MRU, CPS Partners to Convene in Sierra Leone to Strengthen Resource Mobilization and Network Sustainability

The Mano River Civil Peace Service (CPS) Network will convene peacebuilding partners from Liberia and Sierra Leone in an upcoming conference in Sierra Leone to explore practical strategies for resource mobilization and the long-term sustainability of the Network.

The conference will bring together more than 50 participants under the theme, “Sustaining Peacebuilding in a Changing Funding Landscape: Mobilizing Resources, Strengthening Partnerships and Building Resilience.”

The meeting comes at a time when peacebuilding organizations across the region face shrinking and changing donor funding, competing development priorities, and increasing demands on civil society. These challenges threaten the sustainability of peacebuilding initiatives and the capacity of organizations to maintain coordination, learning, advocacy, and joint interventions.

Building a Sustainable Peacebuilding Network

The Mano River CPS Network brings together civil society organizations and peacebuilding actors in Liberia and Sierra Leone to promote peace, social cohesion, conflict prevention, human rights, inclusion, and community resilience.

Through collaboration among its partners, the Network has provided a platform for experience-sharing, capacity strengthening, and coordinated peacebuilding interventions. However, changing funding conditions have created an urgent need for partners to explore alternative and locally driven approaches to sustaining these gains.

The conference will provide an opportunity for partners to assess the current funding environment, share experiences, identify new funding opportunities, and develop practical strategies to strengthen the Network’s resilience. It will also encourage a shift from heavy reliance on traditional institutional donors towards diversified funding sources, stronger local partnerships, and locally anchored resource mobilization.

Strengthening Resource Mobilization and Partnerships

The conference will focus on developing a shared and practical approach to resource mobilization that enables the Network to remain relevant, effective, and sustainable despite reduced funding.

Key objectives include evaluating the current funding environment and its implications for peacebuilding organizations and CPS Networks in both countries. Participants will also explore innovative approaches to local resource mobilization and identify funding opportunities beyond traditional institutional donors.

In addition, the conference will strengthen partners’ skills in fundraising, proposal development, donor engagement, and strategic communication. These efforts will help partners communicate the Network’s collective impact, demonstrate its comparative advantage, and build stronger relationships with potential funders and strategic partners.

Developing a Joint Sustainability Strategy

A key expected outcome of the conference is a practical, jointly owned strategy for resource mobilization and Network sustainability. The strategy will guide CPS partners in Liberia and Sierra Leone in identifying priority funding and partnership opportunities and coordinating their efforts over the following 12 months.

The conference will bring together more than 50 participants, including CPS partner organizations from Liberia and Sierra Leone, national CPS coordinators, representatives of Bread for the World, heads of partner organizations, CPS focal persons, peace workers, and trainers from the Community of Practice (CoP).

Through collective reflection, knowledge-sharing, and strategic planning, the conference aims to strengthen collaboration between partners and establish a coordinated approach to mobilizing resources for peacebuilding.

The meeting seeks to reinforce the Network’s capacity to adapt to changing funding conditions, sustain its peacebuilding work, and continue supporting peaceful, inclusive, and resilient communities across Liberia and Sierra Leone.