24 Sep 2015

Botswana Community Based Network (BOCOBONET) is developing a strategic framework to address the needs of the rural community.

Speaking during the BOCOBONET workshop, the chairperson of the non-governmental organisation council, Ms Bookie Kethusegile said before the formation of BOCOBONET, there were less than 20 community based organisations. 

BOCOBONET, which is part of the non-governmental organisations’ council, is a community advocacy network. Its role includes facilitation of control over community based natural resources which form part of the four thematic areas of BOCOBONET. The areas are community education and rural governance, enterprise development, social welfare and youth affairs and holistic natural resources and integrated agriculture.

She said organisations under BOCOBONET were not progressing well as their voices were not audible enough because they were scattered all over the country and had poor administration. 

Ms Kethusegile said through community based natural resources management, the organisations were grouped to establish BOCOBONET through the USAID fund. She said BOCOBONET started incurring challenges after the drying up of donor funding hence the organisation was detouched from members. 

She said through the funding of the NGO council, BOCOBONET has been able to do the needs assessment of its members so that it could develop a strategic plan for the organisation. 

The needs assessment report, she said, would help inform the government and stakeholders about the situation on the ground and the needs of the rural communitie, and to come up with strategies to address the identified needs. In addition, Ms Kethusegile said the NGO council would also assist BOCOBONET with mobilising resources to address the needs as identified in the situational analysis report. 

BOCOBONET’s executive secretary, Mr Douglas Lecholo said coming up with a strategy follows the needs assessment exercise that his organisation conducted to identify the needs of respective communities. 

He stressed the need to empower local communities so that it sustains itself and reduce dependence on the government. 

Mr Lecholo said BOCOBONET, through the needs assessment exercise, seeks to revitalise and capacitate community based organisations most of which were not realising their goals due to limitations such as lack of capacity, lack of funding, poor structures of governance and the general lack of expertise to diversify and commercialise their projects.

 In addition, Mr Lecholo said community trusts as the economic arm of villages play a significant role in the livelihoods of the rural community hence a need to empower them. Ends