Shifting the Power: Midler til kapacitetsudvikling går til syv partnerskaber i dansk og globalt civilsamfund
Puljen for fælles kapacitetsudvikling støttede i 2025 syv projekter, der undersøger nye måder at arbejde med magt, ansvar og ligeværd i udviklingssamarbejdet.
This article is also available in English. You will find the English version af the bottom of the page.
Efter et strategisk løft i 2025 har Globalt Fokus’ Fund for Joint Capacity Development haft sit hidtil mest aktive år. Syv projekter har fået støtte til at undersøge og afprøve, hvordan magt kan deles mere retfærdigt mellem danske civilsamfundsorganisationer og deres partnere i den globale majoritet. Projekterne spænder bredt, men har ét fælles udgangspunkt: at ligeværdige partnerskaber og magtbalancer ikke opstår af sig selv, men kræver tid, refleksion og konkrete greb.
Puljen er finansieret af Udenrigsministeriet og fungerer som et fælles læringsrum, hvor organisationer kan eksperimentere med nye måder at samarbejde på uden krav om klassiske projektresultater. Fokus er i stedet på processer, relationer og strukturer, der former magtbalancer i udviklingssamarbejdet.
Stort engagement og mange veje til Shifting the Power
I 2025 modtog puljen 21 ansøgninger fra danske organisationer og deres partnere, som tilsammen pegede på et markant behov for netop denne type støtte. Og selve bevillingsprocessen har vist at arbejdet med Shifting the Power kan tage mange forskellige former.
Ansøgningerne vidnede om stor metodisk variation og et fælles ønske om at tage fat på de mere grundlæggende spørgsmål i samarbejdet: Hvem definerer problemer og løsninger? Hvem har beslutningskraft og adgang til ressourcer? Og hvordan kan ansvar, viden og indflydelse fordeles mere retfærdigt?
Puljens fleksible ramme gør det muligt for partnerne selv at tilrettelægge projekterne, så de passer til deres konkrete samarbejde og de udfordringer, de står i.
Med et bevillingsbeløb på i alt 1,4 millioner danske kroner, varierer de syv støttede projekter både størrelse og varighed, men fælles for dem er, at de undersøger magtforhold i partnerskaberne og i civilsamfundssektoren bredere. Nogle projekter tager udgangspunkt i interne processer mellem partnere, for eksempel gennem fælles workshops og dialogforløb, der munder ud i nye aftaleformer eller principper for samarbejdet.
Andre projekter udfordrer mere grundlæggende antagelser i sektoren, blandt andet ved at sætte spørgsmålstegn ved traditionelle forståelser af kapacitetsudvikling og ved at analysere, hvordan fortællinger i medier og kommunikation påvirker relationen mellem organisationer i både den globale minoritet og majoritet. Flere projekter kombinerer det tætte arbejde med partnerskabsrelationer med analyser af de strukturelle magtubalancer, som præger udviklingssamarbejdet som helhed.
Det kommende arbejde med puljen
Puljen genåbner inden sommeren 2026 med forventet ansøgningsfrist i september. Retningslinjerne vil blive justeret på baggrund af erfaringerne fra 2025, men puljens overordnede formål står fast: at skabe rum for refleksion, læring og konkrete skridt mod mere retfærdige og ligeværdige partnerskaber.
Interesserede organisationer opfordres til at holde øje med puljens side her og Globalt Fokus’ nyhedsbrev. Når puljen genåbner, vil det igen være muligt at booke sparringsmøder med puljens rådgiver, Nina Falkesgaard Sørensen. Spørgsmål kan altid rettes til
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The Fund for Joint Capacity Development ends its busiest year yet with distributing 1.4 million Danish kroner to strengthen the Shifint Power agenda
In 2025, the Fund for Joint Capacity Development supported seven projects exploring new ways of working with Shifting the Power in development cooperation.
Following a strategic repositioning in 2025, Global Focus’ Fund for Joint Capacity Development experienced its most active year to date. Seven projects received funding to explore and test how power can be shared more balanced between Danish civil society organisations and their partners in the global majority. While the projects differ in scope and approach, they share a common starting point: equitable partnerships and balanced power relations do not emerge automatically. They require time, reflection, and deliberate action.
The Fund is financed by the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and functions as a shared learning space where organisations can experiment with new forms of collaboration without the pressure to deliver traditional project outputs. Instead, the focus is on processes, relationships, and structures that shape power dynamics in development cooperation.
No one-size-fits-all approach to Shifting the Power
With 21 received applications, the highest number the Fund has ever received, the newly appointed Grants Committee had a lot of work to do at the end of 2025. It quickly became evident for Global Focus as an observer to this process that not only is there a clear need for the financial support this Fund brings, but also that working with Shifting the Power and equitable partnerships can be done in many, many different ways.
The Fund provides the flexibility for the applicant group, consisting of both a Danish organisation and one or more of their current partners in the global majority, to tailor the project between them to the particular context, circumstances, challenges and opportunities of their specific relationship (s) and the applications received clearly showed the benefit of this wide framework under the Fund.
Inspiration from funded projects
The seven projects that have received funding in 2025 span from small projects up to 50.000 DKK with a duration of 2-6 months and bigger projects up to 400.00 DKK with a duration of up to two years. They all explore the Shifting the Power agenda and equitable partnerships in different ways, for example by using the resources under the Fund to 1) arrange a series of workshops and between-partner dialogues on Shifting the Power with the aim of producing a joint framework agreement or 2) to challenge the traditional understanding of ‘capacity development’ and its influence on power balances between civil society actors or 3) to critically examine media narratives and its influence on equitable partnerships.
All projects examine the relationship and dynamic between partners, but within the framework of the Fund, this can be done simultaneously with another process, analysis or examination of the larger landscape of power imbalances in the sector.
Looking ahead
The Fund for Joint Capacity Development is expected to reopen before the summer of 2026, with an anticipated application deadline in September. While the guidelines will be adjusted based on lessons learned from the 2025 funding round, the overall purpose of the Fund remains unchanged: to create space for reflection, learning, and concrete steps towards more just and equitable partnerships.
Interested organisations are encouraged to follow updates on the Fund’s webpage and through Global Focus’ newsletter. Once the Fund reopens, it will again be possible to book advisory meetings with the Fund’s advisor, Nina Falkesgaard Sørensen. Questions can always be directed to
- Oprettet den .
