By Grace Boone
This article was originally published in the February 2020 issue of the INTRAC newsletter. Subscribe today to receive new issues in your inbox.
Stopping as Success (SAS) is a three-year collaborative learning project funded by USAID. It focuses on responsible transitions of INGOs from a variety of different contexts. A consortium consisting of Peace Direct, Search for Common Ground and CDA Collaborative Learning implements the project.
For three years, SAS has been learning about what ingredients make up a responsible transition and how non-governmental organizations (NGOs), civil society organizations (CSOs), international NGOs (INGOs), and donors can elevate local leadership through transition processes.
In order to learn about responsible transitions, the SAS consortium conducted 20 positive case studies in 13 different countries. By focusing on successful transitions, SAS aimed to provide examples where transitions were done well in order to learn what went right and why. By gathering these lessons about responsible transitions, we were better placed to develop resources that are specifically aimed at shifting power to local leaders through transition processes.
These case studies then became the evidence base for which we developed 20+ tools and resources aimed at different actors in the international development sector.
These documents were selected based on the feedback from regional evidence review meeting participants and consultations with other stakeholders. We developed a series of issue papers (analyzing key themes emerging from the cases), thought pieces and practical guidelines to support INGO, NGO/CSO and donor staff planning for or going through a transition.
The five key themes throughout the cases (and in consultations with global stakeholders) were partnership, leadership, capacity development, financial sustainability, and power and legitimacy. All the resources that we produced were organized by those themes and aimed at INGOs, NGOs/CSOs and donors working on transition processes.
About the webinars
A two-part webinar series hosted by INTRAC in March 2020 provided an overview of the SAS project and lessons learned, and gave practitioners the opportunity to engage with the 20+ tools and resources that the SAS team has produced over the previous three years.
- Webinar 1: Tuesday, March 3
Presentation of the SAS project, lessons learned, and overview of the tools/resources. A conversation with participants about the project and their experience with transitions more broadly. - Webinar 2: Tuesday, March 10
Workshop-style that allowed participants to engage with a tool/theme they are most interested in and consider how to apply it to their own work and organizations.