Support ends
Change stays
Catalysing communities to be
more inclusive & resilient
Grassroots Partners
We support grassroot partners with strategic advice, coordination, and hands-on support wherever it adds the most value - always locally-led. See what support we offer.
Funding Partners
We build a growing network of philanthropic funds who believe that bottom-up system change is possible. Learn more how your money can be invested in lasting change.
'We can't develop others, we develop ourselves' - Joseph Ki-Zerbo
The future of a community is shaped from within, by the people who live it. People develop themselves. That is the starting point for everything TUNAFASI does.
TUNAFASI supports local leaders and grassroots organisations working with the most marginalized communities, in low-income and conflict affected countries. These are the communities overlooked by existing systems, where needs are greatest, and where the smallest shift from within can spark lasting change. Because sustainable systems that include the most marginalized work for everyone.
TUNAFASI's role is temporary by design; to catalyse, and then step away.
Everything we do is guided by 4 principles
Exit-ready
From day one, it is agreed together how the programme is being embedded into the system, who leads and owns it, and when external support ends. We call this an exit strategy.
Trust-based
The partnership is built on trust, respect and shared responsibility. That means honest, open conversations, including when things are difficult or go differently as planned.
Locally-led
Grassroots partners in the Global South lead the work and drive strategic decisions to make sustainable change happen. Together, the focus is on where TUNAFASI's support adds most value.
Leave no one behind
Support goes specifically to those most marginalised and hardest to reach: persons with disabilities, women of reproductive age, indigenous communities on the climate frontline.
Support stronger systems and safer futures.
Disability Prevention & Rehabilitation Program (DPRP)
TUNAFASI supports community-based programs that strengthen existing local health, education, and social systems, so persons with disabilities can fully participate in society. With more than 25 years of practice, network, and demonstrated impact, DPRP is evidence that a community-led approach to disability prevention and rehabilitation can work, scale, and last.
Other bottom-up system change initiatives
TUNAFASI’s approach to locally-led, exit strategy, trust-based is not exclusive to DPRP. At its core, it means TUNAFASI works alongside local leaders and amplifies what communities and systems already know or do. Whether they are navigating disability, climate change, or other forms of marginalisation. Even the smallest shift from within can spark lasting change.
Our impact in numbers since our founding in 2019
Numbers aren’t everything, but we are proud to see our grassroots partners impact grow every year.
10.000Children with disabilities supported
10.000Children supported
75.000Women
10.000Children supported
10.000Children supported
2Million (€)
5Partnerships
10.000Children supported
20.000People reached
10.000Children supported
10.000Children supported
Stories of the programs
we support
Learning Dialogue about Locally Led Development
A learning dialogue organized with Pastoral Women's Cousil from Tanzania on locally led development, challenging funding systems, the importance of trust-based partnerships, and the role of local leadership, human rights defenders, and youth in driving sustainable change.
10 year Anniversary of the AFAS Foundation ‘Hope Gives Life’
The AFAS Foundation is celebrating 10 years and marked the occasion with a special event ‘Hoop Doet Leven’ (Dutch for ‘Hope Gives Life’) at the AFAS Theater in Leusden. The core theme of the evening was ‘hope’ within the social impact sector that AFAS has been supporting for the last decade.
New Policies, New Opportunties: From Health Project to Multisector Inclusion: A Turning Point for Disability Inclusion in the DRC
In 2025, Council of Ministers of DRC approved a National Policy and 2025–2030 Strategy for the Empowerment and Social Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities. This new strategy introduces a framework and mandates the creation of provincial disability divisions and municipal disability focal points.
