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The 13th edition of the Annual NGO Directors Summer Retreat, hosted by the National Association of Non-Governmental Organisations, took place from November 22nd to 24th, 2023, at the Elephant Hills Hotel in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe. This annual gathering serves as a platform for sharing experiences, engaging in collective reflection, and devising innovative strategies aimed at cultivating a vibrant civil society conducive to inclusive development in Zimbabwe.
Building upon the momentum generated in the previous year's retreat, held in 2022, NANGO has been steadfast in its efforts to enhance the skills and capacities of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs). These efforts have been directed towards empowering CSOs to articulate and advocate for alternative solutions through strategic narrative shifts.
This year's retreat placed a significant emphasis on the crafting and shaping of new narratives that underscore the indispensable role of civil society in addressing the needs and concerns of the people. Moreover, it delved into strategies aimed at countering narratives designed to undermine CSOs, vilify their communities, and constrict civic space.
For further insights, we invite you to download the attached Action Agenda document.
The National Association of Non-Governmental Organisations held its 13th edition of the Annual NGO Directors Summer Retreat from 22 to 24 November 2023 at Elephant Hills Hotel, Victoria Falls – Zimbabwe. The summer retreat is an annual conference for sharing experiences, collective reflection, and developing innovative strategies to build a vibrant civil society for inclusive development in Zimbabwe. From the previous edition of the Summer Retreat held in 2022, NANGO's work has revolved around developing the skills and capacity of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) to articulate and advocate for alternative solutions through strategic narrative changes. This edition emphasized crafting and shaping new narratives that reaffirm the vital role of civil society in addressing people's needs and concerns. It also explored strategies for countering narratives that aim to discredit CSOs, demonise their communities, and restrict civic space.
The sessions covered various strategies for reimagining an ideal future, focusing on rebuilding systems that support collective foresight, collaborative scenario planning, and deliberative spaces for envisioning and working towards a stronger civic space. This included creating resource hubs to support CSOs in key competence areas and foster collaboration, along with investing in strengthening local civil society to enhance resilience and build solidarity.
To read more, download the attached document.
The National Association of Non-Governmental Organisations (NANGO), a coordinating body of 1270 Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) operating in Zimbabwe, values the need for a vibrant, strong, and free civil society, essential in advancing sustainable development through democracy and good governance. The 'Whole of Society' approach adopted by the Government of Zimbabwe affirms that, 'CSOs are independent development actors in their own right, playing a vital role in advocating respect for human rights, in shaping development policies and in overseeing their implementation.'
However, the current legal, administrative, and policy pronouncements by the government are inhibitive in forwarding the interests of CSOs
operating in Zimbabwe. Legislations governing CSOs in Zimbabwe have increasingly become more restrictive with the enactment of new laws or amendments that curtail civil society activities and compromise their autonomy such as the Private Voluntary Organisation (PVO) Amendment Bill of 2021. These include excessive and expensive administrative procedures in the areas of advocacy, human rights, or other democracy and governance-related interventions.
From NANGO's perspective, it is imperative for CSOs to collectively dialogue on how to safeguard the operating environment even in a very complex and restrictive context. Joint action by CSOs is also essential to strengthen security and protection mechanisms to safeguard the civic space. Sustainable development and democracy cannot be achieved in the absence of a robust and independent civil society or respect for human rights and human dignity.
To read more, download the attachment below:
The Private Voluntary Organisation Amendment Bill (hereinafter the “Amendment Bill”) was gazetted on 5 November 2021. Its memorandum stipulates three objectives of the Amendment Bill. Firstly, the Amendment Bill seeks to ensure Zimbabwe's compliance with the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) Recommendation 8 regarding money laundering and terrorism financing. Secondly, the Amendment Bill aims to streamline administrative procedures for Private Voluntary Organisations (PVOs) to allow for efficient regulation and registration. Thirdly, the Amendment Bill aims to ensure that PVOs do not undertake political lobbying. Further to the initial Amendment Bill, on the 7th of June 2022, the Minister of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare submitted significant amendments to the gazetted 2021 Amendment Bill on the National Assembly Order Paper. A cursory analysis of the amendments reveal that when passed into law, this piece of legislation will present grim operational restrictions and challenges to all Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) in Zimbabwe working in different sectors. However, these challenges will differ depending on the current form of registration of the organisation, i.e., PVO, Trust or Common Law Universitas and depending on the focus of the work being carried out by the organisation. Consequently, CSOs are vulnerable and at risk of being deregistered and closed when the Amendment Bill is assented into law. Against this backdrop, this report also examines both amendments (those published on 5 November 2021 and amendments submitted on 7 June 2022) for purposes of ascertaining the likely implications of the amendments on different types of CSOs (i.e., Trusts, PVOs or Universitas). The report also recognises the operational challenges that will affect CSOs and therefore maps scenario and present recommendations for planning purposes.
To read more, please download the attachment below:
The National Budget which is a revenue and expenditure plan prepared by the government of Zimbabwe for the coming fiscal year. Ideally, the National Budget should guarantee the realisation of the varying rights, needs and aspirations of citizens, particularly the poor and vulnerable, including women, children, people with disabilities and the elderly. The 2021 National Budget was presented before the House of Assembly by the Minister of Finance and Economic Development on the 26 of November, 2020 under the theme “Building resilience and Sustainable Economic Recovery”. The National Budget will be followed by the approval by Parliament of Zimbabwe paving way for its implementation. The 2021 National Budget marks the beginning of the implementation of the National Development Strategy 1(NDS1) 2021 – 2025.
Every year, we mobilise Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) and the general citizenry to effectively participate in all the four stages of the budget cycle which are formulation, approval, implementation and audit. NANGO, is alive to the fact that budgets should be from people, by people and for people. The involvement of citizens in the national budget process is derived from section 141 of the constitution which mandates the Parliament of Zimbabwe to a) facilitate public involvement in its legislative and other processes and in the processes of its committees; b) ensure that interested parties are consulted about Bills being considered by Parliament of Zimbabwe, unless such consultation is inappropriate or impracticable. Meaningful involvement and effective participation of general citizenry and marginalized groups in the national
budget processes ideally guarantees the advancement, realisation and enjoyment of their social, economic, political,
environmental, and cultural rights. This is key to ensure that the National Budget as a public policy becomes pro-people and
pro-poor. In addition to this, Section 13 (2) of the constitution provides for the involvement of citizens in the formulation and
implementation of development programmes and projects that affect them.
To read more, download the attached document.
Elephant-Hills-Action-Agenda-Document-2023-3.pdf