NGO mapping benefiting communities in Ntchisi

The mapping of Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), Which established databases of all NGOs operating in all traditional authorities (TAs) of Malawi, is reportedly enabling communities in Ntchisi district to access more benefits from the interventions of NGOs.

The mapping is also enabling Ntchisi District Council, Area Development Committees (ADCs) and Village Development Committees (VDCs) to track NGOs and ensure that their interventions are distributed fairly across the district and truly benefit communities.

Monitoring and Evaluation Officer for Ntchisi District Council, Solomon Mbewe, said this during a fact finding mission organized by the NGO Board of Malawi.

Apparently, the NGO Board of Malawi—a state owned registrar and regulator of all NGOs and civil society organizations—did the NGO mapping and presented the database to all district councils in May this year.

Almost six months down the line, Mbewe has already highlighted the benefits of the mapping in Ntchisi, adding that it has also reduced cases of replication of interventions among NGOs.

“NGOs and their interventions and activities in the district have always been coordinated from the office of the Director of Planning and Development (DPD), with the help of some network. The coming in of NGO Board and the mapping database, has consolidated these efforts. Right now we have all the details of NGOs and stakeholders on the ground.

“We know where they are operating and their interventions. When we notice any replication of interventions, we reallocate and distribute across, fairly. So, the mapping database has given us a basis for doing things the right way. It is the guiding tool for allocating interventions of NGOs,” explained Mbewe.

He added that, since May, Ntchisi District Council, ADCs and VDCs and other relevant stakeholders have had ample time to allocate and reallocate certain interventions across the district to ensure that more people benefit.

Mbewe said, that was done because they felt some interventions in some TAs were already “well covered”.

“All that action emanated from the mapping database, which the NGO Board and us, are working hard to consolidate. Of course, there are a few pockets of replication here and there. But it is not as bad as it was then,” he said.

Mbewe further said the NGO mapping is also enabling Ntchisi District Council, which he claimed has established monitoring structures, to track the progress of NGOs interventions based on their thematic areas of focus, such as: education, governance, agriculture and food security.

In his remarks, ADC Chairperson in TA Chikho, Mavuto Kenneth Chisaka, concurred with Mbewe, adding that the grass root people now know the NGOs operating in their areas and able to demand transparency and accountability from them.

“There is improvement. There is visible monitoring of NGOs and their interventions and activities. Communities own the interventions, that are implemented based on the needs of the people. More development is beginning to be seen to be done on the ground,” Chisaka said.

Sharing is caring!