Coast NGOs urged to reduce donor dependence

KIBAHA: NON-GOVERNMENTAL organisations (NGOs) in Coast Region have been urged to develop local sources of funding and use available economic opportunities to reduce their dependence on foreign donors and sustain community programmes.

Coast Regional Administrative Secretary (RAS), Mr Richard Kayombo said yesterday that organisations needed to explore ways of generating their own resources instead of relying mainly on donor funding, which often comes with conditions.

He made the call while representing Coast Regional Commissioner, Mr Stanslaus Nyongo at the annual regional NGOs meeting held in Kibaha Municipality.

Mr Kayombo said the region had economic opportunities in agriculture, fishing, livestock, tourism and industrial production that NGOs could utilise to strengthen their financial sustainability.

“Our region has a lot of economic opportunities including agriculture, fishing, livestock keeping, tourism and industrial production. These opportunities still need huge investment and if you utilise them well you will have great capacity to be self-reliant,” he said.

He said the Government recognised the contribution of NGOs in addressing social challenges, including children’s welfare, social services and environmental protection. “Our government wants to see your organisations building a strong economy, developing the community and participating in the National Development Vision 2050,” he said.

Mr Kayombo said while the Government was creating an enabling environment for NGOs to operate, the organisations had a responsibility to maintain transparency, accountability and compliance with the law.

“Do not run organisations just for money. The government wants to see accountability, which means every organisation must be transparent and honest. You must know that organisation funds are not personal property and should be used for the intended purpose,” he said.

He also urged NGOs to maintain good relations with local government authorities and called on registrars to provide guidance to organisations instead of creating unnecessary obstacles during registration.

Coast Regional Community Development Officer Ms Grace Tete said the meeting was held to assess activities implemented by NGOs and discuss challenges affecting their operations.

She said NGOs had been working with the government in health, education, children’s welfare, gender-based violence and empowerment programmes, reaching more than 83,000 residents and utilising 6.2bn/- during the 2025/26 financial year.

“Due to that importance, we saw the need to look at the challenges facing NGOs, one being lack of funds, where they agreed each organisation should look at what it can do to generate funds to run its activities,” she said.

Ms Tete said the organisations also discussed their contribution to the implementation of the National Development Vision 2050.

The meeting brought together 120 organisations from nine councils in Coast Region — Bagamoyo, Chalinze, Kibiti, Kisarawe, Rufiji, Mkuranga, Mafia, Kibaha District and Kibaha Municipality.

The meeting was held under the theme “New thinking on the sustainability of NonGovernmental Organisations, partnerships and access to financial resources through domestic sources.”

Chairperson of the National Council of NGOs (NaCoNGO) in Coast Region, Prisca Ngweshemi said NGOs were development stakeholders and had organised the meeting to explore ways of operating with less dependence on donor funding.

She said Coast Region was strategically important and commended the Government for recognising the contribution of NGOs to community development.

Ms Ngweshemi also raised concerns over some organisations whose information was not available in the Governmeat system, calling for a special training session to help them upload their information and comply with reporting requirements.