Accelerating Capacities in Civil Society and Non-Profits

As PRIA approached its 40^th Anniversary in February 2022, we co-convened conversations on several thematic areas in which PRIA has worked –

• Empowering civil society
• Decentralised community governance
• Making the gender leap
• Sustainable urban future
• Citizen participation
• Building a knowledge democracy

These conversations sought answers to several urgent questions – towards building a robust and sustainable tomorrow, for our country and globally, and what PRIA needs to do to become future-ready, and continue to contribute effectively in co-creating the future.
 
A Digital Symposium on Accelerating Capacities in Civil Society and Non-Profits on 31 August 2021, was organised in collaboration with INTRAC, UK, and Dasra, India.
 
Capacity development is central to sustainable social, economic, and environmental development. Capacity in its simplest sense covers the totality of an organisation’s efforts to fulfil its mission. As there are diverse purposes, missions, and rationales for starting up and continuation of different civil society and non-profit organisations, universal prescriptions of desirable capacity may not be relevant. Nevertheless, three kinds of capacities assume significance in civil society and non-profits – Intellectual capacity, Institutional and relational capacity and Resource capacity.
 
As the civil society and non-profits are being called upon to contribute to resilient and sustainable development, particularly in the aftermath of a pandemic, it is critical that the resilience and sustainability of these organisations is not overlooked, particularly for the new and emergent civil society and non-profits. However, sadly, affordable institutional development support to civil society is increasingly becoming unavailable.
 
The Conversation delved into the following key questions:

• What new capacities are required in civil society and non-profits to address emerging local and global challenges in post-pandemic recovery?
• What efforts must civil society and non-profits, philanthropic initiatives, and other supporters make to build these capacities?

Click here for the webinar recording