By Hassan Osman Kargbo
As a way to unify its membership and portray their activities, The Sierra Leone Association of Non-Governmental Association (SLANGO) has on Tuesday 30th July 2024, launched its maiden newsletter at the CCSL Conference Hall, King Herman Road, Freetown.
According to the Chairman of SLANGO who also doubles as the chairman of the launching, Mr. Christian Martyn Kamara, SLANGO is the umbrella organization for all NGOs in the country that comprises national and international NGOs, adding that the lunching of their newsletter is part of their mandate to have a space to communicate with their members so that they could share the impacts of their various members in the country. He said the newsletter is going to be biannual basis and it’s the first for now; they hope to be having subsequent newsletters in the future as time unfolds.
He furthered that the lunching of their newsletter would create a space for their members to share their good work that they have been doing within their organization in their localities. He said the newsletter could create collaboration within themselves, for instance, if one organization is doing something good they could collaborate and support themselves for the betterment of their various organizations in the country.
“The lunching of our newsletter will create a space for our members to share their good work that they have been doing within their organization in their different localities. The newsletter will create more collaboration within our various organizations in SLANGO, for instance, if one organization is doing something good and other organizations want to emulate that, they could collaborate and support themselves for the betterment of the various organizations in the country,” he said.
He encouraged all members to keep on sending articles so that they could share their good work to the public at large.
Making his statement, the keynote speaker, Dr Julius Spencer, noted that few decades ago he was part of the people who started Civil Society activities in Sierra Leone. He said three of them with support from the International Crisis group started an NGO they called Campaign for Good Governance and it’s still active till date. According to him, they started that Civil Society space because they had a good faith for good governance at a time. They believed by then that perhaps the most important element to achieve good governance in the country is civil society. He said in a country where there is no civil society it’s difficult for good governance to strive because across the world there’s no government that always does what is best for the people. He mentioned that government needs to be pressured to do what is best for the people and civil society should always stand in that space to put government in their toes.
He continued that the NGOs are fine and important in the country, but he asked if all NGOs and Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) are real NGOs and CSOs in country, are some of them not politicians acting like a NGOs or CSOs? He said are some of them not in the NGOs and CSOs space for their living and also said that maybe some of them don’t have passion for what they’re doing in the CSOs space.
“The NGOs are fine and important in the country, but my question is, are all NGOs and Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) are real NGOs and CSOs in country? Are some of them not politicians acting like a NGOs or CSOs? Are some of them not in the NGOs and CSOs space for them to find their living? Are all of them having passion for what they’re doing in the CSOs and NGO space? You all know the answers to all these questions. These are the pointers I want us to think about because we have those who are looking for area where there are fundings and they would transformer themselves just to get from those fundings,” he empathized.
He admitted that there are many good NGOs and CSOs in Sierra Leone but some of those who are not presenting the NGOs world very well tend to spoil the good image of the NGO community. But, he called on all CSOs and NGOs to work for the interest of the public and not for their selfishness.
He said the newsletter has showcased the seriousness of some serious NGO organizations in the country, adding that some of the work the newsletter highlighted are very much important and that could seek a lot of positive attention from not only the public but also their International partners.
He noted that it will also inspired some NGOs to do more and improved on their activities and stated that he is looking forward to the newsletter to be not only biannual but a quarterly newsletter that will bring so much information to the people, so that the public would fully understand the work NGOs are doing in Sierra Leone.
“This newsletter will also inspired some NGOs to do more and improved on their activities and I am looking forward to the newsletter to be not only biannual but a quarterly newsletter that will bring so much information to the people, that the public would fully understand the work NGOs are doing in Sierra Leone,” he said.
He called on all CSOs and NGOs to deal with poverty, the injustice, and the bad governance. He said bad governance is not only on national level it’s also at communities’ level and it extended to the national level.
Making his statement on behalf of the Ministry at the lunching, the Deputy Development Secretary, Ministry of Planning and Economic Development (MoPED) Mr. Osman Conteh, noted that the Ministry appreciated and recognized the role play by the NGOs families in the country because during the civil war in Sierra Leone when government activities were put on hold, it was only the NGO family that visited those deplorable areas and render their fullest support to various communities. He added that up till date, there are hard to reach areas that government is finding it difficult to reach, but NGO organizations are there to help and complement the work of the government.
He continued that the launched of the maiden newsletter by SLANGO is a testament to the sharp visions of commitment to fostering development and community engagement in the country, adding that SLANGO continued to play a crucial role in the country’s development by strengthen the relationship between government and NGOs. He said SLANGO have been advocating for NGOs in the areas of policy matters and supporting NGOs in registration work and other residential permit in the country.
He admitted that the Ministry is pleased with the role SLANGO is playing in the country according to him NGOs are first responders whenever there is a crisis in the country. The NGO advocate for the ordinary people and help building and impacted people’s lives in Sierra Leone. He added that the lunch of the newsletter symbolises their collective dedication to enhancing communications and sharing their success stories and also promoting best practices across the sectors.
“The Ministry is pleased in the role SLANGO is playing in the country because NGOs are always the first responders whenever there is a crisis in the country. NGOS advocate for the ordinary people and help build and also impacted people’s lives in the country. The lunch of the newsletter symbolises their collective dedication to enhancing communications and sharing their success stories and also promoting best practices across the NGO sector,” he said.
He continued that the newsletter would serve as a vital tool for disseminating information about the remarkable works various NGOs had been doing in collaborating with SLANGO throughout the country. He said it would help to create an open playing field for all organizations in SLANGO and thanked the membership of SLANGO for embarking on a great journey of a newsletter. He called on everybody to work collectively so that they could create a brighter future for all Sierra Leoneans.
