strengthening refugee-led organizations
Through the peer-to-peer Strengthening RLOs Partnership Program, RRLI coalition members support grantee partners to build systems, develop leadership skills, and overcome location- and context-specific barriers to funding and growing their impact. Our coalition partners support grantee partners in various areas, including but not limited to financial management, fundraising, networking, organizational management, communications, human resources, monitoring and evaluation, and service delivery according to organizational needs. The program also connects RLO grantee partners to useful networks such as relevant local civil society networks, donor networks and advocacy initiatives so they can better sustain their work and promote their agendas. We are also tapping into the in house expertise of the grantees and facilitate supporting one another through our Strengthening Community Track.
In 2022-23, all of our RLO grantee partners underwent financial assessments, resulting in financial management support sessions and improved financial policies and systems. Below are some examples of how RRLI grantee partners were supported by RRLI coalition members last year:
RRLI's Finance Manager carried out individualized financial assessments with each organization. After identifying accounting software as a need, organizations are supported through their RRLI grants to purchase accounting software and will be trained on using it. Upgrading financial systems enables these organizations to manage current funding and also apply for increased funding.
Several organizations were supported to develop the financial systems needed to effectively report on grants, which some have never received before. This ensures they can comply with future grants and seek additional funding.
Several organizations were supported in developing M&E tools, ensuring they are able to monitor and report effectively on impact which helps with compliance, effective service delivery, and in accessing further funding.
Several organisations were supported in developing their communications strategies, training on effective planning of community events and prgramming, as well as introductions to other potential funders.
To ensure sustainability, RRLI will be engaging with our current RLO grantee partners in a second year of the program to continuously strengthen the capacities of the organizations and to develop various internal and external systems. In the coming year, the program will focus on building skills related to accessing funding and connecting RLOs to funding networks to build sustainability, as well as working on growth planning to accommodate further funding and meet donor requirements.
OUR REFUGEE LED COMMUNITY OF PRACTICE
Our Refugee Led Community of Practice is a loosely run platform where refugee Leaders come together with the aim of contributing to the worldwide refugee leadership movement, through building pathways for a peer-to-peer engagement at country, regional, and global levels, sharing opportunities for access, funding, and joint advocacy. The Refugee Led Community of Practice intends to strengthen its members by building systems, developing leadership, and overcoming location- and context-specific barriers to funding and growing their impact.
The community will work to mitigate the complex and bureaucratic funding culture in the refugee response sector. To eliminate this barrier, the community aims to build relationships between funders and RLOs and also between RLO leaders. We believe that it is imperative for the voice of forcibly displaced people to be at the center of global refugee response, our Refugee Led Community of Practice therefore aims to promote refugee leadership in the refugee response sector by amplifying the voices of refugees.
