WORKSHOP SUMMARY – ORBIS

Out of the Box facilitated a workshop on Cross Sector Partnership for Orbis International in Cape Town, South Africa.

Orbis works to stop preventable blindness, fully aware of the impact that sight has to an individual, their family, and the community where they live. Orbis believes that vision is key to a healthy, productive life; that investing in ensuring access to comprehensive, high quality eye care is a cost-effective way to boost overall health, restore dignity and quality of life, increase educational achievement and improve economic productivity.  Staff from many different Orbis teams attended including New York, London, Zambia, Ethiopia, and South Africa.

The workshop opened with a session on changing the world challenging participants to think about change both on a personal and organisational level.  Participants were to move outside their “comfort zone”.  We examined who can change the world discussing various examples, and concluding that we can all change the world and very much acknowledged that Orbis already has!

Barriers to change were acknowledged and discussed particularly the fear of failure that prevents many people from engaging with change.  The pre-requisites for sustainable change were discussed, after which we worked through the change process discussing the various steps needed to bring about sustainable change.

The Post 2015 Development Agenda through partnerships session focused on the changing environment in which NGOS are operating in and the challenges and opportunities that this environment presents to Orbis.  We reflected on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGS), and what they have achieved.  We acknowledged that Orbis has made a contribution to the MDGS through its programmes.

The Post 2015 Agenda was introduced and an update given on where the process is now to develop the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).  The SDGs will form the basis of the global development agenda for the next 15 years.  The process of developing the goals has been very inclusive by engaging people around the world in the “MY World” Survey.  Following on from the SDG discussion we looked at the changing environment in which NGOS are operating in and what challenges and opportunities this presents for Orbis.  We looked at key questions in this area.

After lunch we looked at the benefits and opportunities that cross sector partnership presents for Orbis.  This was done through an exercise where participants were divided into two countries – Zambia and Ethiopia.  Each country was given a challenge to solve through cross sector partnership.  In Zambia participants were asked to look at the rollout of the “I see You” film across Zambia, the purpose of which was to facilitate conversations in communities in order to change people’s health seeking behaviours.  In Ethiopia participants looked at the elimination of trachoma across Ethiopia.  Participants took on the role of partners in the various sectors and discussed what they could bring to this partnership, and also what they would gain from the partnership.

A discussion followed the exercise with some key feedback from both groups.

Cross sector partnering takes time, and is a process. It was a good experience to “walk in the shoes” of other sectors and this challenged participants to think about partnering differently. Cross sector partnering leads to a comprehensive solution to a challenge – all skills and abilities needed to solve the challenge exist in different sectors.

The final session looked at “Making it Happen” – how do we translate what we have learnt during the workshop into the reality of Orbis for participants.  Each country group worked on mechanisms that need to be in place to enable Cross Sector Partnership in Orbis in their country.

Out of the Box would like to thank the staff and management of Orbis for their excellent participation in this workshop.  We wish you continued success as you embark on your cross sector partnering journey.