Consultative Dialogue Between The Southern Africa Trust And Civil Society Organisations In The Democratic Republic Of Congo

Recreation center of the South African Embassy in DRC- Kinshasa, 6 June 2008

A consultative dialogue between the Southern Africa Trust and civil society organisations in
the Democratic Republic of Congo was held on 6 June 2008 at the Recreation Centre of the South African Embassy in Kinshasa, DRC. The purpose of the dialogue was to learn about DRC civil society organisations to enable the Trust to assist CSOs in undertaking better poverty reduction policy work in this country and the region.

The dialogue which was attended by 16 thematic platforms provided an opportunity to introduce the work of the Trust and to draw lessons on the best practices used by CSOs to influence policy processes.

In welcoming the participants to the consultative dialogue, the President of the Conseil National des Organisations Non Gouvernementales de Developpement-CNONGD in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Mr. Raoul Kamanda, whose organisation co-hosted the dialogue with the Trust, noted the need for an inclusive and organised civil society that can effectively engage in development issues.
Delivering a key note address, Mr.  Thamba Alois, representing the Ministry of Planning, highlighted the government‘s initiative to facilitate the setting up of an inclusive platform. He made an appeal to the Southern Africa Trust to support this initiative and other initiatives involving the participation of civil society in development processes.
Mr. Denis Kadima, who led the Trust’s delegation, stressed the importance of civil society working with government and other stakeholders both in the national and regional development issues.  Mr. Kadima noted that it is imperative to build a strong national CSO network that can share experiences with other networks in the region.

Mr. Robert Mabala, the Executive Secretary of CNONGD, outlined the history of the civil society movement in the DRC and highlighted efforts being made to build an inclusive platform in order to improve civil society engagement with other stakeholders.

Introducing the Southern Africa Trust to the DRC civil society, Mr. Denis Kadima presented an overview of the background that led to the establishment of the Trust, its mission and vision. He pointed out that the five main strategies of the Trust are capacity building; facilitating increased regional policy dialogue among governments, business and civil society; evidence based policy development; creating an enabling environment by promoting innovative practices and processes for engagement between CSOs, governments and business; and the provision of grants to a wide range of organisations to engage in regional poverty reduction policy work.

Presentations were also made on the Trust’s grants facility, in which the DRC CSO’s were provided with information on the process of accessing grants given by the Trust in line with its strategic objectives. With regard to the Drivers of Change Award, the meeting was informed that no nominations had been received from DRC since the launch of the award three years ago. CSOs in DRC were encouraged to enter the award and share best practices and models used in overcoming poverty in the country.

Mr. Alain KASHOBA, the deputy Coordinator of the National Poverty Observatory introduced the work this structure is doing in the DRC, its composition and mission. Although this structure is in its beginning phase, it is meant to be a platform involving government, civil society, private sector and donors to monitor progress made in the implementation of the PRSP.

     4.   Closing session

Neville Gabriel, Southern Africa Trust Executive Director, thanked all the representatives of thematic groups for attending this dialogue. He noted that his organisation values the opportunity to work with networks.

     5.   Potential Areas of Collaboration between the Trust and CSOs in DRC:  

The meetings held with the Ministry of Planning, Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper Unit, Poverty Observatory and civil society revealed that there is a need:

    6. Meetings with the Government of the Democratic  Republic of Congo

The Trust delegation accompanied by CNONGD President met on the 5 of June 2008 with the following government officials to discuss cooperation between the government and civil society organisations;
Mr. UKUMU UPAR Gaston, General Secretary, Ministry of Plan- DRC
Mr. SALEH MUKONGO Elias- Information’s Director, Ministry of Plan – DRC
Mr. Didier Masalu Mbwesi, Macro- economic and Expert, Ministry of Plan- DRC 
Ms BOMBOKO Francesca, Coordinator, National Poverty Observatory- DRC
Mr. KASHOBA Alain, Deputy Coordinator, National Poverty Observatory-DRC
Mr. YEMBA PEPINO Boniface, Deputy Coordinator, Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper-DRC
Mr. MABALA KASONGO Robert, Executive Secretary, CNONGD
Mr. KANENE MUKWANGA Theo, Director in charge of civil society organizations, Ministry of Planning , and several Thematic Platforms of civil society organisations.  
Officials from the DRC government welcomed the Trust’s engagement in the DRC and encouraged the Trust to support the civil society in that country. This will enable civil society organisations and their stakeholders in DRC to be actively engaged in policy processes at both the national and regional levels.