1. Partnership and Local Ownership

“Characteristics of a good partnership are a long term and sustained relationship based on common values and approaches, a clear sense of equality based on respective contributions and responsibilities, mutual accountability ... clear division of roles and responsibilities and practice of democratic values, equality and tolerance ... Irish Aid will support organisations that are rooted in local cultures and society rather than encourage the creation of new forms of organisation that are externally driven” (Irish Aid Civil Society Policy, pg. 10)

SERVE are involved in long term partnership relationships with our key partners. For example, SERVE have been working with Tapologo, Tsholofelo, Caritas Parnaiba, Muvamba Mission and Xipamanine Mission for the past five years.

SERVE are committed to continuing and deepening these partnerships to tackle the root causes of poverty in each of these communities.

SERVE shares common values and outlooks with all of our partners. SERVE and Young Africa have a similar interest in tackling youth poverty and share the view that this is best tackled using the innovative Franchise Concept, which combines practical skills training, life skills training and local business initiatives to build the capacity of disadvantaged young people and provide them with better life choices.

SERVE, Tapologo and Tsholofelo are jointly committed to tackling the shocking poverty which exists in South African squatter camps which are rife with HIV/AIDS.

By intervening early in the life cycle of children, especially Orphan and Vulnerable Children and by empowering women through practical skills training, SERVE and its partners in South Africa believe that real progress can be made in improving living conditions in these camps.

In Mozambique, SERVE works in partnership with the Muvamba Mission and Xipamanine Mission to provide education, skills training and life skills training to vulnerable young people.

There is a joint belief that a holistic education is crucial in allowing young people to make good life choices and remain HIV/AIDS free. All of our partners share with SERVE a positive view on the benefits of volunteering and the inspiring role it can play in empowering communities to tackle poverty, as is the case with the housebuilding programme in Brazil, and the construction projects undertaken in Mozambique. There is regular communication and mutual accountability between SERVE and all its partners.

Any funding that is allocated by SERVE is fully reported on and then reported back to our donors.

SERVE undertakes at least two annual visits to our partners in Africa Asia and Brazil and also asks partners to provide regular updates on allocated funding. Our partners are ultimately accountable to the communities they work with. Local community representatives play a key role in the work of all partners, who acknowledge that without this involvement, their interventions could not succeed. Our partner Tapologo, who work with people with HIV/AIDS in South Africa, states that:
"It is very important to talk, listen and collaborate with community leaders and with the HIV-infected people and their families if we want the programme to be a success. It is the experience of Tapologo that a programme that is developed by outsiders without close consultation with the people in the community will certainly fail."

There is a clear division of roles in the partnership relationship between SERVE and its partners. This is outlined in the MOUs which are jointly agreed. These outline the shared values between SERVE and the partner and the responsibilities of each party. These MOUs are reviewed regularly to make sure that they are “living documents” as much as possible.
There is collaborative decision making in all partnership relationships. For example, SERVE’s three year funding plans are the result of collaboration between SERVE and partners. SERVE works with partners to help them express their plans for the future, but in each case the partner was the key driving force behind the selection of which projects to apply for.
All of the partners that SERVE work with are rooted in local culture. These partners existed before SERVE was established and have been successful and sustained because they emerged from local communities and local cultures to help people to tackle poverty and injustice. Local people are heavily involved in the management and governance of these projects. For example, Caritas Parnaiba is fully staffed by local Brazilians, Tapologo was established by a South African. Where ex-patriates were involved in the establishment of an organisation like Young Africa, the key to the success of the project was the large scale involvement of local people. The Young Africa project in Chitungwiza, Harare, Zimbabwe was recently handed over to be fully managed by a local Zimbabwean. The Governance structures of our partners are characterised by local ownership with some external representation.