Established in 2022, Transforming INGO Models for Equity (TIME) is a collaboration-based initiative that seeks to explore how SRHR INGOs can and should rethink how they operate to contribute to responsive, equitable, and inclusive development. It is grounded in the understanding that the SRHR community is prepared, and in many cases is already, moving towards more locally-led development. And that INGOs would benefit from a consultative process that examines how to adapt their operational models to achieve this goal. At its core, TIME believes that one INGO alone cannot lead sector-wide reforms,but together – working as a community of INGOs, NNGOs, and funders – it is possible to chart a course that is equitable,resilient, and accountable.
In fact, the story of TIME began with collaboration. In 2021, the leaders of four SRHR INGOs1 were all independently thinking about how to transform their organizations and better meet the needs of partners. Each one realized that this reflective work would be stronger if they did it together. That initial group of leaders spurred the creation of the TIME initiative, based on the belief that SRHR INGOs need to acknowledge and learn from their history, use their place of power to amplify progress in the present, and co-create a more equitable future.
Since then, TIME has become an initiative that is bigger than any one organization. This brief represents the culmination of a year of listening. From the start, the initiative understood that progress required genuine introspection and that this process was as (if not more) important than the outcome. TIME has done the work. It has spent a good amount of time listening to local, international, and regional organizations across sub-Saharan Africa in a variety of ways to foster authentic understanding of the contextual and relational challenges – and solutions – that are only possible with trust-building and thoughtful exchange.