Civil society sharpens watchdog role
The Botswana Council of Non-Governmental Organisations (BOCONGO) in partnership with Botswana Association of Local Authorities (BALA) is implementing a project titled, ‘Strengthening the capacity of Botswana Civil Society to play an effective watchdog role for Enhanced Accountability and Sustainable Development.’
The project, which is supported by the European Commission under the 11th European Development Fund (EDF), is meant to deepen Botswana CSOs’ engagement in development and governance issues in Botswana, to strengthen them on matters relating to public policy capacity and responsiveness by meaningfully engaging in developmental and budgetary processes.
The latter is of grave concern, and BOCONGO Programmes Coordinator, Maipelo Phale said this week at the two-day workshop that both organisations are lagging behind on budget monitoring.
She said the training would among other things give both organisations an opportunity to have an input in the formulation of the national budget.
“They will have an opportunity to conduct research for pre-budget input and express how they want the budget to look like,” Phale said.
She said this exercise would also enable the two organisations to participate in a joint formulation of an alternative budget that highlights what they believe key priorities in the budget should be. In addition, enhance their skills in budget reviews and analysis.
Both Civil Society Organisations (CSO) entities are critical stakeholders in the implementation of the NDP 11 and SDGs, as well as the implementation of the national budget for improved, accountable, effective and sustainable development outcomes.
This week, the duo converged for a workshop themed, ‘Training, Coaching and Mentoring of BOCONGO and BALA Leadership on Joint Advocacy and Budget Monitoring.’
The aim of which is to build the capacity of the leadership and strengthen the partnership approach by the two entities to cooperate for achievement of common goals and targets, facilitating common understanding and obtaining exposure to common tools in joint advocacy and budget monitoring.
Both BALA and BOCONGO have in the past complained of lack of administrative capacity and limited financial resources that continue to weaken their watchdog role, rendering them ineffective stakeholders in the implementation of the national and global development frameworks for improved accountable, effective and sustainable development.
Executive Secretary of BALA, Steven Pheko explained that there has been animosity between government agencies and civil society especially regarding the watchdog role, which was misconstrued to be a policing role.
Pheko said the two realised that they could work together to maximise their comparative advantage and potentials. The project is expected to strengthen structures of both organisations to enable them to work together more effectively.
“Government agencies have been charged with delivering services to the people, but with no checks and balancing mechanisms, how will we know whether our role in delivering desired outcomes is effective,” he asked at the two-day workshop that ended on Tuesday.
According to Pheko, when the European Union (EU) Commission expressed interest in assisting, they jumped at the opportunity. He said that it was critical that from time to time they lobby the government for an environment conducive for services to reach beneficiaries.
“This will help fine-tune processes so that we are able to lobby government for policy mechanism that will ensure sustainability and service delivery.” The European Union Commission (EU) committed P2.4 million for the project.
Phale said the training will deal with numerous technical and administrative capacity challenges faced by the two entities to enhance their leadership role.
He said both have individual strengths and are critical stakeholders in the implementation of the NDP11, monitoring national budget for improved, accountability, effective and sustainable development outcomes.