In strengthening local organizations, Pact fosters community-led development and lasting impact

When the Colombian nonprofit organization Corprovid began, its founders knew what they wanted to do. Migrants were flooding into Colombia from Venezuela, and many of them – especially women and children – were deeply traumatized, having experienced violence, abuse, human trafficking, and more. 

They needed support, and this was Corprovid’s mission – to prevent human rights violations among migrants and to help them heal and integrate into Colombian society, to improve life for Venezuelans and Colombians alike. 

But how would the organization do it? How would it work effectively and make the most impact possible? 

Corprovid found the answer with Pact, which provided the organization with critical capacity development support in 2021 and 2022. Corprovid took part in an intensive, strategic strengthening process through which Pact empowered the organization to effectively design, fund, and implement its own initiatives.

Capacity development is a cornerstone of Pact’s work around the world. Whether a health program that is bolstering the local HIV response or an environment program working to build climate-smart livelihoods, Pact works through local organizations, strengthening their ability to make social impact long after Pact exits. 

“It was like getting a master’s degree,” said Ana Isabel Muñoz Marquez, Corprovid’s Director. “We had mentors of the highest quality.”

Among the many things that Corprovid’s staff learned was the importance of understanding the communities they hoped to serve and truly listening to their needs, to be innovative, and to be as concrete as possible in all plans.

“We wouldn’t exist as we do now without Pact,” Marquez said. “Pact is how we built ourselves. Pact made us strong.”

Pact has been a leader in capacity strengthening for decades, pioneering now-proven approaches that are used across global development today. In addition to bolstering individuals and nonprofit organizations, Pact strengthens networks, governments, and systems that contribute to social impact. 

“The reason this matters is that it means our impact lasts,” said Ebele Achor, Pact’s Vice President of Capacity Development and Innovation. “We don’t enter a community and build new systems and solutions from scratch. We work through existing systems, making them as effective as possible. When we leave, the results keep going, led by local organizations and people. This is how we foster community-owned development and, ultimately, end aid dependence.” 

Last year, more than 160 local organizations improved their performance with Pact’s support, and Pact empowered nearly 50 to receive funding directly from major institutional donors.

Pact starts by helping our local partners explore their strengths and weaknesses using proven assessment tools and approaches. Then we jointly create action plans to strengthen their performance in administration, HR, finance, program design and delivery, evaluation, and more. Pact provides training and close mentorship along the way. 

Organizations that Pact has supported have gone on to lead the management of complex environmental issues in Asia’s Mekong region; ensure free and fair elections across the Dominican Republic; usher in new standards for HIV prevention and care for children in South Africa; advance democratic reforms and women’s rights in Ukraine; steer protections for the environment and Indigenous rights in the Amazon; and much more. 

In Sur de Bolívar, Colombia, Pact worked to strengthen the capacity of the local community to end child labor in the area’s gold mines. Beyond improving the performance of single organizations, Pact supported local groups to come together. 

In the end, more than 20 grassroots civil society organizations formed a “solidarity network” that ultimately formalized into Corpilares, which now leads local efforts against child labor in mining. To overcome significant challenges, including armed conflict and the absence of state institutions, the group has developed effective strategies including establishing municipal committees, conducting research and issuing reports on child labor risks, and collaborating with academia and the private sector. Armed with knowledge and experience, Corpilares plans to share its approach with neighboring communities, expanding impact even further.

Across Africa, Pact’s capacity development work is making a lasting difference in the continent’s fight against HIV, particularly among women and children. In Eswatini, the local organization Young Heroes had fewer than a dozen staff when it registered as an NGO in 2014, with a mission to respond to the country’s HIV epidemic and improve the lives of young people. After partnering with Pact, the organization reached the critical milestone of implementing programming in Eswatini funded directly by the U.S. government.

“We need this kind of organizational growth in Eswatini so that we are truly taking the lead,” said Khulekani Magongo, Young Heroes founder and Executive Director.

“Capacity development support has been a lifesaver,” said the finance manager of Bantwana, another Pact partner in Eswatini .

In Rwanda, Pact has also strengthened several organizations responding to HIV among women and children, leaving an enduring legacy, said Prosper Sebagenzi, Director of Programs at Caritas, a faith-based organization that collaborated with Pact to bolster its local programming. 

“We have improved our ways of improving the lives of people affected and infected with HIV. We are proud that they are building their resilience,” Sebagenzi said.

“Even if we think we are at a certain level, we say we want to go up and up, until we reach the level where we can see God.”