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This article participates on the following special index pages:
Post-election violence 2008 - Index of articles & images
Government suspension of NGO field operations - Index of articles
Ban
on NGO field operations Illegal
National
Association of Non-Governmental Organisations in Zimbabwe (NANGO)
June 09, 2008
On 5 June NANGO received a circular
- addressed to all Private Voluntary Organizations (PVOs)
and Non Governmental Organizations (NGOs) - by Mr. Goche,
Zimbabwean Minister of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare,
instructing all PVOs/NGOs to suspend their field operations until
further notice.
In the view
of NANGO the circular raises many questions: An instruction of suspension
is not provided for in the PVO
Act. According to the PVO Act, certificates of registration
may be cancelled or amended if an organization has failed to comply
with any condition of its registration. What needs to be done is
for the organization to be informed about the intention of cancellation
or amendment of the registration certificate. Additionally, the
organization must be afforded reasonable opportunity of showing
cause why the certificate should not be cancelled or amended. These
two have not been done.
NANGO is deeply
disturbed about the implications that a ban has: The instruction
of suspension comes at a time when millions of Zimbabweans are in
desperate need of humanitarian assistance ranging from food and
water support, medical aid, legal assistance and many other services
provided by NGOs. Zimbabweans face an acute shortage of basic commodities
like food, water and medicine. This instruction will have an immediate,
critical and negative impact especially on children, People living
with HIV/Aids, the elderly, pregnant mothers and the disabled. One
cruel direct impact of the ban will be that People living with HIV/AIDS
will increasingly die since many NGOs provide assistance in form
of home based care and anti-retroviral medication to them. The crisis
deepens daily due to sky rocking food prices and a bad harvest.
By stopping assistance delivered by NGOs in the agrarian sector,
an aggravation of the food crisis can be expected. The 29 March
nation-wide post election violence has aggravated the situation
- leaving thousands of Zimbabweans internally displaced, struggling
to survive and in need of assistance.
NGOs working
in the humanitarian sector have always conducted their work in a
non-partisan manner based on internationally agreed principles like
impartiality. Their sole mission is to provide assistance to people
in need.
It is ironic
that the ban on NGOs for them to provide assistance is coming at
a time when President Robert G. Mugabe was attending the Food summit
of the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) in
Rome discussing various food security issues including the fight
against hunger.
NANGO calls
upon Mr. Goche to name the organizations which allegedly are in
breach of the PVO Act and to specify the allegations.
NANGO also appeals
to the responsible authorities to allow NGOs to continue with the
non-partisan humanitarian assistance.
Visit the NANGO
fact
sheet
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