Contribution short abstract:

This paper discusses collaborations between youth-led civil society organisations in Africa drawing on empirical evidence from 9 African countries. In doing so, the paper provides insights into the nature of collaborations among youth-led civil society organisations which remains under-researched.

Contribution long abstract:

While collaborations between civil society organisations (CSOs) in the Global North and South have been explored, the focus has been on the added value of collaborations. However, how youth-led CSOs (YLCSOs) in the Global South form transcalar collaborations with stakeholders and the nature of such collaborations remains under-researched. Drawing on interviews and focus group discussions with 31 representatives of YLCSOs and government institutions in nine African countries and the concept of transcalar collaboration, we show that donors’ high preference for established CSOs limits the opportunities for YLCSOs to engage in transcalar collaborations. We show that the calls for shifting power to CSOs in the Global South through intermediaries produce unintended consequences. The lack of organisational capacity and closing civic space negatively affects collaborations by YLCSOs. We argue for donors and governments to provide flexible funding models to strengthen organisational capacity and create an enabling environment for the effective functioning of YLCSOs in Africa.