As we navigate an increasingly volatile global context, ActionAid's commitment to working with social movements is more critical than ever – as affirmed in SIF3. We recognize the need to be bold and creative to remain relevant, deepening our connections with progressive movements committed to challenging authoritarianism and injustice. No longer can we afford to tinker or patch things up; we must seek deeper system change. This means aligning our systems and functions everywhere so that we can be better partners to those courageous in the fight for social justice.

“ActionAid needs to be bold and creative to remain relevant, deepening our connections with progressive movements committed to challenging authoritarianism and injustice, no longer tinkering or patching up, but seeking deeper system change. This means aligning our systems and functions everywhere so that we can be a better partner to those who are courageous in fighting for social justice. We need to expand beyond the comfort zone of traditional NGO work – and use the next four years to really deliver on the movement politics that were laid out in ActionAid’s internationalisation process many years ago”. – SIF 3

This program is designed to empower Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) to deeply understand social movements and become genuine allies, change catalysts, and driving forces behind social movement support.

"Building a Movement Mindset" is an intensive and immersive training program focused on fostering a comprehensive understanding of the dynamics and importance of social movements in achieving systemic change and how you as a CSO can support them in this effort. This training is designed to help you as a CSO understand the organisational change needed to enable a culture, structure and practices of a movement mindset. It is a transformative journey that will equip you with the knowledge and tools necessary to engage with and support social movements effectively without compromising their integrity.

By attending this training, you will gain:

• A deeper understanding of social movements and why organising and people power are essential change strategies.
• Explore the SIF3 framework in-depth, focusing on how it guides our approach to deepening connections with movements.
• Learn multiple ways to engage with and support social movements while avoiding compromising their integrity and strategic power in the process e.g NGO-nizing movements.
• Insights into the changes in organisational culture and practices needed to align with social movements e.g. rapid response mechanisms, guidelines to financial transfers that respect the organic nature of movements and activist emergency response (safe-housing).
• The needed tools to actually make the needed changes and plans for movement support in your organisation.

COME JOIN US IF YOU HAVE: 

• A commitment to work with movements that is rooted in senior leadership in your organisation.
• Some experiences with supporting social movements or informal groups or concrete plans for movements you want to work with.
• A commitment to make and design the needed context dependent strategies, approaches and plans for working with youth activism, organizing and/or social movements alongside resources to implement the plans.
• Sign off from senior leadership in your organisation on specific deliverables that will come from the training e.g. movement strategy, movement support approach, financial guidelines for movement support, mapping of social movements, implementation plan for movement support.

This training is open to two main groups:

1. Partner Organisations (Scholarship-Based): ActionAid SPA II partners can apply for the participation of representatives to the training with scholarships provided.
2. Open for Self-Sponsorship: ActionAid partners and other CSOs and individuals with a self-sponsorship allows you to attend the training.

Before applying you need to book an assessment and introductory meeting with us. Here we will discuss the requirements for the training and who are the right people to attend for your organization to gain the most of the training. The requirements for the training are that:

1. You need to be a minimum of 2 people from your organization. We know from experience that the outcome of the training will have a larger impact and potential for success if insights, learning and concrete plans are collectively owned
2. You need to do a small organizational analysis with us and based on that decide on a concrete output of the training that the people attending will work on during the training and complete after the training. 

To apply for the training you will afterwards apply through an online application form that we will send you. For self-sponsored participants, ensure you meet the self-sponsorship requirements outlined on the application form.

If you have any questions or need further information, please reach out to us and book a meeting:

Thompson Luzendi at tkl@ms.dk

Annette Rohde at aro@ms.dk

Join us on this empowering training journey, and let's work together to drive positive change and build a more just and equitable world. Your commitment to supporting social movements can make a significant difference.

MOVE is ActionAid’s Global Social Movement Center - MOVE implements, designs or pilots specific support mechanisms together with social movements, in order to address the lack of strategic capacity and tailored support mechanisms that enable better and safer impact of social movement work.

MOVE provides a Social Movement Ecosystem for Human Rights Defenders and their movements to be supported in all aspects of their work through the full lifespan of their movements. Currently, it entails an integrated set of capacity strengthening activities for activists in social movements, core movement support functions to social movements, including funding and action research on relevant movements trends.

Read the primary background material developed by MOVE - The Global Social Movement Center “Building a movement mindset” here. The purpose of this guide is to help CSOs and others change organizational culture and practice to better understand and support social movements so they can achieve systemic change together. This movement mindset guide comes with a toolkit that is not just about theoretical concepts; the toolkit guide is a roadmap for action. It is designed to empower CSOs to adapt their organizational culture, practices, and strategies to better support social movements. By embracing a movement mindset, CSOs can become genuine allies, catalysts for change, and driving forces behind the collective pursuit of a more just, equitable, and transformative world.