12 Mar 2014

Government continues to seek improved ways of strengthening partnerships with all sectors of the economy for a more efficient and effective public administration and delivery of services to Batswana.

This was said by the Minister of Labour and Home Affairs, Mr Edwin Batshu when officiating at the Non-Governmental Organisations (NGO) Biennial conference.

The theme of the conference was Positioning NGOs in a Changing national and global landscape: Strategic Partnerships for Sustainable Development. Mr Batshu said government could have not made it alone in moving Botswana from being the least developed to a middle income country that it is today without the concerted efforts of NGOs as strategic partners.

Therefore, he congratulated the Botswana Council of Non-Governmental Organisations (BOCONGO) for organising the three days conference.

BOCONGO was key to unlocking opportunities for partnership with government, donors and the private sector.

The event was also applauded for celebrating and showcasing the foot prints of NGO work in Botswana.

“No matter how efficient you are as an organisation in delivering your mandate, missing a chance to continuously assess changes in landscape, be it economic performance at the national level and or perhaps global changes in aid prioritisation can be threatening to your organisational survival or sustainability,” he added.

NGOs, Mr Batshu said played a critical role in the society, as in addition to building and strengthening the rule of just laws, they also stimulated responsive and accountable public and private institutions for the benefit of citizens.

“They are agents of change, but their ability to effect change rests on their independence, self-sustenance and their ability to hold independent opinions that influence policy formation and advocate for change and or amendment of laws,” he said.

Furthermore, he said, NGOs also provided an independent assessment of how public resources were allocated at national and local levels and further monitored whether the resources translated into ‘value for money’ and reach the intended beneficiaries at the end of the day.

“They are not arm chair critics who believe things happen outside their control and influence,” he added.

Therefore, the minister said, government expected NGOs to come up with proposals that would assist in the efficient and effective national development implementation processes, adding that government was optimistic about the NGO policy and NGO council as tools or instruments that could guide the NGO and government relations.

Although he said he was aware that NGOs continued to suffer from lack of resources, something that impedes their ability to fully achieve their mission and results in their reliance on donors and government, Mr Batshu challenged NGOs to look beyond government and other donor support.

He encouraged them to explore new opportunities that would enable them to position themselves strategically in order to continue to sustainably deliver on their mandates.

The conference, hosted by BOCONGO will discuss, among others, the post 2015 sustainable development agenda, poverty eradication, gender issues and youth development. ENDS