Yemeni 7 out of 71 NGOs win financing for projects from World Bank

Ateng confirmed that the purpose of the fund is to support activities whose primary objective is civic engagement and to strengthen the voices of diverse groups in development policies and processes.

The World Bank office in Sana'a held a ceremony last Tuesday to mark the occasion of signing contracts with seven civil society organizations for the financing of their projects worth $46,000 for women’s education.

The Civil Society Fund is distributed to approximately 70 countries, with upwards of 400 grants being awarded annually. 

Mr. Benson Ateng, Country Manager of the World Bank office in Sana'a, opened the ceremony delivering a speech in which he congratulated the seven selected Civil Society organizations.

Ateng said, “This year's theme was on innovative ideas in Women's Education. The ideas ranged between educating girls on social, cultural, and health issues, training on leadership skills, negotiation and self confidence, poverty reduction oriented skills, developing language and communication techniques, and training on economic press writing. A total of 71 proposals were received, and 7 projects were selected through a vigorous and diligent process by a Bank selection committee. The total amount shared among the seven winning NGOs was $46,000.” 

Ateng emphasized that country ownership of the development agenda is a key principle of the World Bank's approach to reducing poverty and inequity for people in low and middle-income countries.  He continued saying “This principle underpins the Bank's emphasis on broad-based stakeholder participation in development, as well as its recognition of civil society organizations as key partners in development efforts.”

“The Social Development Civil Society Fund (CSF), formerly known as the Small Grants Program, created in 1983, is one of the few global programs of the World Bank that directly funds civil society organizations,” said Ateng.

Ateng confirmed that the purpose of the fund is to support activities whose primary objective is civic engagement, to strengthen the voices of diverse groups and promote the inclusion of a broad array of citizens' initiatives in development policies and processes.

“It is a concrete tool to aid in the advancement of the Bank’s social development agenda to empower poor and marginalized groups,” Ateng said. He continued saying the program also emphasizes activities that strengthen partnerships with the public and the private sectors, as well as with other civil society organizations.

Ateng talked about essential outcomes saying,  “The experiences of the CSF over the years indicate that by funding activities that are proposed directly by CSOs, the following outcomes can be expected: enhanced awareness among citizens of their rights and responsibilities leading to inclusion in the development process of otherwise marginalized voices; increased knowledge sharing and networking among civil society and development partners (social capital); and, for the Bank, improved understanding of civic engagement and empowerment and the most effective approaches to supporting civic engagement in unique contexts at the local level.”

Since 2004, the World Bank has supported 25 CSOs, for a total amount of $257,000 in areas of health, education, poverty reduction, economic empowerment, and capacity building.

On the other hand, Najah al-Mugahed, Director of SOUL Community Learning & Development Center, delivered speech on behalf of the representatives from NGOs present, which praised the World Bank’s efforts to support civil society activities as well as demanded more funds for NGOs projects due to their contributions to development.

In the conclusion of the ceremony, representatives from the seven selected NGOs received checks for their projects.

NGOs that won financing for their projects in 2009

$5,500	The Arab Foundation of Supporting Women and Juveniles
$6,000	Family Social Association
$6,500	Aswan Center For Studies and Research
$7,000	All Girls Society for Development
$7,000	SOUL Community Learning & Development Center
$7,000	Center for Studies and Economic Media
$7,000	Al-Shoroq Women Social Association
$46,000	TOTAL

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