Accra: The 2025 Ghana Civil Society Forum (GCSF) is set to convene its third national gathering on Wednesday, June 25, and Thursday, June 26 in Accra. Over 500 participants are expected to deliberate on the future of civic action and sustainable development financing in Ghana.
According to Ghana News Agency, under the theme 'Reimagining Development Financing and Civic Action - Challenges, Opportunities, and the Way Forward,' this year's Forum is being held at a time of deep financial uncertainty and strategic repositioning for civil society organisations (CSOs) across the country. Organised by STAR-Ghana Foundation in collaboration with a broad range of partners including Oxfam, WACSI, the Ghana Anti-Corruption Coalition, and other coordinating bodies, the two-day event aims to be a pivotal platform for thought leadership, policy influence, and cross-sectoral collaboration.
Participants will include representatives from CSOs, donor agencies, government, the private sector, academia, faith-based groups, and the media. The 2025 Forum builds on the outcomes of the inaugural 2022 Forum and the institutional gains made in 2024, as CSOs grapple with a rapidly evolving funding environment. Traditional donor support is declining amidst geopolitical shifts, with cuts from partners such as USAID, the Netherlands, Sweden, and Australia significantly affecting the continuity of grassroots interventions.
Recent research warns that up to 40 per cent of CSOs that rely on external funding may be forced to scale down operations or shut down altogether. These dynamics, compounded by regulatory constraints and structural barriers in global aid distribution, underscore the urgency of rethinking sustainability. Only two per cent of global aid currently reaches organisations in the Global South directly, according to a 2022 report by the Global Fund for Community Foundations.
The 2025 edition seeks to deepen the collective understanding of these challenges while exploring bold, homegrown alternatives. The Forum will identify innovative, locally led financing models, strengthen partnerships among CSOs, government, and private sector actors and generate actionable policy recommendations for regulatory reform, among others. Participants will come up with a strategic roadmap on CSO financial resilience and a communique that outlines sector-wide commitments to policy advocacy, innovation, and collaboration.
Prof. Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang, Vice President, will serve as the forum's guest of honour with other speakers leading discussions. Dr. Nii Moi Thompson, Chairman of the National Development Planning Commission and Senior Advisor to the President on the SDGs, will deliver the keynote address, focusing on global funding trends and their implications for Ghana's civic space.
