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Partnerships among CSOs and various stakeholders are vital to cooperation, collaboration and problem-solving as all these are built on trust, mutuality, accountability and solidarity.
In a bid to pursue equitable partnerships and solidarity, there is a need for CSOs to see themselves as partners rather than competitors. This translates to a commitment to goals, efforts, and problems of other development actors in order to facilitate effective collaborations and information sharing which allows for local, national and global development.
It is important to note, however, that openness among all stakeholders; government, private sector, civil society, and the citizens will minimize the rate of conflicts while ensuring equitable partnerships and solidarity.
The sixth Istanbul principle of development effectiveness states thus – “CSOs are effective as development actors when they commit to transparent relationships with CSOs and other development actors,freely and as equals, based on shared development goals and values, mutual respect, trust, organizational autonomy, long-term accompaniment, solidarity and global citizenship”.
CSOs are encouraged to collaborate with other organisations who share their goals in order to maximize resources to achieve bigger impact. Even though the challenges of partnerships cannot be overlooked, CSOs must develop strong systems of conflict resolution to address disputes and issues that may arise during collaborations.
