V4CP in 2019: influencing systems change by empowering civil society

In 2019, the Voice for Change Partnership (V4CP) programme continued to influence systems change, by empowering civil society organisations (CSOs) as advocates for policies and practices benefitting poor and marginalised communities. V4CP is implemented in partnership with the International Food and Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).

Across multiple countries (Burkina Faso, Ghana, Honduras, Indonesia, Kenya, Rwanda) and themes (food and nutrition security, energy, resilience and WASH), our approach is consistent: through capacity development and support to evidence generation, we support CSOs in their evidence-based advocacy efforts to influence policies and regulations, and to change behaviours across the countries we work in.

In this fourth year of the programme, V4CP:

• Strengthened the capacities of 51 CSOs;

• Supported learning and exchange by organising learning events in each country, plus exchange visits on energy, WASH, and food and nutrition security;

• Developed 125 evidence products supporting the CSOs’ advocacy work, with IFPRI as well as in collaboration with national research institutes and with the CSOs themselves;

• Targeted 119 policies; and

• Influenced the development and implementation of 55 policies to better the lives of poor and marginalised communities.

For a deep-dive into some examples of V4CP’s impact, read our recent Stories of Change from Ghana and Burkina Faso:

Shifting power: communities mobilise to demand mini-grids
Renewable energy | Ghana
In Ghana, several isolated, low-income and marginalised communities have literally been kept in the dark. With the support of the V4CP civil society organisation, Center for Energy, Environment and Sustainable Development (CEESD), communities took matters into their own hands to ask for mini-grids in Kwahu Afram Plains North and influence national public policy in Ghana.

Clean cookstoves for schools

Renewable energy | gender | Ghana
Two Ghanaian CSOs worked with champions within local and national government to develop a clean cooking strategy and improve children’s and caterer’s quality of life in schools. Thanks to this cooperation between community-based CSOs and champion female policy makers, government and civil society are improving lives by introducing clean cookstoves across Ghana.

How the National Nutrition Policy was translated into local action
Food and nutrition security | Ghana
In Ghana, a National Nutrition Policy was established to combat malnutrition. Yet, Nanumba North, a large municipality with high rates of malnutrition, had not implemented this policy at the local level. Grameen Ghana, a partner of the V4CP, decided to bridge the gap. Similarly, the Ghana Trade and Livelihood Coalition (GTLC), V4CP partner in Wa West District, facilitated the creation of a community-based nutrition committee to address this gap. Through evidence-based advocacy and the support of V4CP coaching, Grameen and GTLC brought a range of actors together for a coordinated and sustainable approach to tackling malnutrition in their respective areas.

“One for all, all for one”: a national coalition for pastoral resilience is born
Resilience | Burkina Faso
In Burkina Faso, pastoralism is under threat and the importance of the pastoral livestock sector to the economy is severely underrated. This story follows CSOs working on pastoral resilience who came together in an alliance and successfully increased collaboration among government entities, the private sector and themselves to advocate for initiatives in support of family farming and pastoralism.

Moving towards a centralised food and nutrition security framework
Food and nutrition security | Burkina Faso
In Burkina Faso, a group of CSOs embraced a multi-sectoral approach in order to bring the food and nutrition security debate to the fore. Inspired by their neighbouring country, Benin, these CSOs convinced Burkinabe stakeholders to join forces in the battle against malnutrition through an evidence-based, collaborative approach.