EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Civil society organizations (CSOs) in many parts of Africa and the world are at the forefront of calls for effective policies, good governance, sustainable development, peace and transparency in state affairs. The role of civil society is to bring peoples concerns and make the voices of the marginalized heard in the social and political arenas. Civil society actors contribute towards delivering public services and facilitating democracy and development at the grassroots. Public agenda is shaped by the civil society which in turn influences public policies. Civil society promotes the values of human rights, social justice, accountability that makes democracy and development meaningful. In addition, they hold governments and multi-lateral organizations to account for their policies, programmes and actions. In West Africa, civil society aids poverty reduction and promotes sustainable development, by enabling citizens to empower themselves and actively seek effective performance and accountability from the state and the private sector. At community, national and regional levels, CSOs have become a recognized force in development, governance and democratization processes. Given the importance of civil society in West Africa, WACSI was created by the Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA) to reinforce the capacities of civil society actors and their organizations in the sub-region. This was done to minimize capacity building deficiencies inherent within CSOs. In doing so, WACSI stands as the prime catalyst in leading West African CSOs towards a better implementation of their flagship programmes. Given this responsibility, WACSI, after its creation, implemented the Next Generation Internship Program to forge a guaranteed future for a young generation of competent personnel within civil society in West Africa. Through this program, interns are given maximum exposure to civil society concepts, platforms and opportunities to endow them with the skills required to serve as agile civil society actors in the future.

This report covers my activities during the internship program. I will enumerate the tasks performed; the knowledge and skills gained and propose a way forward for the Institute to continue successfully in its enriching programmes for the benefit of West African CSOs and actors.

INTRODUCTION West Africa is west of an imagined north-south axis lying close to 10 east longitude. It is the westernmost region of the African continent. Geopolitically, the UN definition of Western Africa includes the following 16 countries (Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Cote Divoire, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Togo) and an area of approximately 5 million square km. Within the subregion, developments have actually increased more than it was two decades ago and this has been through the influence of civil societies. Civil society is a complex word with different meanings and connotations. The term civil society was originally coined to describe popular movements in Latin America that sought to counterbalance the power of oppressive governments on the one hand and exploitative international financial interests on the other. Since the end of the cold war particularly, the definition of civil societies has expanded and influenced developments in nations, continents and the world. Civil societies have expanded to include a variety of non-state actors, social movements, community groups, registered charities, development nongovernmental organizations, women's organizations, faith-based organizations, professional associations, trade unions, self help groups, business associations, coalitions and advocacy groups. Civil society organisations carry out one different function depending on their interest or area of expertise. These functions include but not limited to the following: Civil society is contrasted with the state (government and parliament) and formal political sector (e.g. political parties) as an alternative means of directly

representing the will of ordinary citizens. It has also been discovered that this gap between civil societies and state has been due to inadequate engagement skills and poor institutional and operating capacities of this civil societies. It was on weakness and gaps highlighted that West Africa Civil Society Institute (WACSI) acquired its mandate to strengthen the capacities of civil societies in the sub region to foster and encourage development. WACSI was established by the Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA) to enhance and strengthen the capacity of CSOs in the sub region by bridging identified institutional and operational gaps. WACSIs programmes aim at rendering CSOs as viable partners in the pursuit of democracy, good governance, peace and development with governments in the sub region. WACSI has been focused to its vision and mission as a capacity builder for CSOs. To achieve this, WACSI instituted the internship programme, grooming future professionals for the civil society sector. This programme seeks to ensure the continuity of having potential ground-breakers and future prominent decision makers in the civil society sector in the future. Through this programme, young scholars and professionals are empowered with the appropriate skills to face the challenges inherent to civil society. The programme provides interns with opportunities in research, policy advocacy and training and capacity building which are the core areas in which WACSI operates. Through these defined areas, interns are assigned tasks which enable them to acquire and/or improve upon their skills in research, report writing, programmes conception, planning and implementation. Most particularly, working within such an environment endows interns with a comprehensive understanding of organizational functioning. The next generation internship started in January 2008. I commenced my internship with WACSI in November, 2011 for a period of six months. During this period, my knowledge of the civil society mode of operations, its strengths

and weakness, the way forward was increased. The fun and challenges attached with the training and relating with people from different cultures and background have nourished my professional capacity. It has also left me with a burning desire to passionately pursue sustainable development in the civil society sector. This report documents my experience during the six months internship and the knowledge acquired while at WACSI.

OVERVIEW OF INTERNSHIP PERIOD My internship lasted from November, 2011 to May, 2012. During the internship, I was attached to the programmes section of the organisation where I had the opportunity to conduct trainings for civil society actors and participate in in-house trainings for staffs, various desktop research assignments/projects, write reports, develop the institutional indigenous experts database and assist in the production of manuals for civil society institutions and actors. MAJOR PROJECTS: Specialised Policy Engagement and Advocacy training for Civil Society Actors in Sierra Leone The policy and advocacy section of the institute was designed to provide civil society organisations and actors with an unclutter understanding of advocacy concepts, definition of advocacy related terms, introduction and effective engagement strategies, techniques and tactics in planning an advocacy intervention with the goal of promoting an open society, participatory and responsive governance. In a bid to bridge these policy advocacy knowledge gaps and capacity within civil society in the sub region and their relation with government, WACSI

designed Specialised Policy Engagement and Advocacy course targeted at equipping civil societies and its actors to effective plan successful advocacy campaigns and policy influencing strategies. The institute have held numerous trainings which has been targeted to civil society actors in the sub region, however, this was the first training the institute held in Sierra Leone. I was in charge of call of applications, logistics preparation before arrival and in country and the reporting of the training. Being a part of the WACSI team including which included facilitators, I gained extensive knowledge on report writing, planning and executing programmes and how civil society can engage with governments to foster development.

Wacsi Experts Database As part of the institutes (WACSI) commitment to strengthen the capacities of civil society organisations, actors and building strong networking and collaboration with its partners, reputable organisations, and governmental agencies and amongst professionals, the institute created an indigenous experts database for development professionals within the sub region and Africa. To make the database credible, the institution had to identify and document the interpersonal and facilitation skills of African professionals in their individual fields. Working on this project helped me to understand how influential practitioners are or should be in the development of Africa and the sub region and it helped increase my interpersonal and relation skills having to deal with well acclaimed experts and professionals in the development sector and other related fields.

THE INTERNSHIP EXPERIENCE The Next Generation Internship Programme was founded to provide next generation of competent leaders to sustain the development of civil societies. It has the aim of grooming young Africans scholars and professionals with the required and adequate skills needed to work in the development sector. This is achieved through mentoring, training and monitoring the growth of these individuals. As an intern, the programme has created an enormous impact on my skills and aptitudes in different domains. This internship programme has given me the opportunity to work in a multicultural environment. I was introduced and exposed to a professional environment where I have learned how to work in a structured environment and have learnt many office procedures which included administrative task. It also helped me to function in a variety of setting making it easy to adapt to new situations and organisational concepts. The internship also provided me with increased knowledge on thematic issues such as peace and conflict, gender development, elections and democracy. This was possible due to extensive publications and resource center available at the institute and through its activities such as convening meetings in security sector, internal trainings for staffs and other knowledge sharing platforms. During my internship, I learnt how to write reports objectively and diligently having been exposed to the institutes programmes and trainings. My leadership skills were horned and harnessed during my internship period through the responsibility bestowed upon me to take charge of various internal procedures and working on institutes social media and database. This was purely achieved by the institute commitment to developing young individuals and granting them leadership position, through which my decision making skills were structured.

As part of the institute commitment to bridging the capacity gaps identified within civil societies, the institute commission researches and develop manuals for use within civil societies. I had the experience and opportunity to contribute to the development of its manuals in policy advocacy, which has improved my research skills and ability and added knowledge to conducting and carrying out research.

RECOMMENDATIONS The internship programme instituted by the WACSI has grown a lot, having been able to ameliorate its approach towards the internship programmes, thus making it record a lot of achievements which are evident in the individuals who have gone through this programme; however it is subject to improvement which I would like to humbly present. Internship Project The internship programme is a platform which was created to groom future competent leaders to their full professional potentials. One of the ways to achieve this would be to allow every intern to come up with a project ad-hoc with WACSIs mandate to run its course during the internship period. This programme should not interfere with other activities the intern is scheduled on. This can increase WACSI visibility and the interns versatility and experience. Training for Interns WACSI is a well-structured institute with different functional units; interns should therefore be given a detailed orientation of the activities and mandate of the institute. The interns should also be given special trainings in WACSIs intervention areas to improve their knowledge, which can always be attributed back to the quality acquired during their internship.

Mentoring This should be part of the aim of the Next generation internship programme, which aims to develop the skills of interns. In view of this, WACSI can provide mentors for interns who should be professionals in the proposed intern area of specialization to develop and mentor the intern and thus building the intern leadership and professional capacity. This will go a long way to strengthen the internship programme and make interns useful to the institution in future. INTERNSHIP EXCHANGE PROGRAMME
WACSI should consider effectively implementing the internship exchange programme. The preview that interns would serve for two months in partner organisation during their period as interns at WACSI has not been implemented. The exchange programme if implemented will enable interns to learn a lot and gain the experience of working in diverse organizations. WACSI is also bound to benefit since interns under the exchange programme will apply the experience acquired from other organizations in WACSI and improve the functioning system at WACSI and the implementation of its strategic plan. The reinstitution of this exchange programme would bolster the visibility of the Institute and as well, serve as a platform for the creation of new and concrete partnerships in the sector, country and sub-region. CONCLUSION Six months at WACSI as an intern has been a unique experience which gave me the opportunity to explore my personal interest in research. As a learner, WACSI provided me with an opportunity to acquire practical skills and a deep understanding of the civil society and organizational management. My understanding of civil society operations, interventions and challenges has appreciably been enhanced. During this period, I have bettered my understanding of civil society operations, interventions and challenges, issues relevant to civil society that are vital for a healthy society which in turn promote democracy, peace and peace processes,

policy advocacy, gender, human rights among others. I have also gained an indepth understanding of the challenges facing West African communities which impede the achievement of economic, social and political development. Presently, I have realized that a vibrant civil society is needed to make things right in less developed countries in the face of poverty and marginalization in nations under bad governance. It is a great privilege to be one of the beneficiaries of this practical learning and professional molding platform in West Africa. Through the Next Generation Internship Program, WACSI has distinguished itself as a warehouse for the civil society sector, which does not only strengthen personnel in the sector, but also trains personnel to fill the human resource gaps in the rapidly developing sphere. The Institute is assured that through the internship program, the goal of grooming young professionals is achieved.