New connections: weaving regional networks for a stronger civil society

By Syarifah Marlina AlMazhir, Mary Tobbin Osei and Emily Obiti 

Consultants play a distinctive role in the civil society support ecosystem. Moving between organisations, they carry knowledge, strengthen practice, and build connections. What if these consultants, rooted in local realities, were better connected globally to catalyse new connections and learning across different contexts?

We’re delighted to announce that INTRAC’s network has recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with two regional networks of civil society consultants – C4Change.ID in Indonesia and the West Africa Consultants For Change Network. Together, we are working to strengthen a truly connected, equitable, and learning-oriented ecosystem for civil society support.  

INTRAC’s Consultants for Change (C4C) programme has been a common thread weaving these networks together from the beginning. Launched in 2017, C4C was designed to provide professional development for national civil society consultants.  

C4C programme participants from Indonesia chose to keep their collaboration alive by forming an informal network for ongoing mutual support called C4Change.ID.  

In 2023, with funding support from the Packard Foundation, C4Change.ID recruited, trained, and established a community of over 20 Indonesian CSO consultants. This group represents a broad spectrum of experience – women and men, early-career and senior professionals, and practitioners working across a range of thematic and geographical areas, including less-served areas like Papua. This new consultants’ community have become members of the C4Change.id network and have been actively connecting, collaborating, and supporting each other in their learning, strengthening their capacity and practice in consultancy and their contributions to civil society. 

A similar story took place in another part of the world. In 2024, the West Africa Civil Society Institute (WACSI) and INTRAC embarked on a joint initiative, with funding from Comic Relief, to establish a learning, support, and collaboration network of consultants in West Africa. Fourteen consultants from both Anglophone and Francophone Africa came together for a training course that explored good consultancy practice. 

From this process emerged the West Africa Consultants for Change Network – a community of consultants committed to sharing knowledge and best practices in thematic areas of interest and integrating these shared ideas into national and global learning to strengthen civil societies. 

This network brings together consultants with deep experience in areas such as governance, youth leadership, women’s empowerment, and organisational development. Their collaboration reflects a growing recognition that civil society consultancy should not replicate traditional power dynamics but rather help shift them –supporting organisations to lead their own change and learning processes.  

The connection between these networks has already generated exciting opportunities for shared learning. Members of C4Change.ID participated in mentor training offered through the global INTRAC network, while Christian Elongue from the West Africa Consultants for Change Network led a well-received global learning session on marketing for independent consultants.  

These exchanges illustrate the powerful potential of cross-regional collaboration. By bringing together consultants from different contexts, we not only share knowledge but also co-create new ways of thinking about consultancy itself –what it means to work ethically, inclusively, and in solidarity with the organisations we support. 

Our networks are united by a shared commitment to consultancy practice that prioritises achieving real change as well as a commitment to shifting power within the civil society support ecosystem. This collaboration marks another step toward a more connected, inclusive, and learning-driven future for civil society consultancy.