Strengthening collaboration through local action

Across two days of discussions on the changing global context, human rights, advocacy and localisation, there was a strong sense that collective challenges require collective responses. CID CEO Todd Cleaver highlighted the pressures facing the sector, including shrinking development assistance, contested public trust and a shrinking civic space. He also asked how NGOs can better lift and share their impact stories, and how the sector needs to evolve to remain trusted, transparent and effective in increasingly difficult operating environments. We see this reflected across the globe.

Sam Worthington, Human Rights Champion and NGO leader in the US, spoke about the need for NGOs to transform how they work. This includes shifting power through genuine partnerships and stronger local leadership, using our collective voice to stand up for human rights, democracy and civic space. He also highlighted the opportunity to create spaces for different models of leadership and to celebrate the stories of local actors and the ways they are improving human dignity.

A human rights session similarly focused on the opportunities and responsibilities that come with a shrinking civic space: holding others to account, upholding human rights and strengthening a rights-based approach. The need to work collectively was a recurring theme, with growing collaboration and partnership across the sector. For IMPACT OSS, these conversations raised an important question: how can digital tools help support stronger collaboration, local leadership and collective action? IMPACT OSS brings commitments, actions and progress together in one place. Its flexible, open-source approach can be adapted to different contexts, enabling knowledge and improvements to be shared across users.

We are currently developing a pilot exploring how IMPACT OSS could support local and community-level tracking and collaboration, inspired by the Bologna expert roundtable on local and regional governments in the Universal Periodic Review that took place earlier this year. The conversations at CID reinforced the potential of this approach: connecting local action with broader commitments, making progress more visible, and creating opportunities to learn from and build on what others are doing.

The conference was a valuable reminder that collaboration is not only about bringing people together. It also needs practical ways to share information, connect efforts and strengthen collective action.