Isandla Institute facilitated a strategic framework discussion and the strategic thinking and planning process for the Board of the NDA as it geared-up to expend approximately R300 million per annum for use by South African civil society organisations who work on poverty eradication, 1999.

Isandla Institute was commissioned by UNDP-South Africa to prepare a background paper on ‘new spaces for democratic engagement’ between the state and civil society in South Africa. The paper informed the Human Development Report for South Africa, 2000.

Isandla Institute undertook background research and managed a project for SANGOCO on what the elements of a broad-based poverty eradication campaign should entail, 1999-2000.

This report was prepared as part of a multi-country comparative study of John Hopkins University on the state of the non-profit sector, 2000.

A research paper on urban social movements in South Africa was prepared for a new global research network, comprised of academics and NGO researchers from South Africa, Brazil, Thailand and India, 2002.

Isandla Institute drafted a concept paper that served as a starting point for a sector-wide (training and organisational development NGOs) discussion on how to scale-up activities aimed at building the capacity of organisations of the poor, 2002.

Isandla Institute facilitated a series of open-ended dialogues with former political activists to commemorate ten years of political freedom and signal what a more expansive and holistic development approach should entail. This resulted in a book project and the publication Voices of the Transition, which was published by Heinemann in 2004.

Voices of the Transition (2004) - ISBN-10: 0796209707; ISBN-13: 978-0796209702

Research study on the Homeless People's Alliance of South Africa as part of a larger comparative investigation into new social movements under the auspices of the Centre for Civil Society (University of KwaZulu-Natal), 2004.

The workshop convened in April 2010 sought to create a platform for knowledge sharing and strengthening of collaborative action and advocacy on poverty and inequality. The workshop was co-hosted by the Studies in Poverty and Inequality Institute (SPII), the Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies (PLAAS) and Isandla Institute. It followed on from the national conference with the same title that the organisers, with the Presidency as a fourth partner, hosted in September 2010.

Isandla Institute has taken a particular interest in ensuring that the urban governance NGO sector is more coherent and coordinated in its efforts to address urban poverty and exclusion, and in particular becomes a more meaningful actor in informal settlement upgrading initiatives by fulfilling requisite intermediary functions between the state and poor communities. The initial 2-year project concluded in October 2013, with the subsequent focus (2014 – current) shifting more explicitly to supporting communities of practice in this regard.

Isandla Institute hosts the Secretariat of the Good Governance Learning Network (GGLN), a national network of NGOs with an active interest in local governance. The main purpose of the GGLN is to facilitate knowledge sharing, peer learning, knowledge production and advocacy aimed at strengthening meaningful participatory local governance. Amongst others, the GGLN produces the annual The State of Local Governance publication, focusing on pertinent themes such as leadership, social accountability, responsiveness, and so on.

Further details about the network, its membership and its work can be found on www.ggln.org.za.