Facilitating Partnership for Development

Who we are


Foundation for Civil Society (FCS) is an independent Tanzanian non-profit organization that provides grants and capacity building services to civil society organizations (CSOs) so as to enhance their effectiveness in enabling engagement of citizens in development processes. It was established by development stakeholders in Tanzania. FCS was established and registered in September 2002 and started operations in January 2003. The journey for Foundation for Civil Society involved many development stakeholders including the government and development partners (DPs) who agreed that there was a lack of public resources to support civil society and hence explored the intent of setting up an…

Monthly Announcements


7 th Sep , 2024

CSO WEEK 2024

About the Event Theme: Voice, Vision, Value The CSO Week stands as an important annual…

3 rd Sep , 2024

FCS Strategic Plan 2025 – 2030

The Strategic Plan 2025-2030 will guide FCS’s work for the next five years. Changes in…

30 th Jul , 2024

THE STATE OF CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANIZATIONS IN TANZANIA, JANUARY TO JUNE 2023 .

This report details an analysis on the state of Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) in Tanzania…

Foundation News

Participatory Grant making: A New Dawn in Local Resource Mobilisation and Putting People at the Centre of Development.

Residents of Wilunze Village in Chamwino District, Dodoma Region, have expressed gratitude for the implementation…


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Foundation for Civil Society and Partners Reflect on Uraia Wetu Project Progress

  Foundation for Civil Society and Partners Reflect on Uraia Wetu Project Progress Dar es…


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Building Partnerships for Development: Reflections from Financial Resilience Resource Hub (FRRH) Partners on Achievements and the Future of CSO Sustainability in East Africa

Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) in East Africa are recognizing the critical importance of effective collaboration,…


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Podcast

FCS and CSOs join hands to support over 220 Children

The Foundation for Civil Society (FCS) launched the #GivingTuesday campaign in Tanzania on November 19, 2019.

FCS and CSOs join hands to support over 220 Children

The Foundation for Civil Society (FCS) launched the #GivingTuesday campaign in Tanzania on November 19, 2019.

Success Stories

An Entrepreneur Unchained: A Young Tanzanian’s Journey to Self-Reliance


Daniel used to be a land broker agent from Mwanza without direction in his life. Before the Mwanza Youth and Children Network (MYCN)- a youth-led organization that works with youth to facilitate their access to livelihood opportunities- came onto the scene, neither he nor other young peers in his life owned a business or an office space. Funded by the Foundation for Civil Society (FCS), MYCN transformed the life of Daniel and the community surrounding him. Daniel received entrepreneurship training…

NELICO: Building a community conscious of Women rights and working towards social inclusion


*From victim to survivor: Community based interventions protecting women and girls New Light Children Organization (NELICO), a community-based organization in Mwanza, Geita region, has rescued and supported more than one hundred young mothers and vulnerable girls under 18 years from Gender-Based Violence (GBV) and early pregnancies. The organization has also created awareness in communities on the risks of child labour in mining activities and has worked to enable children to go back to school. NELICO Project Officer Lucy Thomas said…

How PETs has improved learning environment


With support from Foundation for Civil Society (FCS) Kijogoo facilitated the formation of a Public Expenditure Tracking Surveys (PETs) committee. The members of the committee were elected by people in the village community meeting. Also, they were later trained on PETs techniques and on best ways to obtain information on income and expenditure in schools.  The aim was to ensure citizenry in Mahenge are aware and enabled to monitor the expenditure of public fund and other resources available in schools…

Peace Building and Conflict Management


This strategic focus area aims at contributing to harmonious and peaceful coexistence amongst communities and various people groups in Tanzania. It puts emphasis on strengthening capacities for dialogue and conflict resolution among citizens to contribute to peaceful engagement and coexistence in all key social, political and economic areas. Under the current Strategic Plan 2016-2020, Foundation for Civil Society has incorporated this new sub-strategy in order to promote peace maintenance and conflict management under the broader outcome area of Good Governance.…

Volunteerism fuelling grassroots CSOs in Tanzania


There is one common modus operandi (Mode of Operation) in major national Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) that cuts across many CSOs operating in different areas in Tanzania. The mode of operation involves using volunteers to reach grassroots communities during the implementation of project interventions.  In due time, the volunteers become champions of a particular intervention or cause, educators and mobilizers within the communities. Despite differences in these CSOs, Volunteerism is the one thing that probably identifies many CSOs in the…

Working Together for Peace


With the support of the Foundation for Civil Society (FCS), Tanzania Initiative for Social and Economic Relief(TISER) implemented an intervention on peace management and conflict resolution in Mvomero district in Morogoro region. The success of the intervention is a result of TISER working closely with members of the Police force in Mvomero district. Approaches such as formative capacity building, sensitization, and facilitation of sports events especially in mobilizing community members were used. How the Police Force was involved The Police…

We have Our Smiles Back


Introduction With support from the Foundation for Civil Society (FCS), Caritas Tabora designed an intervention to raise awareness and sensitize the community on the rights of People with Albinism in the Tabora Municipality. The project birthed pathways to address the plight of albinos and helped them navigate through challenges. Further, it aimed to offer not just makeshift but long-term solutions.  In that sense, a number of stakeholders were largely engaged in the project and a different intervention was used to…

Resolving local tensions for sustainable peace


With the support of Foundation for Civil Society (FCS), Tanzania Initiative for Social and Economic Relief (TISER) implemented an intervention on peacebuilding and conflict resolutions through advancing inclusive management of land and land resources. The intervention was implemented in Mvomero District, 132 km from Morogoro Township in Morogoro region where more than often land was at the center of local tensions leading to conflicts mainly between pastoralists and farmers.     local leaders capacitated in handling conflicts It was observed…

CSO and LGAs Collaboration improve monitoring in agriculture sector in Tunduru district.


It is the responsibility of citizen and stakeholders in the agriculture sector to track public resources for agriculture allocated to their communities through ensuring that resources are properly allocated, managed and monitored, this also includes monitoring the performance of cooperatives and agribusiness inputs supply mechanism set by the government.   In light of this, Tunduru Paralegal Centre (TUPACE), a grassroots Civil Society Organisation (CSO) has been working for two years to strengthen the citizens’ involvement and participation in Public Expenditure…

How PETs has improved learning environment


Introduction With support from Foundation for Civil Society (FCS) Kijogoo facilitated the formation of a Public Expenditure Tracking Surveys (PETs) committee. The members of the committee were elected by people in the village community meeting. Also, they were later trained on PETs techniques and on best ways to obtain information on income and expenditure in schools.  The aim was to ensure citizenry in Mahenge are aware and enabled to monitor the expenditure of public fund and other resources available in…

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