Shifts in Strategy

COCAMO will make five shifts in strategy in order to contribute meaningfully to the realisation of our
vision in 2010.

Focus on service providers
In the past we have supported the growth and development of three types of local NGOs. We have
helped not-for-profit; self-help organisations like parent-teacher associations. We have assisted
for-profit organisations like micro-enterprise co-operatives. And we have assisted local service
providers. Local service providers are organisations that provide a definite service to a specific
constituency. They may provide public health education for example. They differ from the other two
types of organisations in that the Board and staff of the local service provider do not benefit from the
service provided.

We have chosen to focus on service providers after a thorough assessment. Our research indicates that
there are already many organisations working with self-help organisations at present in northern
Mozambique. Many are also assisting the central government to de-centralise and to hand over greater
responsibility to other levels of government. As a result, northern Mozambique has been left in a
vacuum for support to local service providers.

The trend is ironic. In our experience, personnel of local service providers learn and pass on skills
more effectively than do self-help groups or government staff. Local service providers are a vital part
of an active, civil society. They have great potential for multiplier effect and impact at this particular
juncture.

More importantly, we have discovered that it is no longer appropriate for international NGOs to work
directly on the ground with beneficiaries and to carry out the functions of a local, civil society. Our role
as an international NGO is rather to contribute to the development of local civil society. Local NGOs
are the weak link in civil society at present in northern Mozambique. They need to be strengthened to
promote civil society and its important functions.

Following and supporting our partners
Our strategy in the past has focussed on attracting local NGOs to work with communities to address
basic needs in districts we have prioritised. The strategy now shifts to identifying local, service
providers that are intrinsically passionate about carrying out their mission within their area of
competency. We follow and support our partners to do what they want to do. So long as they remain
effective and responsive to the marginalised they serve, we will follow and support their efforts regardless
of what sector they choose to focus on. In practical terms, this means our geographic area of operation
will widen to include Nampula, Cabo Delgado and Niassa provinces. The expansion will take place
over the next nine years in a gradual, organic way starting from our base, Nampula.

Facilitating learning in organisational development
In our experience, the single, most important area that will strengthen local service providers is
organisational development. Local NGOs in northern Mozambique have little identity. Few know
whom they are and what they want to do. Theirs is a history of delivering the agenda of international
organisations or local government.

We want to nurture self-determining, local service providers who know who they are, what they want
to do and where they want to do it. We want to support them to be effective and responsive to the
marginalised they serve.

We will partner with an organisation that specialises in organisational development and host a learning
programme custom-designed for the leadership cadre of our partners, staff and key collaborators. The
programme will involve practical work in participant’s organisations and the sharing of experiential
learning at workshops. Organisations that learn from their experience and adapt thrive in a rapidly
changing environment.

Internationalisation of COCAMO
The diversity of COCAMO members and their representatives’ passion for COCAMO and the
people of Mozambique have made us one of the longest serving coalitions for change in Canada. A
national coalition made sense in 1988 and the strategy has served its purpose well over the years.

Today new opportunities and dangers lie in front of COCAMO. The positive side of globalisation has
provided the means for civil society organisations to connect with like-minded organisations around the
world. The negative side has sharpened the need for civil societies to build more global coalitions of
citizens. The role of civil society is to give globalisation a human face.

Our members are keen to link with other development organisations, churches, unions and other forms
of civil society outside of Canada. Our membership will expand with those who share our values and
vision to invest in the growth and development of civil society in northern Mozambique. We will reach
beyond Canada and develop a global network dedicated to engage the public on Mozambican and
African development and social justice issues. New members will increase our lobbying and
networking power. COCAMO will become COMO (Co-operation Mozambique).

Searching for a new form of partnership
Civil society in Mozambique is emerging after a long period of colonialism and civil war. In western
countries under far more conducive circumstances, civil society took several decades to develop. The
growth and development of civil society in northern Mozambique is therefore a long-term goal that
requires a predictable flow of funding. It means abandoning stop and start development projects and
requires programme planning beyond a three-year funding cycle.

Local NGOs in Mozambique currently live a hand-to-mouth existence. Donors hold the cash and call
the shots. Survival of local NGOs depends more on carrying out activities of an international donor or
local government. In essence, local NGOs are the chorus of those that control the funds, not
independent actors in their own right. As a result, they are not in a position to plan strategically to
achieve long term goals.

If the long-term goal of the growth and development of civil society in northern Mozambique is to be
achieved, donor and implementing organisations must learn to see each other as equals. Development
is education, learning to empower oneself. The “less equal” need to enlarge and empower themselves.
The “more equal” need to learn to hand over power as our partner’s capacity to exercise it effectively
and responsibly grows. COCAMO is eager to make this paradigm shift. We know where we want to
end up and we are looking for ways to get there.

In 2010 COCAMO will be a genuine, equal partnership of those within and those outside of
Mozambique. Those within are the implementers and those outside are the primary fundraisers and
lobbyists. All are working very actively toward a shared vision.

Half of the board is composed of Mozambicans from civil society in northern Mozambique. The other
half is comprised of individuals from international organisations that reside and work in northern
Mozambique. The Board oversees developments and has a small secretariat to manage on a
day-to-day basis. An endowment foundation that invests in civil society in northern Mozambique is
functioning smoothly. Both the Board and the endowment foundation share similar values, work
toward a common vision and follow a mutually agreed upon strategy and policy to guide the allocation
of funds. The endowment foundation and the Board operate as two halves of a heart. Both essential,
working actively to energise the greater whole.