The 2014 CSO Sustainability Index For Sub-Saharan Africa Developed by: United States Agency for International Development Bureau for Democracy, Conflict, and Humanitarian Assistance Center of Excellence on Democracy, Human Rights, and Governance Bureau for Africa Office of Sustainable Development CONTENTS INTRODUCTION III ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS IV EXECUTIVE SUMMARY VI 2014 CSO SUSTAINABILITY INDEX XVII ANGOLA 1 BOTSWANA 8 BURUNDI 16 DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO 24 ETHIOPIA 33 GABON 41 THE GAMBIA 49 GHANA 57 GUINEA 66 KENYA 74 LIBERIA 82 MALAWI 90 MALI 98 MOZAMBIQUE 107 THE 2014 CSO SUSTAINABILITY INDEX FOR SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA i NIGERIA 115 RWANDA 123 SENEGAL 132 SIERRA LEONE 139 SOUTH AFRICA 146 SOUTH SUDAN 154 SUDAN 162 TANZANIA 170 ZAMBIA 186 ZIMBABWE 194 ANNEX A: CSO SUSTAINABILITY INDEX METHODOLOGY 202 ANNEX B: STATISTICAL DATA FOR SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA 214 ii THE 2014 CSO SUSTAINABILITY INDEX FOR SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA INTRODUCTION USAID is pleased to present the sixth edition of the CSO Sustainability Index (CSOSI) for Sub-Saharan Africa. This year’s Index covers civil society organizations (CSOs) in twenty-five countries across Sub- Saharan Africa. It addresses both advances and setbacks in seven key components or “dimensions” of the sustainability of the civil society sector: legal environment, organizational capacity, financial viability, advocacy, service provision, infrastructure, and public image. The Index’s methodology relies on the knowledge of CSO practitioners and researchers, who in each country form an expert panel to assess and rate these dimensions of CSO sustainability during the year. The panel agrees on a score for each dimension, which can range from 1 (most developed) to 7 (most challenged). All of the scores are then averaged to produce an overall sustainability score for the CSO sector of a given country. An editorial committee composed of technical and regional experts reviews each panel’s scores and corresponding narrative reports, with the aim of maintaining consistent approaches and standards so as to allow cross-country comparisons. The Index groups all scores into three overarching categories— Sustainability Enhanced (scores from 1 to 3), Sustainability Evolving (3.1-5), and Sustainability Impeded (5.1- 7). Further details about the methodology used to calculate scores and produce corresponding narrative reports are provided in Annex A. The Index is a useful source of information for local CSOs, governments, donors, academics, and others who want to better understand and monitor key aspects of sustainability in the CSO sector. The CSO Sustainability Index for Sub-Saharan Africa complements similar publications covering other regions, which include reports on twenty-nine countries in Central and Eastern Europe and Eurasia, seven countries in the Middle East and North Africa, seven countries in Asia, as well as Afghanistan and Pakistan.1 These various editions of the CSO Sustainability Index bring to seventy the total number of countries surveyed. A publication of this type would not be possible without the contributions of many individuals and organizations. We are grateful to the Aga Khan Foundation, which supported the assessments of Kenya and Mali, and the implementing partners, who played the critical role of facilitating the expert panel meetings and writing the country reports. We would also like to thank the many CSO representatives and experts, USAID partners, and international donors who participated in the expert panels in each country. Their knowledge, perceptions, ideas, observations, and contributions are the foundation upon which this index is based. 1 The CSO Sustainability Index for Afghanistan and CSO Sustainability Index for Pakistan are made possible by the support of the Aga Khan Foundation. THE 2014 CSO SUSTAINABILITY INDEX FOR SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Angola Allan Cain, Jeanette Dijkstra and João Domingos Domingos, The Development Workshop Botswana Bagaisi Mabilo, Botswana Council of Non-Governmental Organizations (BOCONGO) Burundi Melchior Ndayimirije and Déogratias Nzunogera, Observatoire de l’Action Gouvernementale (OAG) DRC Justin Kangwenyenye Kazige and Danny Boss Singoma, Centre National d’Appui au Développement et à la Participation Populaire (CENADEP) Ethiopia Debebe Hailegebriel, Independent Legal Consultant Gabon Calisha Navratilova, Protet Judicaël Essono Ondo and Marc Ona Essangui, NGO Brainforest The Gambia Madi Jobarteh, The Association of Non-Governmental Organizations (TANGO) Ghana Douglas Quartey and Joseph Yeboah, Institute for Democratic Governance (IDEG) Guinea Aboubacar Sylla, Centre National d’Appui et de Formation pour le Développement des Ressources Humaines (CENAFOD) Kenya Henry Kuria and Beverline Ongaro, Act! Liberia G. Pewu Subah, Guzeh Subah and James Thompson, Subah-Belleh Associates Malawi Christopher Rub Chisoni, Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace (CCJP) Mali Massaman Sinaba, Boureima Allaye Toure and David Miankenda Watuluzu, Oeuvre Malienne d’Aide à L’Enfance du Sahel (OMAES) Mozambique Phillip Machon and Joao Pereira, Civil Society Support Mechanism (MASC) Nigeria Ahmed Mohammed Kwaru, Umaru Ibrahim Yakubu and Mohammed Bello, Centre for Research and Documentation (CRD) Rwanda Epimack Kwokwo and Cyriaque Ndayisenga, La Ligue des Droits de la Personne dans la Région des Grands Lacs (LDLG) Senegal Amacodou Diouf and Ibrahima Kane, Conseil des ONG d’Appui au Développement (CONGAD) Sierra Leone Valnora Edwin, Campaign for Good Governance (CGG) South Africa Phiroshaw Camay, Co-operative for Research and Education (CORE) South Sudan Henry Taban Solomon, Rural Action Against Hunger (RAAH) Sudan Dr. Hassan Abdel Ati, National Civic Forum Tanzania Bernard Kindoli, Nasim Losai and Neema Yobu, The Foundation for Civil Society Uganda Festus Kahiigwa, James Male, Eunice Musime and Esther Nakayima, Uganda National NGO Forum (UNNGOF) Zambia Makani Mzyece, Civil Society for Poverty Reduction (CSPR) Zimbabwe McDonald Lewanika and Beloved Chiweshe, Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition iv THE 2014 CSO SUSTAINABILITY INDEX FOR SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA Project Managers Management Systems International, Inc. Allison Poyac-Clarkin Vanessa Coulomb Alex Nejadian The International Center for Not-for-Profit Law Catherine Shea Jennifer Stuart Marilyn Wyatt Editorial Committee USAID: Mariam Afrasiabi, Kellie Burk, Ross Herbert, David Jacobstein, Jeremy Meadows, Patrick McGovern Aga Khan Foundation: Brian Haupt MSI: Allison Poyac-Clarkin ICNL: Stephan Klingelhofer, Catherine Shea Regional Expert: Joseph Sany THE 2014 CSO SUSTAINABILITY INDEX FOR SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA v EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The 2014 CSO Sustainability Index for Sub-Saharan Africa offers a snapshot of seven key dimensions of the CSO sectors in twenty-five countries of Sub-Saharan Africa. In many ways, the country reports reflect larger developments in the countries surveyed and across a continent experiencing great political and economic change. As CSOs pushed for citizens’ rights and provided essential services to needy populations in 2014, they responded to shifting political, economic, and social contexts that tested the strength of the CSO sector and suggested avenues for its future development. Among the contextual issues affecting CSO performance in Sub-Saharan Africa in 2014, the following common themes stand out. x Armed conflict. Several countries in Sub-Saharan Africa continued to be wracked by violence, terrorism, or civil war in 2014. For example, in Sudan, hundreds of thousands of people were displaced as hopes of a breakthrough in political negotiations between the government and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N) were dashed and armed conflict resumed in Darfur, Blue Nile, and South Kordofan. A dire humanitarian crisis affecting more than five million people emerged in South Sudan in the wake of an extended clash between rival political and ethnic factions that broke out in December 2013. In Nigeria, Boko Haram militants abducted more than 270 schoolgirls in Chibok, while in Kenya, more than 130 people were killed in terrorist attacks, and clashes between separatists and government troops resumed in the northern regions of Mali. These and other conflicts killed or maimed thousands of people and caused extreme suffering for millions more. Yet precisely as the need for their services was most acute, CSOs sometimes found it difficult to reach affected populations because of the violence, government restrictions on movement and other freedoms, and direct threats to CSO workers. x Human rights. In 2014 the space for the exercise of civic freedoms contracted in a number of countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. In Uganda, a retrogressive Anti-Homosexuality Bill was signed into law and later struck down by the Constitutional Court on the grounds that it was passed illegally without a quorum. Ethiopian journalists and opposition leaders were arrested on allegations of involvement with terrorist groups and a large number of CSOs were shut down. The National Legislative Assembly of South Sudan passed a new security bill that gives the National Security Services sweeping powers to arrest and detain suspects without warrants. In The Gambia, there were instances of arbitrary arrest, detention, and torture of individuals with politically divergent views while amendments to the Criminal Code put heavy sentences on “aggravated homosexuality.” In Rwanda, politically motivated arrests and disappearances were reported. These and similar developments in other countries discouraged the free expression