We were misquoted � BOCONGO

| Friday February 21, 2014 15:40

We wish to restate and emphasise that the upcoming NGO conference being hosted by BOCONGO is the first public policy dialogue of its scale to be hosted in Botswana with the aim of positioning the NGO sector as a strategic partner in national development.

The NGO sector makes a significant contribution to the National Development Plans and Vision 2016.  The theme of the conference is: Positioning NGOs in a changing national and global landscape: Strategic Partnerships for Sustainable Development. The conference will focus on topical concerns including HIV and AIDS, non-communicable and chronic diseases, youth unemployment, and poverty eradication, as threats to sustainable development in Botswana.

The NGO  Conference is a platform to showcase the achievements and innovations of NGOs in different sectors, share information, knowledge, strategies, challenges and solutions for an enhanced and elevated NGO, government, private sector, international partners and donor partnerships.

It is also an opportunity to network and take stock of the diversity of NGO interventions in Botswana. As we dialogue on positioning the NGO sector as a national development partner we wish to cast wide our stakeholder base by engaging our stakeholders at the conference.

The NGO conference will produce a communique indicating key issues and recommendations for strengthening the NGO sector as a national development partner and identify priority issues for enhancing NGO/government/private sector/ ICPs and donors partnerships and engagement strategies towards sustainability of NGOs.

The NGO conference report and catalogue of NGO work in Botswana will thereafter be accessible to the public on the BOCONGO website. This NGO Conference is a milestone event in BOCONGO’s history since it was established in 1995, with a mandate to  facilitate coordination and networking among NGOs in Botswana. BOCONGO’s vision is to ensure an enabling environment for a strong and vibrant NGO sector.

BOCONGO has 130 member organisations within 11 sectors of agriculture and environment; arts and culture; development arm of the church; disability; gender and development; health and HIV and AIDS; human rights; media; microfinance; credit and empowerment; science, technology and training and youth and children. BOCONGO has contracted The Business Center to be the event managers and they are responsible for all the logistics associated with the conference.

The conference venue is the Gaborone Sun from the 11th - 13th March.