| WHO IS CONGOMA |
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| CONGOMA is a Council for Non-governmental
Organisations in Malawi designated as the coordinating body
for all non-governmental organisations in Malawi. It is a membership
organization with the goal of ensuring effective coordination
and collaboration of all the NGOs and other development partners
including government. |
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| AIMS |
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| In fulfilling its mandate
as an NGO Coordinating body CONGOMA aims: |
- To promote an enabling environment for NGO activities.
- To promote and facilitate coordination, collaboration
and cooperation between the NGO community, Government, donor
community and private sector in Malawi.
- To further the standing of NGOs as competent, professional
and suitable agents of development.
- To support NGOs become institutionally strong.
- To assist NGOs carry out their functions under the NGO
Act.
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| OUR MISSION |
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| CONGOMA exists to motivate,
enhance and maximize the potential and actual impact of its
members in articulating and implementing sustainable socio-economic
development programs to reduce poverty in Malawi through mutual
support and networking with all interested stakeholders. |
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| OUR VISION |
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| CONGOMA is inspired by the
vision of sustained strong and vibrant Non-Governmental Organisations
(NGOs) working in a conducive and collaborative environment
in which a culture of accountability and good governance is
entrenched and the rights of every citizen are respected and
promoted to reduce poverty and enhance sustainable socio-economic
development in Malawi. |
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| OUR VALUES |
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| CONGOMA is guided by the following
values and principles: |
- Unity in the diversity of our members whose work is "grassroots'
value-driven."
- Ability to work with our Government and other stakeholders
while maintaining an independent and sometimes critical
stance.
- Legitimacy in society on the basis of our membership
base and the NGO Act.
- People-centered development in which gender, equality,
peace, love, justice and sustainable use of resources are
the basis of socio-economic development.
- Enhanced NGO institutional development through sharing
of the abundant skills and experiences of member NGOs.
- Integrity and professionalism of our member NGOs through
democratic, transparent and accountable structures.
- Political Non-Partisanship and respect for the Rule of
Law and Human Rights.
- Respect for the autonomy of our member organisations.
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| OUR PROGRAMAREAS OF FOCUS |
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| In serving its members CONGOMA
focuses at the following: |
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| 1. Capacity Building
at NGO and Secretariat levels |
| This program is designed to
meet the capacity needs of its members with an aim of preparing
them to effectively engage Government and other development
stakeholders in policy formulation, program development, implementation,
monitoring and evaluation. |
| Activities in under this component
focus at NGO Self-Understanding, Policy Understanding, NGO Exposure
to best practices, staff exchange and twinning, study tours,
NGO Week and internships. |
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| 2. Networking and
Coordination |
| This program is intended to
facilitate the working together of NGOs among themselves and
with other CSOs . This is done through functioning sector networks,
information flow between CONGOMA and NGOs, Database development
and update through website, resource center and publications,
regional meetings, and NGO District Impact maps. |
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| 3. Advocacy |
| This program is designed
with an ultimate aim of promoting and facilitating the creation
of an enabling environment. Activities under this component
focus at a study on NGO contribution to national Development,
Development of the NGO Policy, Review of relevant statutes and
consultative meetings. |
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| MEMBERSHIP |
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CONGOMA membership is open
to both local and international NGOs operating in Malawi.
As a membership organization we have files for each of our member
NGOs. We always update the files accordingly. Our membership
is diverse by the range of the areas in which our NGOs operate.
In order to easily identify the NGOs by what they focus at,
CONGOMA has divided the members into sectors. These sectors
are in Health, Agriculture, Children, Economy, Environment,
Human Rights, Disability, Orphans/Children, Women, Gender, Education,
Relief and Youth. Go to "Membership" to find out more. |
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| HOW WE ARE GOVERNED |
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| CONGOMA has a Constitution,
which guides its operations and is legally designated as the
NGO Coordinating body by the NGO Act of Parliament. On top of
its hierarchy is the Annual General Meeting (AGM) made up by
all its members, which is the supreme authority of CONGOMA.
Below the AGM is the Governing Council (GC) comprised of member
NGOs elected at the AGM to oversee policy formulation and direction,
supervise and monitor the operations of CONGOMA Secretariat.
Below the GC are three standing committees: Finance and Administration,
Standards and the Programs Committees. In charge of the day-to-day
implementation activities is the Secretariat, which is a team
of professional staff. |
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| audit |
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| CONGOMA's accounts are audited
at the end of each financial year, which runs from January 01-December
31st, by an independent professional auditing firm appointed
by the Annual General Meeting. The audited accounts are then
presented to the AGM for consideration and adoption. The accounts
are made public information not only to its members. Go to Audit
for the financial reports as adopted at AGM. |
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| publications |
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| CONGOMA's publications include
Bi-annual Update, quarterly newsletter, CONGOMA Brief, Annual
Report, Audit Report, NGO and Donor Directories and Advocacy
materials. Go to Publications for more details. |
