News in detail...

Learning from the grassroots...February 2008

Street Action is committed to seeking alternative development agendas through its partnerships and to challenge development conventions, practices and outcomes.  We hope that by exploring methods of empowerment that are driven by the grassroots we will ensure that projects on the ground receive the appropriate support and promotion.  Street Action’s investment on the grassroots through Joe’s time in South Africa and Burundi will strengthen our partnerships and develop further our understanding of the issues we’re advocating and how we shape and frame influencing agendas and processes of debate that emerge.

The marginalisation of street children by governments, NGOs and civil society continues to be a major concern for Street Action.  A key element of Street Action’s advocacy strategy is to identify ways in which the engagement of excluded groups, such as street children, can be represented on the development agenda and to help create the space for organisations such as Umthombo and New Generation to be a voice on behalf of the children on the streets.

Spending this length of time in Africa will provide both short-term and long-term benefits for Street Action. Working with and learning from the Umthombo team in South Africa and building relationships with the staff and street children will be an important step in our partnership development.  It will provide a unique insight into the reality of street life, the issues that the children are currently facing and enable us to explore the most effective ways Street Action can work with our partners and provide sustainable support, promotion and awareness raising. 

Debates around donor-dependence, the cost of growth and power relations remain a central argument for the charity/NGO sector.  Street Action is aware of this in relation to our work with our partners on the ground and the accountability we hold to those who support our work.  Street Action’s organisational relationships with our partners reflects a horizontal structure and downward accountability with a focus on establishing strong connections with those who are embedded in the work at the grassroots. 

Grassroots participation in knowledge creation and advocacy is essential in increasing our partners voice and profile.  Street Action’s objective in South Africa and Burundi is to gain more understanding of the skills and resources needed to develop our work in this area over the next five years. It will provide the opportunity to listen to our partners as to how best Street Action can continue to support and promote their projects and to jointly agree a strategy as to how we grow and strengthen the capacity of our partnerships in the future.  Street Action does not pursue partnerships as an end in itself, but to enhance the level of engagement with the projects on the ground and to explore new ways to create a joint and equitable framework of working. 

Action and partnership remain central principles to the development of Street Action’s work.  Our commitment to relational partnerships fostered by long-term connections to individuals and communities on the ground will be enhanced by our presence in South Africa and Burundi over the next nine months.  This will enable us to continue to build relationships that are relevant and reflect the needs, ideas and experience of those we continue to serve.