November 12, 2021
Pastoral & Social Centre Hall, Bo City, 11th November 2021– The Deputy Minister of Planning and Economic Development (MoPED), Dr Jonathan Titus-Williams has opened the third annual Retreat for NGO Desk Officers of line Ministries and Service Level Agreement (SLA) Technical Leads at the Pastoral & Social Centre Hall in Bo City.
The 3-day comprehensive and interactive session would seek to review the 2021 NGO activity plan, determine what has been done, the challenges with a bid to develop coordination plans for the year 2022.
The retreat would also review the operationalization of the Service Level Agreement (SLA), through which NGOs have committed to adhere to and complete for project implementation and also train NGO Desk Officers to better understand the reviewed SLA documents for effective service delivery.
In his opening statement, the Director of NGO Affairs, MoPED, Eric Massally expressed his delight at the commencement of the retreat, noting that the sessions would seek to capacitate NGO Desk Officers for more effective and efficient coordination in the review of NGO SLAs as well as ensuring that NGO activities are well aligned to sector and government development priorities among others.
He encouraged the participants to be open in their discussions, highlighting the benefits of the sessions to all participants.
Kayode Akintola, CAFOD Country Representative congratulated the NGO Desk Officers across the various Ministries for the hard work in facilitating the SLAs and making the Development Cooperation Framework work. He said the platform would be used to discuss issues pertinent to smoothening and strengthening the relationship between Government and the NGO Sector that are complex and require in-depth and innovative reflection.
Delivering his keynote address, Deputy Minister Titus-Williams said that the Ministry has made tremendous efforts in ensuring NGOs align their programs and interventions with the priorities of government, noting the coordinating role MoPED plays with line ministries.
He also said that government strongly recognizes the invaluable role NGOs play towards the development of government priorities, adding that it was also important for the NGOs to continue to be accountable in the implementation of their activities.
Dr Titus-Williams admonished the participants to reflect and evaluate how well they are achieving their goals and vision, calling on them to share their ideas and deliberate strategically in ensuring that improvements are made in achieving the overall goals.
“It is important that we use this platform to bond and create the meaningful relationships that will design interventions and plans for the future. We have a responsibility to continue changing the narrative of Government and NGO partnership. So, I thank you all for being part of this process”, he said.
Other speakers include the Deputy Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on NGO Affairs and NaCSA, Hon. Sama I Sandy; Executive Director of RADA, Executive Directors of PACE, CARITAS among others.
Participants are drawn from desk officers of line Ministries, staff of MoPED and SLA Technical Leads.