Seminar NGOs Participation in Poverty Alleviation [Archives:2000/20/Business & Economy]
Yasser M. Ahmed,
Yemen Times
A seminar NGOs participation in poverty alleviation was concluded yesterday on May 14, at the cultural center, Sana’a. Eight NGOs, eight international organizations as well as fourteen representatives of government bodies were invited to participate in this seminar. The seminar was organized by Social Organization for Family Development and the World Bank, the Social Bank for Development, the French Center for Cultural and Linguistic Cooperation, the French Center for Yemeni Studies, and the Yemeni Ministry of Information. It aims at increasing NGOs’ participation for poverty alleviation in Yemen, and initiate a debate among NGOs and the government and international organizations concerning modes of NGOs participation in poverty alleviation. It also tried to formulate the strategies to be adopted at the national level for expanding scope and parameters of operation of those organizations.
The seminar discussed the role of the international NGOs in poverty alleviation. For example, it discussed the role of NGOs in India, Turkey. An expert from the United States discussed at length the project of planning geared for poverty alleviation. Further, he discussed the findings of the international studies concerning poverty alleviation program in Yemen and the role of the NGOs in this regard.
Three workshops were organized on this occasion. The first workshop concentrated on the development and difficulties faced by the NGOs at the local grassroots level. It discussed the effective means through which they can achieve poverty alleviation. The second workshop was concerned with NGOs and the formulation of national strategies on poverty alleviation. The last workshop focussed on the NGOs and monitoring the charitable work. Representatives from the World Bank, the government and the NGOs delivered illuminating speeches on this seminar highlighting various problems and prospects for achieving the objectives. The organizations represented different governorates as Sana’a, Aden, Hodeidah, Taiz, Hadramout, Ibb and Abyan.
Ms. Basma Al-Qubati, Chairman of the Social Organization for Family Development said: “This two-day seminar gathers around twenty-five Yemeni non-governmental organizations, representatives of government bodies and international organizations. Its goals are to constitute a platform to discuss the possibility of enhancing the participation of Yemeni associations for poverty alleviation in Yemen.
Two major objectives of the seminar are:
– Sharing of experiences of NGOs inside and outside Yemen, so as to widen the scope of their operation and make them amenable to innovative new ideas.
– Raising socially relevant issues and initiating a debate among NGOs on the one hand and the government and international organizations on the other concerning modes and means of NGOs’ participation in poverty alleviation programs and formulation of strategies for adoption at the national level.
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