Dr. Godwin Mollel, the Deputy Minister responsible for Health, Community Development, Gender, Elderly and Children has called upon NGOs and the government to work together towards adopting a cross-cutting tracking system which will help monitor the important contributions of the civil society in the country.
Dr. Mollel made this statement as the Guest of Honor during the closing ceremony of the two-day Stakeholders Meeting in Dar Es Salaam between civil society members and his ministry “The civil society plays a significant role in the socio-economic development of our nation. And we as a government would like to commend you for that,”said Dr. Mollel.
“However, I believe that there should be a cross-cutting tracking system that will facilitate the monitoring and regular sharing of information between NGOs and government from the district, regional to national level, which will help keep track of the significant progress that you are making,”insisted the minister.
In addition to that, Dr. Mollel said that it is about time that government officials such as district and regional commissioners include the contributions of NGOs in their reports while addressing senior leaders paying official visits to their regions.
Speaking on the investment of development projects, the minister said “NGOs should be keen not to duplicate what the government is already doing. NGOs have the opportunity to invest in other potential projects. This will therefore enable us to properly use our resources for the maximum benefit of the people.”
Dr. Mollel also took the opportunity to highlight the role of NGOs in the promotion and protection of peace and security in the country.
Lastly, Dr. Mollel said that in order to continue its valued relationship with the civil society the government has received the recommendations of the meeting with open arms and promises to work on them.
Executive Director of Foundation for Civil Society(FCS) Francis Kiwanga, addressing participants during the stakeholders meeting of NGOS and The Ministry of Health,Community Development,Gender, Elders and Children
Francis Kiwanga, Executive Director of Foundation for Civil Society (FCS) said the stakeholders meeting brought together 350 participants from the civil society sector including International and Local NGOs for discussions with government. Speaking on the objective of the meeting, Kiwanga said that the stakeholders meeting provides an opportunity to discuss the achievements and good work being done by NGOs in the Country, challenges as well as to propose amendments to policies, laws and regulations governing NGOs in the country
‘’ The meeting with government and NGO has been a historic event because for the first time we have had an event of such magnitude between the ministry and NGOs where the ministry sought to get feedback on issues within the civil society sector, in terms of laws and regulations and to provide inputs in their implementation. Through the meeting we want to strength our working relations and partnerships between the ministry and NGOs. It has been proposed by the government to have annual engagement meetings to discuss issues in the NGO sector for the progress of the sector and development in the country’’ he said.
Focus Magwesela, The Secretary from the National Council of Non-Governmental Organizations (NaCONGO) said that up to January 17 this year, a total of 11,089 NGOs had been registered. Out of these 326 are international and 8,622 are local NGOs while 672 were registered at regional and 1,099 at district level.
