27 Nov 2019

Declining funding of civil society organisations has been identified as one of the major challenges impeding efficient mandate execution. 

Briefing the media recently, Ngamiland Council of Non-Governmental Organisation (NCONGO) executive director, Mr Siyoka Simasiku noted that funding of Civil Society Organisations (CSO), especially from foreign sources, had gone down. 

Mr Simasiku attributed the decline to Botswana’s upper-middle-income status explaining that some foreign donors had now shifted their focus to poorer countries. 

The state of affairs had resulted in some organisations downscaling or even closing shop, he said. 

However, Mr Simasiku said although funding from major donors continued to decline, government and  private entity support had increased. 

For his part, Mr Gosalamang Xaa, a NCONGO board member, said another big challenge facing CSOs was land. 

Most organisations, he said, operated from leased land which was costly. 

NCONGO is a volunteer directed organisation responsible for coordinating non-governmental organisations’ efforts in Ngamiland, capacity building as well as facilitation of networking and communication in the region. 

The organisation’s covers youth, HIV/AIDS, conservation, orphans, vulnerable children and community based natural resources management issues. Ends