Bulsho Fund, Somalia
The Bulsho Fund emerged from the “Innovation for localization – building bridges” project. “Bulsho” is a Somali word that means community or society, and the new Fund’s slogan, “Iskutashi iyo Iskutiirsanaan”, means self-reliance and interdependence. The emergence of the Fund in Somalia, a country that has long been one of the top recipients of external development aid, is particularly significant. As a result of this aid being primarily short-term and top-down, communities across Somalia have consistently been excluded from the decision-making that most affects them. Communal safety nets have been eroded.
The Bulsho Fund seeks to address these issues by not only serving as a vehicle through which international funding can be better directed to local civil society actors, but also by emphasizing and seeking to grow a constituency of local donors. By embedding local participation and engagement, accountability to the communities it serves, and human-centered design processes at its core, the Bulsho Fund offers an exciting example of how development can be re-imagined in Somalia. GFCF grant funds supported the Fund’s first round of grantmaking, as well as internal capacity strengthening as it got up and running.
The GFCF has provided the Bulsho Fund with grant support totalling US $55,000.