Partnerships are the past, present and future of Pact

For 50 years, Pact has been working to tackle poverty and marginalization around the world, and partners are critical to getting to this mission. We pride ourselves on ensuring that there's a respectful, equal, mutually beneficial relationship with our partners. Whether it’s local organizations, INGOs, public or private institutions, partners are integral to our work and success and long-term gains for communities. We could not have achieved what we have in these past 50 years without all the partners that we work with.

For 50 years, Pact has been working to tackle poverty and marginalization around the world, and partners are critical to getting to this mission. We pride ourselves on ensuring that there's a respectful, equal, mutually beneficial relationship with our partners. Whether it’s local organizations, INGOs, public or private institutions, partners are integral to our work and success and long-term gains for communities. We could not have achieved what we have in these past 50 years without all the partners that we work with.

Local partners are the experts in their own context. They understand the situation and problems from a completely different perspective and dimension that we, as INGO partners, could ever understand. They bring a level of expertise and capacity to address local needs. The same applies to community groups as well as the communities that we work with.

Local partners have the grit and passion for the work - the cause that they are chasing. Our role is to help them achieve their goals and amplify their impact. As an INGO, we can bring together the resources, skills and knowledge from a global perspective to increase their influence.

Development problems are dynamic and continue to change. Working to develop resilient local partners who can carry on the charge, regardless of the technical area, regardless of the problem at hand, is critical and central to who we are and the work we do.

“In terms of how we determine who we work with, it's really largely about respect,” says Ebele Achor, Pact's global director of capacity development and innovation. “It's about trust, being open and respecting the relationship. We need to be able to discuss the issues in a transparent way. We want to be sure that these are partners who have integrity.”

We also share our learnings and best practices through coalitions and alliances that support positive impact and change in policy and practice at a global level. "As Pact staff, experts in our different technical fields, we are facilitators of processes, programs, interventions and skills," Achor continues. “Whatever work we're doing, we're ensuring that we are transferring skills.”

There are many players and the more we can come together to leverage each other's capacities and technical expertise, the more efficient we all become as a bigger system.

“The sum of the whole is greater than whatever each of those simple parts could ever achieve,” says Achor. Since we approach interventions from the systems perspective, it’s important to understand what each different component can contribute to the whole to magnify the impact.

Being connected to a broad range of stakeholders in the communities we serve, including effective, vetted local nonprofits, government agencies and traditional and community leaders, we bring partners together to create social impact.

For example, Pact’s Kizazi Kipya project, or New Generation, works to transform the lives of vulnerable Tanzanian children, particularly those affected by HIV. Since starting in 2016, the project has served more than 1.8 million orphans and vulnerable children (OVC), adolescents and young people affected by HIV/AIDS. Funded by USAID/PEPFAR, the five-year effort that culminates in 2021 helps OVC and their caregivers to access a range of HIV and other related services.

“Pact has been a tremendous partner to USAID and to PEPFAR. [Pact has done] tremendous work in our OVC programs to ensure quality well-being and positive outcomes for children and adolescents living with HIV," said Clint Cavanaugh, Director of the Office of HIV/AIDS at USAID Global Health.

To achieve the goal of ensuring children and youth thrive and survive through sustainable improvements in health and social wellbeing, Kizazi Kipya collaborates with civil society organizations and the Government of Tanzania at national, regional and district levels, local communities, and other stakeholders.

Through programs like Kizazi Kipya and others around the world, Pact reaches millions of people directly each year. In 2020, we improved health care and social service access for more than 2 million people, helped more than 1.4 million increase their income, and supported more than 1,200 local organizations. None of this would have been possible without our partners.