In December 2018, our Catholic Sisters program team convened grantees and other stakeholders in Accra, Ghana, and Kampala, Uganda. These convenings introduced our partners to the program’s Phase II strategy, which aims to make “Catholic sisters recognized as global leaders in sustainable human development, grounded in the vitality of their services and spiritual witness.”
Focusing on cross-sector collaboration, the convenings were an opportunity to facilitate networking among Catholic sisters and representatives from the Church, NGOs, government and the private sector. Our partners found value in this opportunity to connect and collaborate.
“I love this convening because, first of all, it brought diverse people… They want to empower the sisters. They want sisters’ work to go far ahead.”
Sr. Rosemary Nyirumbe, director of St. Monica Girls Tailoring Institute
Presenters included Foundation staff; our Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning partner, Center for Religion and Civic Culture at USC; and several grantees who exemplify collaboration for social change in contexts such as sanitation in peri-urban slums, health care in rural settings and anti-human trafficking advocacy.
The program also included roundtable discussions focused on unique issues facing Catholic sisters, and panel discussions featuring sisters working to prevent the abuse of young women and girls. These activities contributed to the success of both convenings and planted seeds for new partnerships.