African NGO Summit to converge at a crucial time

NGOs across Africa and around the world will meet in Nairobi, Kenya, from
21-22 November 2023 to converge on sustainable peace and socioeconomic
development of the African continent.

For too long, the realization of peace and human development in Africa has been left in the
hands of politicians. Despite the enormous contribution of African and international civil
society, little has been achieved to realize sustainable peace and development across the
continent. On this note, the African NGO Summit will be a meeting point for NGOs from
across the continent and abroad to converge on the socioeconomic needs of the African
continent.
“We’ve been complacent for too long, leaving our fate in the hands of politicians,” says
Peter SaSellu, President and CEO of the African NGO Council and Convener of the African
NGO Summit. “It is time NGOs come together from all corners of the continent and the
world to deliberate on how to realize sustainable peace and development in the
continent.”
“No sustainable development could be realized if there is no sustainable peace. As of today,
Africa has the highest rate of armed conflicts and the highest number of refugees and
internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the world,” says Philip Kpakiwa, Country Director of
MasterPeace Guinea and Board Member of the African NGO Council.
As the premier meeting point for Africa’s civil society and key stakeholders, ideas will be
deliberated upon to put Africa’s civil society voice across the board in a constructive and
deliberate manner. With more coups and armed conflicts emerging in countries across the

continent by the day, the time to talk about peace and sustainable development is now. Conflict
resolution and peacebuilding efforts are essential for sustainable development, as they help
to reduce tensions, prevent violence, and create an enabling environment for development
initiatives to succeed. Climate change is an eminent issue altogether.
“African civil society has never had the opportunity to come together in a constructive
manner,” says Catherine George, the Executive Director of the African NGO Summit. “NGOs
play critical roles in the fight against poverty and extreme human suffering, impunity and
social injustice in local communities across the continent. Beginning as advocacy and
personal support organizations are often established by members of the affected community
and staffed largely by volunteers, NGOs have evolved into a diverse spectrum of multi-
service agencies that, to various degrees, provide case management and often direct
services such as housing, nutrition, and food items, civic education, legal aid, mental health
and HIV/AIDS counseling, adherence support, and oftentimes direct medical services.”
“In addition, many NGOs carry out advocacy to address the needs of communities living in
abject poverty and disproportionately affected by gross human rights violations; educating
communities on multiple issues such as the right to justice; and facilitating access to electoral
processes,” she says.
While there are many variations in the specific menu of services individual NGOs provide,
the core elements of programming (and sometimes direct) services, humanitarian relief,
human rights protection and promotion of civic education, and system advocacy and
lobbying is common among most NGOs.
“Despite the tremendous role NGOs play in peace-building processes and national and
regional development efforts, there is no centralized venue for the “gathering” of NGOs
operating across the continent. Though a wide range of organizations and initiatives have
been created out of community-based and national and sub-regional efforts – and while
various coalitions and alliances have formed to articulate and mobilize around shared
advocacy agendas, or to share best practices in sustainability, evaluation, and services, yet
no Africa-wide assembly or initiative has been formed to proactively assemble the
continent’s NGOs or assemble information on the evaluation or state of NGO management,
capacity development, administration, and strategic growth. Thus, while many NGOs have
been asking questions about their own regional assemble for decades, there has never been
a quantitative or qualitative way for them to ask these questions across the field,” Says
Peter SaSellu.
To fill this void, the African NGO Summit was established as an African regional forum that
will bring together NGO leaders, policymakers, donors, and key stakeholders to converge on
pressing national and regional issues of today.
It is expected that deliberations at the Summit in Nairobi will result in a more constructive
and deliberate effort to help promote sustainable peace and development across the
continent. It is therefore important for all NGOs across the continent to meet in Nairobi on
November 21-22 to bring this to a reality.