By rebecca torr
Published: 11th October 2006
A TOP official has jumped to the defence of a new centre that opened last night to support the country’s 400-plus Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs).
The centre, in Tubli, offers free expert advice, technical support and training and is the first of its kind in the GCC.
It was opened last night by Social Development Minister Dr Fatima Al Balooshi, but was already coming in for criticism before the ceremony even started.
It will be managed and funded by the Social Development Ministry, while the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has been recruited to provide expert advice on setting up the centre.
By rebecca torr
Published: 11th October 2006
A TOP official has jumped to the defence of a new centre that opened last night to support the country’s 400-plus Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs).
The centre, in Tubli, offers free expert advice, technical support and training and is the first of its kind in the GCC.
It was opened last night by Social Development Minister Dr Fatima Al Balooshi, but was already coming in for criticism before the ceremony even started.
It will be managed and funded by the Social Development Ministry, while the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has been recruited to provide expert advice on setting up the centre.
But the now-dissolved Bahrain Centre for Human Rights yesterday sent out a statement calling for the centre to be independent of the government.
It said the centre’s independence from the Social Development Ministry would ensure the government does not have control over political and civil societies.
However, Social Development Ministry advisor Dr Ates Elshabrawy said in response that the centre was an initiative by the ministry to build bridges between the government and NGOs.
“The main goal of the centre is to provide technical support, not political support,” he said.
“We provide networking with national and international NGOs and have no relation with politics, we are technical supporters.
“The NGOs’ activities themselves do not impact the centre.”
The BCHR also called for the centre to be assessed and monitored by the UNDP.
“The UN is not managing such projects in democratic countries,” responded Dr Elshabrawy.
“They do this in under developed countries and Bahrain is a stable country we don’t need others to operate it.”
However, he added that the long-term plan would be to have the centre managed by NGOs.
But he said for this to happen, NGOs would need to be trained and the centre would need to be financially independent.
The centre has been opened to provide NGOs with specialised training services to help them recruit members and implement plans.
It will also offer legal and financial counselling, business development advice, as well as help with capacity building related to fundraising and proposals.
Last night’s opening was followed by a workshop explaining to NGOs the purposes, functions and activities of the centre, which has two meeting rooms, a library and a cafeteria.
It will be run by six to eight people who will be assisted by legal, financial and IT experts.
© Gulf Daily News
