ATI analysis | 8 September 2026
Featured image: an illustrative meeting image from ATI’s media library; it does not depict the PMNCH survey or a named partner.
Funding cuts can leave an NGO with approved activities but too little money to deliver them safely. A new PMNCH update makes service continuity an urgent management question for African organisations working with women, children and adolescents.
What the September PMNCH survey reports
In its 6 September 2026 report, PMNCH says 69% of responding partner organisations had reduced, suspended or closed programmes. Respondents were based in 67 countries. These are findings from a global partner survey, not an estimate of the share of all African NGOs affected.
The report includes African experiences: a Sierra Leone organisation described pressure on disability-inclusive programming, while Plan International Zambia highlighted working through community organisations and government stakeholders. The examples show why managers should examine who loses access when resources shrink.
An ATI service-continuity checklist for African NGOs
The following practical framework is ATI’s analysis. It is intended for a joint review by programme, finance, safeguarding and monitoring staff, adapted to the organisation’s agreements and context.
1. Identify the service at risk
Replace a broad statement such as “the project faces a shortfall” with a specific service, location, affected group and interruption date. Distinguish activities that can be postponed from those where interruption could leave people without a safe referral or support route. Ask frontline partners to check the assumptions.
2. Build a realistic cash timeline
Separate confirmed receipts from pending proposals. List existing commitments and the dates on which decisions must be made. Prepare a continuation option, a reduced-scope option and an orderly handover option. Show the assumptions behind each; a prospective grant should not be treated as money already available.
3. Test the consequences of each option
For every proposed reduction, record who would be excluded, what alternative provision actually exists and who has confirmed it. A referral is not a solution until the receiving provider can accept people. Include transport, language and disability-access barriers in that check.
4. Agree changes before implementation
Record the proposed scope, responsibilities, revised milestones and approvals needed under the relevant agreement. Avoid transferring additional work to a local partner without discussing staffing and delivery costs. Where responsibilities change, revisit ATI’s partner due diligence resource to identify questions that need renewed assessment.
5. Keep a short decision record
Use one row per affected service: current commitment; confirmed resources; interruption risk; proposed action; responsible person; approval status; next review date. Add the evidence that would trigger a change of plan. This makes the discussion usable at the next management meeting rather than leaving it as a general concern.
Communicate what communities can rely on
Give service users a clear explanation of confirmed changes through channels they can access. State when further information will be available and how concerns can be raised. Avoid promising a restart date that depends on an unconfirmed award. Monitor missed referrals and complaints alongside expenditure so financial adjustments do not conceal delivery failures.
Strengthen the management behind programme continuity
Bring one affected service to your next programme review and complete the decision record together. For further professional development, review ATI’s Grants Management Training Workshop and assess its relevance to your responsibilities.
Source note: Survey findings and country examples are attributed to PMNCH. The checklist and decision-record format are ATI’s original practical analysis. This article is not a grant announcement.