K1 billion NGO Fund officially launched
After it was noted that some community development projects which non-governmental organisations (NGOs) initiated were not being sustained once their donors make their exit, the President Lazarus Chakwera mooted out an NGO Fund, which the government factored in its 2024/25 National Budget.
The NGO Fund, which Parliament passed pegged at K1 billion, was officially launched on Monday by Minister of gender, Community Development & Social Welfare Jean Sendeza at Amaryllis Hotel in Blantyre
The NGO Fund was mooted by President Chakwera when he attended NGO Day in Lilongwe last year where the NGOs showcased their work and a 2023 NGO Sector Report was also launched, which highlighted some serious challenges the sector was experiencing, that included compliance rate of registered NGOs, which is currently at 61%.
“The NGO Report also made it evident that the NGO sector is one of the key sectors in the social and economic development of the country,” Sendeza said. “It indicated that the sector had an annual income of over MK589 billion of which MK473 billion was received in foreign currency.
“Despite such positives, it should, however, be noted that since 2020, at least 20 NGOs close annually with at least 100 reported dormant due to financial constraints putting the sector at risk of weakening.
“Aside from the challenges noted above, it was also noted that some NGOs fail to register with the Authority due financial constraints, some even fail to get an audited financial statement to fulfil the requirements of the law.”
She added that it was also noted that potential donors, “fail to provide grants to some NGOs who fail to meet donor requirements and fail to manage the grants due to capacity challenges”.
“Further to this, there is an outcry from [government Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs)], who have noticed challenges in the coordination of NGOs — especially at district level which has contributed to these NGOs working in silos, hence duplicating their efforts.
“Monitoring of NGO work has also proven to be difficult due to financial challenges in the district councils. Not only that, poor alignment has also made it hard to profile the sector’s contributions towards national development.”
She emphasised that after going through the NGO Report, President Chakwera got concern over the challenges being faced by the sector and gave a directive to her Ministry and NGO Regulatory Authority (NGORA) “to come up with a comprehensive capacity building program for the sector in order to make it vibrant”.
She emphasised that the NGO Fund “is not only valuable in monetary terms, but [was designed to] assist players in the sector to start dealing with some of the challenges being faced”.
“I envision that through the NGO Fund, NGOs will be assisted to have impact in the communities that they work in and thus help the country to achieve the MW2063 and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
“My Ministry and NGORA will continue to work together ensure that the Fund is not only for one time, but to make it an annual thing because we know that the challenges faced in the sector, cannot end within this short time frame or with K1 billion only.
She implored on the sector, to work together to interrogate how they can continuously capacitate the sector to have greater impact in the communities.
On his part, NGORA Chief Executive Officer, Edward Chileka-Banda emphasised that the NGO Sector continues to be a recipient of increased development aid as over the past three years, it has received a total of MK248 billion in 2021, MK419 billion in 2022, and MK589 billion in 2023 — as according to the NGO Sector reports generated by NGORA.
“The question we should all ask is; are communities becoming more economically independent from these huge investments? Is Malawi making the best out of the development aid? Are beneficiaries graduating from poverty? The answer is NO.
“The increased dependence on aid amidst worsening poverty and hunger justifies the need for Malawi to invest in capacity building in all sectors including the NGO sector.”
Thus, he said, the President directed NGORA and the Ministry of Gender, Community Development & Social Welfare to develop a comprehensive capacity building programme for the NGO sector.
He impressed on the participants present from the NGOs, saying the launch of the K1 billion NGO Fund “demonstrates the government’s resolve to see a vibrant and strong NGO sector that contributes to the achievement of MW2063 and the SDGs”.
“The Fund, which is sourced from government subvention and NGO fees, is expected to strengthen the capacity of NGOs and selected government agencies including Councils and line Ministries to further institutionalise, promote coordination, and enhance monitoring and learning processes so that Malawi makes big out of the investments in the NGO sector.
“This intervention is in line with aspirations as stipulated in the NGO Act and the NGO Policy [and] we expect that the NGO Fund will trigger growth in capacity by local agencies, and improve collaboration among NGOs, government agencies, and development partners to eliminate policy misalignment, and duplication of efforts and instead boost sustainability of NGO sector interventions.
“Additionally, the NGO Fund is expected to improve the quality of services being provided through robust monitoring and learning activities,” Chileka-Banda said.
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