Greater participation: NGOs unite to provide govt with development framework
A committee will formulate recommendations for development, says official.
"We will not only contribute proposals for development but also work as a watchdog," Safwco head Suleman G Abro.
HYDERABAD:
A number of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in Sindh have joined hands to lobby with the federal government as it heads towards preparing the five-year development plan for the country.
The NGOs have set governance, natural resources, provincial autonomy, human development and development-related provisions of the 18th constitutional amendment as the priority areas for engagement.
Also contained in the governance issue is the objective to influence the government to dissuade it from introducing the proposed stringent regulations on the foreign fundings received by the NGOs. The Economic Coordination Committee of the cabinet constituted a committee last month, which was led by Federal Minister for Science and Technology Zahid Hamid to review the regulatory framework of the NGOs.
“This forum will initiate lobbying on the provincial perspective,” said Zulfiqar Halepoto, who has been assigned the task of being a focal person by over a dozen Sindh-based NGOs that met on Monday.
The event was organised by Sindh Agriculture Forestry Workers Coordination Organisation (SAFWCO).
According to Halepoto, a 13-member committee has been formed to formulate recommendations for development, engage with national-level NGOs and to lobby with the government. SAFWCO head Suleman G Abro said that the Sindh Civil Society Forum, which is the provincial chapter of Pakistan Civil Society Forum, has been formed. “We will not only contribute proposals for development but also work as a watchdog,” said Abro. The per capita allocation for development in Sindh is higher than any other province in Pakistan but, he said, there are no perceptible development indicators seen in the province.
Social activists are also opposed to the continued influx of people in Sindh from other parts of the country. They want the government to cap the flow and to repatriate the illegal immigrants.
Meanwhile, the participants expressed concerns over what the described as they government’s “hostility” towards the civil society. They asked the government to change its perception about development organisations. “The government is planning to control the civil society organisations through new laws, ignoring the fact that we are playing a laudable role in rural development, relief and rehabilitation of disaster-hit people,” said Abro.
The representatives from Strengthening Participatory Organisation, Pakistan Institute of Labour Education and Research, Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum, Thardeep Rural Development Organisation and Sindh Rural Support Programme, among others, attended.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 10th, 2013.
A number of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in Sindh have joined hands to lobby with the federal government as it heads towards preparing the five-year development plan for the country.
The NGOs have set governance, natural resources, provincial autonomy, human development and development-related provisions of the 18th constitutional amendment as the priority areas for engagement.
Also contained in the governance issue is the objective to influence the government to dissuade it from introducing the proposed stringent regulations on the foreign fundings received by the NGOs. The Economic Coordination Committee of the cabinet constituted a committee last month, which was led by Federal Minister for Science and Technology Zahid Hamid to review the regulatory framework of the NGOs.
“This forum will initiate lobbying on the provincial perspective,” said Zulfiqar Halepoto, who has been assigned the task of being a focal person by over a dozen Sindh-based NGOs that met on Monday.
The event was organised by Sindh Agriculture Forestry Workers Coordination Organisation (SAFWCO).
According to Halepoto, a 13-member committee has been formed to formulate recommendations for development, engage with national-level NGOs and to lobby with the government. SAFWCO head Suleman G Abro said that the Sindh Civil Society Forum, which is the provincial chapter of Pakistan Civil Society Forum, has been formed. “We will not only contribute proposals for development but also work as a watchdog,” said Abro. The per capita allocation for development in Sindh is higher than any other province in Pakistan but, he said, there are no perceptible development indicators seen in the province.
Social activists are also opposed to the continued influx of people in Sindh from other parts of the country. They want the government to cap the flow and to repatriate the illegal immigrants.
Meanwhile, the participants expressed concerns over what the described as they government’s “hostility” towards the civil society. They asked the government to change its perception about development organisations. “The government is planning to control the civil society organisations through new laws, ignoring the fact that we are playing a laudable role in rural development, relief and rehabilitation of disaster-hit people,” said Abro.
The representatives from Strengthening Participatory Organisation, Pakistan Institute of Labour Education and Research, Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum, Thardeep Rural Development Organisation and Sindh Rural Support Programme, among others, attended.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 10th, 2013.