Civil Society E-Directory
Summary
The West Africa Civil Society E-Directory, is an online platform created by the West Africa Civil Society Institute (WACSI) to map out all legally registered and operational civil society organisations (CSOs), community-based organisations (CBOs), non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and faith based organisations (FBOs) in the West African region. The website has been developed to respond to the visibility and collaboration challenges expressed by CSOs and other development partners as well as bridge the gaps identified in the civil society interventions in West Africa.
The E-Directory is a bilingual platform that serves as a one stop shop for information sharing, data gathering, networking and partnership building on all the operational workings of the ECOWAS member states as well as Mauritania, Chad and Cameroon.
It also provides interesting features for CSOs to identify and collaborate with like-minded organisations across the region. This serves to promote integration and partnerships among organisations operating in West Africa.
The main benefits of the E-directory CSOs and development actors are to;
- Promote Visibility: for organisations and development partners to share information on their work, be identified in their thematic areas and promote their activities for a greater awareness by stakeholders on their existence and operations;
- Data Gathering: to address the gap in reliable data and provide useful and credible information on CSOs and their activities in West Africa, to promote an enabling environment for their effective development and to protect the space for their effective engagement;
- Knowledge Sharing: to provide a shared space for organisations registered on the platform to easily exchange information on issues affecting and related to civil society, relevant documentation and publication to enhance the effectiveness of their work;
- Networking and Partnership Building: through the identification of CSOs with specific thematic strengths, their location as well as contact details for enhanced networking amongst civil society organisations in the region.
Involvement/Role of WACSI
WACSI plays a key role in convening development actors working to promote development and civil society’s sustainability in West Africa. The Institute created the website to serve as a virtual market place and networking platform for CSOs and other development actors working in West Africa.
This website will facilitate access to credible information on existing legally registered and operational CSOs in the region. This website serves as a collaborative platform for national, regional and global development actors that work to promote sustainable development in West Africa.
Key Achievements
The directory has been able to host over 700 organisations operating in West Africa as at October 2018 since its development. The online platform has also provided visibility and engaged CSOs across the region with like-minded individuals and development partners to effectively connect and share a greater impact in their respective thematic areas.