CSCI’s strategic ambition is to become a reference civil society umbrella organisation for citizen oversight of public action. However, the platform identified uneven organisational and thematic capacities among member organisations as a barrier to more effective action. These capacity gaps affected work on participatory governance, public policy monitoring and strategic advocacy. 

The project aimed to operationalise CSCI’s strategic orientations through two main pillars: organisational capacity strengthening and thematic capacity development. The organisational pillar focused on equipping civil society organisations with policies, tools and frameworks to improve effectiveness. The thematic pillar aimed to position members to engage with emerging issues such as climate change, social inclusion and migration. 

Planned activities included workshops for CSCI staff, governance bodies and members on key policy and strategy documents, including the strategic plan, procedures manual, SEAH manual and anti-fraud manual. The project also included technical support for member organisations to adapt or develop their own policy documents, as well as a participatory monitoring and evaluation system and sessions to capture good practices.