The annual Civil Society Organization Sustainability Index (CSOSI), which has been funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) for the past 25 years, assesses the strength and viability of the civil society organization (CSO) sector in 73 countries. The index informs and affects the role CSOs play in these countries. Each annual edition contains regional reports that assess seven dimensions of the CSO sector’s sustainability in countries across Asia, Central and Eastern Europe and Eurasia, Mexico, sub-Saharan Africa, and the Middle East and North Africa.

FHI 360 produces the index in partnership with local partners. To produce the annual country reports, an implementing partner in each country manages a panel of local CSO experts who score sustainability across seven dimensions each year. The implementing partners also write the country reports. After undergoing a rigorous editing process led by the International Center for Not-for-Profit Law, the country reports are compiled into regional reports and published.

Throughout FHI 360’s time overseeing CSOSI, we have designed and implemented ways to improve the process of producing the index. This included piloting and incorporating electronic questionnaires, baseline recalibrations, and university reviews to increase the quality of the country reports as well as the reliability of the scoring process.

Read the latest regional reports here.