6 Oct 2025
When the Right2Grow programme was launched across six countries - Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Mali, South Sudan, and Uganda - the vision was bold and clear: to enable every child to reach their full potential. Five years later, as the programme comes to a close, it leaves behind a powerful story of growth, resilience, and transformation, not only within the communities where it was implemented but also among the Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) that championed its work and led advocacy efforts across these countries.
Mutual Capacity Development as a Strategy
A big part of this success, as the endline capacity assessment highlights, lies in Mutual Capacity Development (MCD), a strategy that the programme used to empower CSOs and ensure they acquired the knowledge and skills necessary to influence decision-makers and speak with a strong collective voice.
From the start, Right2Grow Partners recognised that advocacy is only effective when local organisations are well equipped with the right skills and tools, and feel empowered to confidently apply them in their local contexts. Through training and needs based technical support, CSOs were equipped with practical knowledge in approaches such as “Bridge4Voices”, Budget Monitoring and Expenditure Tracking (BMET), Citizen Voice and Action (CVA), and Outcome Harvesting, among others.
From Learners to Leaders
For years, many of Right2Grow partner organizations had been doing important work in their communities, but often lacking skills and capacities to turn local voices into policy action. With capacity strengthening, the new approaches and tools, everything began to change. CSOs were no longer passive recipients of knowledge, they became co-creators and leaders, able to influence policy, analyse budgets, and push for accountability at every level. For many CSOs, this was the first time they felt fully equipped to sit across the table with government officials, ask difficult questions and back up their advocacy messages with locally grounded evidence.
The results were felt quickly. In village meetings, local leaders spoke with greater confidence. At district and national levels, CSOs began convening dialogues, turning tense exchanges into constructive conversations. In some countries, advocacy messages that started in community gatherings found their way into policy and budget documents, proving that grassroots voices can travel far when given the right platform. In Uganda and Bangladesh, tools such as BMET first introduced through the programme are now embedded in district planning processes. In Ethiopia, joint action plans created alongside local governments continue to shape nutrition service delivery. These changes signaled that this knowledge was no longer external; it had been absorbed and institutionalised.
Many participants admitted that without the knowledge and mentorship from Right2Grow, they would not have achieved these advocacy results.
Building stronger local organizations
However, growth was not only about individual knowledge and skills. Local CSOs enhanced their capacities in strategic planning, coalition building, and communication. Across all countries, partner organizations also became more effective in policy advocacy and influencing decision-making, thanks to Right2Grow’s efforts of strengthening their organizational capacities. In South Sudan, CSOs took a historic step by engaging directly in drafting the country’s first-ever national nutrition policy — securing high-level government commitment. In Mali, CSOs contributed to a landmark achievement: the constitutional recognition of the right to food and water.
Of course, challenges remained. Many organisations still struggle with resource limitations, gender imbalances in leadership and weak internal systems that make it difficult to sustain progress. Capacity gaps persist in international advocacy and donor engagement, leaving some CSOs hesitant to step into global spaces where their voices are needed most. As the programme ends, staff turnover and funding shortages raise concerns about whether all gains can be preserved.
Learning together
What made MCD stand out was its insistence on learning together. MCD was not simply delivered—it was co-created, adapted, and led by partners themselves. Rather than a top-down model, MCD promoted a horizontal exchange of knowledge, tools, and experiences—recognizing that all partners have something to offer. Partners played an active role in co-facilitating trainings, mentoring peer CSOs, cascading knowledge and skills to the third tier CSOs, and sharing innovations across countries. CSOs in Mali could share programmatic lessons with colleagues in Burkina Faso, while Ugandan partners used their experience to train peers in storytelling and advocacy. These exchanges went beyond the programme itself, spreading into other projects. Participants often described themselves not just as learners but as multipliers, passing on knowledge to others in their networks.
Building for the Future
The evaluation of the programme capacity strengthening efforts confirms that MCD has been a catalyst for transformation. To sustain this progress, it is recommended that future programming goes beyond training to build true local ownership, with tools co-created, simplified, and adapted for grassroots use. Learning should be practical and continuous through mentorship and peer exchanges backed by feedback loops that track how skills are applied, not just taught. To ensure lasting impact, skills need to be paired with post-training support and strong organizational systems, including core resources and staff development.
Equally vital is fostering inclusive leadership, bringing more women and youth into decision-making, and ensuring underrepresented voices are heard in global advocacy and donor spaces. Investing more in strengthening CSOs’ capacities in fundraising and resource mobilization will be essential to tackle deep-rooted organizational weaknesses, sustain change, and continue influencing decisions long after projects close.
What Right2Grow has proven is this: when capacity development is mutual, grounded in local priorities, and focused on action—it becomes one of the most powerful drivers of advocacy, accountability, and lasting development impact.
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