The 8 National Society Africa Initiative (8NS) was established in 2008 as a collaborative pilot project between the African Red Cross National Societies (ANS) of Côte d’Ivoire, Liberia, Mozambique and Sierra Leone and the Partner Red Cross National Societies of Britain, Norway, Canada and the Netherlands.

Its overall goal was to increase the capabilities and sustainability of the ANS to “make a positive difference to vulnerable people and their communities.”

The 8NS four key objectives to achieve these goals were to increase sustainability, decrease dependency, improve coordination, and assure that organizational learning and reflection is shared and put into practice.

By collaborating with established Red Cross Societies, the African partners were able to learn how to strengthen relationships with government and work towards being able to contribute and eventually cover their own costs entirely.

The 8NS came at a time when many African nations were struggling to deal with dangerous natural disasters or emerging from years of conflict and war.

Cooperation among the 8NS better enabled the partners to deal with the hard times and emerge stronger and more independent.

In the end, the 8NS Initiative created more engaged, confident and knowledgeable National Societies. It improved coordination among partners allowing strategic plan and sharing knowledge to be more efficient and it helped to improve the management of staff and volunteers and developed concrete tools to measure its progress, establishing baselines to assess its strength and weaknesses.

The Canadian Red Cross was in charge of organizing the final Africa 8 summit, where the 8NS wrapped up its mandate and celebrated its achievements. In collaboration with the Liberian Red Cross, tote bags that were made by Liberian women who were affected by the Liberian Civil war were given out to all participants.

The women went through Red Cross programs that helped them learn these skills to help them earn an income after the war.