ABSTRACT
This chapter shifts the narrative from the Global North to look at how African civil society organizations (CSOs) understand and contribute to changing the international aid architecture through localization and the ‘shift the power’ movement. Drawing from 18 semi-structured interviews with representatives of local non-governmental organizations and philanthropic organizations in eight African countries, this chapter reports that localization and the idea of ‘shift the power’ are framed as building positive relationships among organizations (including multiple CSOs), communities, and international partners, including international non-governmental organizations. The chapter also shows that African CSOs have been playing an active role in driving localization and the ‘shift the power’ movement in the Global South. The chapter concludes by arguing that fostering long-term, substantive system change in the aid sector requires a deliberate shift from the dominance of Northern CSOs towards embracing sector-wide CSO response, transformation, and reorientation. In shifting the conversation, African CSOs need to strengthen local organizations’ capacities in, for example, domestic resource mobilization, networking, continuous organizational learning, accountability, and transparency, as well as amplifying their voices as key collaborators, innovators, and thought leaders.
