Botswana Council of Non-Governmental Organizations (BOCONGO) and Botswana Association of Local Authorities (BALA) have recently launched a project which is aimed at strengthening the capacity of local civil societies.
The project which was funded by the European Union (EU), seeks to capacitate Botswana civil society to play an effective role for enhanced accountability and development.
In addition, its objective is to strengthen the capacity of both BOCONGO and BALA for the provision of efficient coordination and leadership of civil society and local authorities towards effective implementation of the National Development Plan (NDP) 11 and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Speaking during the launch where BOCONGO and BALA signed a Memorandum of Understanding, BOCONGO Executive Director, Monametsi Sokwe said the project will also address issues of good governance, gender equality, and democracy among others.
Sokwe said the project will strengthen the capacity of the two organizations to provide effective coordination and leadership of civil societies and local authorities to ensure that societies get desired outcomes in the implementation of SDGs and NDP11.
“We want to develop and implement social accountability system for effective monitoring of the NDP11 and SDGs,” said Sokwe.
For his part, BALA President Jeffrey Sibisibi, said the project would help the organization to effectively play a watchdog role for enhanced accountability.
“This watchdog role provides a mechanism for ensuring efficient and effective development of resources for enhanced delivery of services,” said Sibisibi.
Sibisibi said the initiative will go a long way in empowering civil society organizations and local authorities on the timely delivery of government services to the citizens.
“It is for these reasons that I stand here to make a commitment that the organization that I lead will diligently execute this project to its conclusion,” he said.
