Keyword: idasa

Funding Civil Society in South Africa: Where Does the Money Go?

Picture: P V Pleasant Alexander O'Riordan - Last week South African NGO, The Institute for Democracy in Africa (Idasa) announced its closure for lack of funds. Many have asked how this could happen when donor funding to South Africa is at a ten year high? Participating donors report their financial disbursements to the OECD as part of a coordination and anti-corruption mechanism. Using the OECD QWIDS database, one can see that in 2011, donors reported $1.2 billion in disbursements to South Africa with $90 million (around R820...

Idasa's Demise, Broken Donor Promises and Africa's Naive Civil Society

Picture: Idasa Alexander O'Riordan - In a March 26 press statement, the Executive Director of The Institute for Democracy in Africa (Idasa), Paul Graham, announced that the venerable South African democratisation and rights organisation would be closing. Idasa has been in existence for over twenty years, played an important role at the end of apartheid and is a major loss to civil society in South Africa. However, it is also important internationally. Idasa is one of the widely recognised African democratisation and rights...