On 20/21 October 2014, LCN Health and Social Development
Commission Coordinator, Mrs Mamathule Makhotla, attended the
'Post 2015 Development Dialogues on Partnerships with Civil
Society' global meeting. The meeting was held in Siem Reap,
Cambodia as part of the continuing Post 2015 Development
Agenda consultative process.
Lesotho is one of seven countries selected to undertake
more intensive engagement with civil society on the Post
2015 Development Agenda, which will replace the Millennium
Development Goals as the global development framework
in September 2015.
The objectives of the event were to discuss CSO/NGO
recommendations that emerged from national consultations;
to assist the participating governments to learn about
and advocate for a more robust CSO/NGO role within social
development; to strengthen the dialogue between the CSO/NGOs
and government and to work towards engaging and highlighting
the NGO networks in participating countries.
To achieve these aims the meeting was divided into four sessions, each of which had a theme.
The themes were
- Session one : Recognise and understand the role of civil society in policy development
- Session two: Create enabling environment: Build a Policy and regulatory framework that will maximize civil society's contribution towards development objectives
- Session three: Proactively align multi-stakeholder priorities, including those of government, civil society, volunteers and private sector actors
- Session four: Set up and maintain accountability mechanisms that monitor partnerships and progress in implementation
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Ms Karla Hershey participating in Session 3 of the meeting |
The UN resident Coordinator for Lesotho, Ms Karla Hershey,
was a panelist during session 3. LCN HSDC Coordinator Mrs
Mamathule Makhotla presented the country dialogues findings
to the delegates during session 4 and Mr Mafike LIRAC National
Coordinator was a panelist in the same session.
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Mrs Mamathule Makhotla presenting the Lesotho dialogues findings on day one of the meeting |
At the end of the meeting, participants agreed that the role of civil
society organisations (CSOs) needs to be clarified and strengthened. Civil
society needs to be smart and move from participation to engagement, bringing
something different to the table in order to maximise action and give a voice
to the marginalised groups which it represents. Overall, CSOs should be
professional, accountable and present evidence-based actions in order to
move the recommendations forward.
The Post 2015 Development agenda should adopt a people based, human
rights approach which goes beyond reducing poverty but looks towards
equality of opportunity for all.
Post 2015 Development consultations are of high importance in shaping
Lesotho's future and LCN's involvement is key to ensure CSOs involvement
throughout all processes. In order to continue facilitating an inclusive
agenda and ensuring CSOs participation, LCN will:
- Conduct monthly meetings to guide the development and negotiation of the Post 2015 Development Agenda in collaboration with UN agencies
- Facilitate the development of an action plan detailing the way forward until September 2015
- Hold a regional roadshow that discusses links between Basotho priorities and the Development Agenda, and initiates strong accountability and reporting mechanisms
- Support the establishment of a stakeholders forum which can be used to improve coordination and provide opportunity for stakeholders to report on their progress
- Supporting consultations on localizing the Post 2015 Agenda
We need our members help and participation to do this, so let’s join together to take the next step in Lesotho’s development.
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