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This article participates on the following special index pages:
Government suspension of NGO field operations - Index of articles
Treat
NGOs not as foes but as equal partners in development
Centre for Community Development in Zimbabwe
(CCDZ)
September 04, 2008
The Centre for Community
Development in Zimbabwe (CCDZ) is concerned about the ongoing attempts
by the government through the Ministry of Public Service, Labour
and Social Welfare to monitor the operations of NGOs that will make
it difficult for humanitarian NGOs to operate in an already stifled
and polarized political environment.
The new regulations are
the latest attempt by government to proscribe those NGOs that are
regarded as unfriendly and hostile to government. CCDZ notes with
concern that most organizations are failing to proceed with their
field activities since they are required to report to Provincial
Administrators and District Administrators.
We are appealing to the
Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare to allow humanitarian
NGOs to operate without hindrance. We view the current attempts
to regulate NGOs as a way of bringing back the Non-governmental
Organizations (NGO) bill which was rejected by all stakeholders
as patently undemocratic and unnecessary for a country suffering
from a lot of development challenges where NGOs and government must
be working together to alleviate peoples' suffering.
The people of Zimbabwe
especially in those rural communities where CCDZ is working are
suffering from a humanitarian crisis of greater proportions and
they benefit immensely from the work of NGOs. NGOs must be accorded
the respect they deserve because they compliment government efforts
to provide food, healthcare and other essential social services
that the people desperately need. Some of the people especially
in Manicaland are relying on baobab trees for food. In some parts
of Masvingo and Matebeleland provinces, the people are facing starvation
as a result of food aid supplies which have been halted by humanitarian
NGOs.
In the current hyper-inflationary
environment, we urge government to be sensitive to the plight of
the families whose incomes are easily eroded and cannot buy anything.
We also make this appeal on behalf of school children who benefit
from NGO food schemes and the people affected by HIV/Aids who need
food, healthcare etc. We wish to remind the government that banning
NGOs that provide essential services to the people is tantamount
to committing gross human rights violations such as the right to
adequate food, the right to health and the right to an adequate
standard of living to which all Zimbabweans are entitled.
Visit the CCDZ
fact
sheet
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