to contribute to local Sustainable Development Goals Sahr Otto Fasuluku1 Abstract: This study examines the organisational capacity and constraints of civil society organisations (CSOs) in Kono District, Sierra Leone and their potential to deliver the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) there. Capacity was found to be very low, with major constraints both internal and external preventing capacity growth and effectiveness. These included poor internal systems and member cooperation, external financial and in-kind dependency, power and politics within and without CSOs, communities’ fear of speaking to power and therefore their abdication of roles as checks and balances to hold leaders to account. Several options are available to CSOs, councils and chiefs to address Kono’s effectiveness at delivering the SDGs for Kono. Keywords: CSO, Civil Society, organisational capacity, advocacy, monitoring, service delivery, empowerment, elite power, political co-option, bifurcation, Kono, Sierra Leone, Sustainable Development Goals, rural, localisation, trust, decentralisation, neopatrimonialism, bottom-up, indirect-rule, praxis Acknowledgements: My thanks to Joseph T Gandi and his team in Sierra Leone for translations into Kono and Krio, Berns K Lebbie of NMJD for his advice, guidance, and map of Kono, all the research team in Kono district for their difficult multiple treks to the outer regions of Kono, in particular Tamba Kanawa, Tamba Nelson Jimissa, Sahr E Mbayo and to those lecturers, students and graduates in Fourah Bay College who answered the call. The original version of this dissertation was submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the MSc in Sustainable Development of the University of London School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), Centre for Development, Environment and Policy (CeDEP) on 17th September 2018.
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