It is easy to feel adrift but the strength of our connections and the depth of our shared knowledge offer a way forward. Community support becomes a steady force to build our resilience.

A time of upheaval

At the moment it feels like unpredictability has become the only constant. We have a global crisis that has led to sector-specific upheavals so it is very easy to feel unmoored. Many of our partners, clients and peers have taken a dramatic hit from the cuts in US AID, there have been job losses and financial losses that have been hard to watch. In response, Southern Hemisphere has recently partnered with SII Africa, the National Association for Social Change Agents in Education (NASCEE), and Benita Williams Evaluation on a survey to measure the impact on the South African social development sector and how the sector is responding.  Published on 25 February 2025, the survey painted a stark picture with many organisations scaling down, shutting down really successful projects, having to pivot rapidly, or facing closure. But it also revealed commitment, creativity, and some green shoots in the form of community-led solutions that have emerged in the face of adversity.

Whilst there is no clarity on how long this storm will last, what is clear is that as a community, we need to re-group and find our collective resilience as the work has not changed, it has just become harder to execute.

An anchor in the storm

So what will our response be, both as a sector and as Southern Hemisphere? When a crisis hits, we return to what we know. For 25 years, we have focused our Monitoring and Evaluation process on learning and knowledge sharing. This learning takes on different forms.

  1. Learning on the job

When we are engaged on a client project, we embed learning into our process and always have done so, often our clients have intimate knowledge and understanding of the area in which they are working and we have years of experience in methodology and see it as our role to inspire, develop and facilitate growth while we deliver.

  1. Formalised training

Over the years, we’ve trained over 3 000 thousand people through formalised training programmes that are customised to client needs or delivered through our renowned annual MEL Bootcamp courses. Participants consistently highlight the practical relevance, expert facilitation, and valuable networking opportunities these programmes provide.

  1. Learning partnerships

Southern Hemisphere has also been appointed as a learning partner by enlightened clients who are able to see the benefits of embedding learning, adaptation and continuous learning into their project lifecycles.

We believe that now is exactly the time to double down on knowledge sharing, because when the world feels unstable, investing in learning and capacity isn’t just helpful, it becomes transformative and builds our community and the community capacity to enact meaningful change.

Sharing makes us stronger

Southern Hemisphere has two initiatives in response to this crisis:

  1. Fast-tracked the development of a dedicated resources page on our website:
  • Resources are free to download and cover a range of project learnings, step-by-step tools, and insightful guides.
  • We will continuously expand this resource library, actively sharing new and practical tools.
  1. Have developed a full MEL Bootcamp programme May 5 2025 – May 20 2025
  • Virtual and in-person learning options available in Cape Town
  • From Beginner to Advanced programs
  • Learn from experienced trainers and peers at the coalface

The hard work is still to come

It is going to take some time as well as conscious effort and collective action to recover from this knock; but recover we will.

If you have a resource to share, we will upload it fully accredited to our page after a review. We’d love you to join us at one or more of the Bootcamp sessions in May where we can continue to build a robust and healthy ecosystem which is at the centre of meaningful social change. Together, we can weather this storm—not by waiting it out, but by leaning into our strengths, supporting each other, and continuously learning and growing.

If you can think of anything else that would help us to collectively build back stronger, please pop us a mail or leave a comment on the LinkedIn post and we will respond promptly.