Renewal of South African NGO Movement Activism
Thursday 5 April, 2018 – 13:23
Communiqué and Plan of Action of National NGO Consultative Forum
Wednesday, 28 March 2018, Braamfontein, Gauteng
The inaugural consultative NGO forum, convened towards the renewal and revitalization of the South African NGO movement activism brought together over hundred (100) NGOs and CBOs from across the country at Parktonian hotel, Braamfontein, Gauteng on the 28th March 2018 to collectively reflect on the state and challenges facing the NGO sector with the aim of strengthening, securing and consolidating the sector’s common future and gains to advance the interest of our people for development, peace, justice & accountability.
Collectively, the inaugural NGO consultative forum represented a community of interests with a shared set of principles, values and ethics; most importantly, social and economic justice, inclusive and participatory development, accountability, transparency and a commitment to people-centered national development.
The consultative forum noted that the NGO sector is the only civil society sector which is not organised and coordinated nationally to engage effectively with the national development agenda with one, united voice.
The consultative forum further recognized the need for the NGO sector to convene itself to determine its agenda in the context of national development challenges and priorities, and reclaim its role through the revival of a vibrant and well-coordinated progressive NGO movement as a key asset for the ongoing struggle for democratic and social transformation. For this reason, the consultative forum declares as a key strategic purpose of the renewed NGO movement to fight corruption and ensure public accountability in all spheres of society, including amongst our own formations and organizations.
Accordingly, the consultative forum called for the revitalization process to be accelerated, that this inaugural national NGO consultative forum of thematic sectors and networks must immediately be followed by nine (9) provincial consultative forums which will culminate into a national NGO Week/Conference in October 2018.
As the NGO movement, we are cognizant of the challenges we are facing at national, provincial and local levels, including our lack of coordination, lack of a common programme of action as well as resource & capacity constraints. We have therefore resolved to chart a shared roadmap towards NGO unity and revival, and a course of action to advance our collective intervention and contribution during this period of national rebirth and the renewal of a promise.
We resolved to ensure the full and active participation and inclusion of all sectors including children, youth, women, older persons, and people living with disabilities in engaging our government towards poverty eradication to achieve the South Africa We Want!
Importantly, we further resolved to urgently coordinate NGO sector at national, provincial and local levels to pursue value-based unity in developing common platform and pledge towards the revival of the coordinated NGO sector in South Africa.
Informed by the theme of the revival process of “renewal of the South African NGO Movement Activism”, we adopted the following minimum Plan of Action as our collective commitment and roadmap towards the revitalized South African NGO movement and an engaged civil society in pursuance of the values and aspirations of our constitutional democracy.
NGO Services
