• Civil Society and Governance
  • Civil Society and Governance Overview
  • Institutional Capacity Building
  • Civic Education
  • Citizen Participation
  • Advocacy
  • Democratic Governance
  • Grants Solicitation and Management Capacity
  • Women's and Minority Rights
  • Disenfranchised Groups
• Education
  • Education Overview
  • Basic Education
  • Higher Education
  • Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages
  • Education for Vulnerable Groups
• HIV/AIDS
  • HIV/AIDS Overview
  • HIV/AIDS Prevention
  • Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVC)
  • Grants Solicitation and Management Capacity
  • Institutional Capacity Building
• International Visitors Exchanges
  • International Professional, Academic, and Cultural Exchanges Overview
  • Undergraduate and Graduate Academic Exchanges
  • Professional Exchanges
  • Youth Exchanges
• Capacity Development and Training
  • Capacity Development and Training Overview
  • Participant Training
  • Institutional Capacity Building
  • Undergraduate and Graduate Academic Exchanges
  • Grant Solicitation and Management Capacity
  • Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages

Angola NGO Sector Strengthening Program

World Learning has been heavily involved in developing the internal capacity of Angolan NGOs for over ten years. A recent program, the NGO Sector Strengthening Project (NGOSSP), followed our unique and integrated approach of training, sub-grants, and technical assistance. Through these mechanisms we targeted a strong corps of existing NGOs within the HIV/AIDS and Education sectors, where constraints on resources, communication, and movement due to civil war and post-communist era fall out have kept the NGO sector relatively weak. Through NGOSSP, World Learning strengthened the programmatic and organizational capacity of two NGO coalitions in order for them to meet the immediate and longer-term needs of Angolan society.

While FONGA, the umbrella organization for indigenous Angolan NGO's, grew to a membership of approximately 600 registered NGOs, only about 200 of these organizations were operational. Of those 200, even fewer were functioning at full capacity of what they should be.  In spite of their good will, most NGO leaders lacked the means necessary to deliver services effectively or to carry out activities on their own.  Few individuals were able to develop organizations that remain viable over the long term.

To compensate for lack of institutional capacity, many Angolan NGOs worked in partnership with international organizations. However, within these partnerships Angolan NGOs were rarely involved in the essential planning, monitoring, or evaluation of activities. This left indigenous organizations heavily reliant on outside support, as within these international partnerships, Angolan actors were not given the opportunity develop necessary conceptual skills to independently process and apply acquired knowledge.

World Learning's activities under NGOSSP were carried out to support the cohesion and growth of a coalition of existing NGOs in the identified sectors.  Participating NGOs in each coalition were oriented to USAID and World Learning, the program goals of institutional capacity and program components (training, technical assistance and sub-grants). The NGOs were assisted in the development of coalition by-laws to determine how the organizations will work together to plan and coordinate program activities throughout the provinces of Angola targeting their respective sector. Of particular emphasis was the involvement of coalition members in all aspects of the program to assure that they are committed to growth and change, and that they develop the skills and knowledge necessary to function as independently effective organizations.

World Learning's combined capacities included democracy building, NGO capacity-strengthening, training and exchanges, international education, teacher education and training, sustainable development, and conflict resolution throughout the world.  Throughout more than ten years in Angola, World Learning continues to support civil society organizations to develop their organizational capacity to advocate for effective democratic processes and develop capacity for service delivery.