BANGO Here to Serve and Empower
Part II

Many have been seeking clarification on the role of BANGO. Many have asked, if BANGO is not an umbrella body how can it go forward? The simple answer to that is that it is not BANGO that must go forward, it is the organisations that must go forward.

BANGO is but a vehicle. It cannot go forward without its moving parts otherwise it is but a shell. The sectors of Civil Society are the moving parts. Each individual organisation is a component of the moving parts. Some parts have many components and others only a few; just as some sectors of Civil Society have many organisations while other only a few.

BANGO is like the body that gives the car shape and character. When the moving parts cease to function, the vehicle stops and the driver can't steer.

Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) must speak for BANGO and not the other way around. By doing so, it is true that BANGO earns respect and gains credibility as the voice of Civil Society, but it is the organisations that really benefit from the credibility and the attention gained through speaking for BANGO.

What BANGO seeks to do is to amplify the voices and expressions coming from within Civil Society so that they can impact on the national decision making processes. BANGO is therefore a rallying point where Civil Society Organisations can converge for more effective advocacy.

BANGO is also about building the capacity of the organisations, for example, by offering services which are accessible to Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) they gain capacity. One such service now being contemplated is project proposal writing. We propose to train a cadre of personnel whose job it would be to develop and write project proposals for CSOs. This means that CSOs will have the capacity through the services offered by BANGO to write and access funding for projects.

The personnel will also be trained to manage projects and will be expected to pass on this knowledge to the CSO, again acquiring capacity through BANGO services. The training programme will be over an eight month period and the programme is expected to last for three years.

Initially, the programme will focus on environmental projects but will diversify as time goes on. For example, four members are off to Jamaica to join a regional training programme on Resource Mobilisation as it relates to HIV/AIDS. These four will also be available to pass on their training in how to mobilise resources for HIV/AIDS projects and programmes. Training for the environmental projects will start in April.

The benefits of such a programme are enormous. In these instances, it allows organisations which are not focused on either area to access resources for their projects by linking them to HIV/AIDS or the environment. While it is true that not all projects will fit in, it however means also that a lot more organisations will access resources for projects.

As BANGO seeks to fulfill its mandate more and more services will become available to CSOs. By building our capacity we empower the organisations to do more, as they in turn seek to serve their community.

Roosevelt O. King
Secretary General
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