Stories
May 15, 2024 • 2 min read
Center of Concern is an Ethiopia-based civil society organisation and humanitarian agency founded in 2005. The organisation aims to provide long-term solutions to poverty, hunger, illiteracy, ill health, injustice, and inequalities in Ethiopia. GOAL has been active in the country for over forty years, and actively collaborates with local agencies to expand our collective impact.
Empowering Local Partners
Through our partnerships approach, GOAL strengthens local, permanent actors in our countries of operation by improving their operational capabilities and project execution. We recognise the critical role that these organisations play in leading locally-driven humanitarian initiatives that create systemic change.
GOAL has been partnering with the Center of Concern since 2012. Together, we support homeless children in Addis Ababa and Hawassa through our ChildSPACE programme. With support from GOAL, Center of Concern has improved its management systems and streamlined its financial and recruitment procedures.
The Global Partnership Centre
GOAL’s Global Partnership Centre (GPC) was established with generous support from Irish Aid. The GPC seeks to strengthen the capacity of our local partners by providing technical support and guidance while helping them cultivate new competencies, strategies, systems, and structures to improve their overall effectiveness. By empowering local partners to lead locally-driven humanitarian responses, GOAL is helping to foster sustainable, systemic, and lasting change.
The GPC has also established the Organisational Development Fund (ODF), with support from Irish Aid, with the recognition that identifying areas for support is only meaningful if accompanied by flexible funding.
“The partnership wasn’t just about fixing procedures; it was about building skills,” said Mr. Assefa Gataneh, Executive Director of Center of Concern. “GOAL Ethiopia trained [us] in strategic planning, monitoring, and evaluation. This knowledge helped [us] create a strong five-year plan based on community feedback.”
Monitoring and Evaluation
With support from GOAL, Center of Concern established a formal Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) system, allowing the organisation to collect and analyse programme data. This data-driven approach enables Center of Concern to better measure project progress and impact, and to identify areas in which programmes need to improve or adjust to better fit the needs of beneficiaries.
“The M&E team actively works with the programme team, learning and planning together,” Mr. Assefa said. “Different reporting formats provided by GOAL Ethiopia [have] improved our formal communication. For instance, analysing data showed a need for separate service times for boys and girls at drop-in centres. Center of Concern adjusted schedules accordingly, making the centres more welcoming for girls.”
Partnering for Sustainable Programming
The collaboration between GOAL and Center of Concern demonstrates the importance of partnering for sustainable programming. The support Center of Concern received from GOAL strengthened their internal systems and programme impact. The organisation now receives additional funding from a diverse range of donors, and manages over 10 projects independently. These include economic empowerment programmes that address the high rate of youth migration into Ethiopia’s cities. The diversification of the organisation’s donor base, coupled with its improved M&E capabilities, have enabled Center of Concern to plan and implement long-term, sustainable, and inclusive humanitarian programmes. Partnerships can yield remarkable results, which are achieved by exchanging knowledge and ideas and fostering an culture of continuous learning and improvement.
