We the participants of the National Summit of South African Non-Profit Organisations (NPO) convened by the National and Provincial Departments of Social Development, under the theme “Working together to Fight Poverty, Unemployment and Inequality”, with the support of the National Development Agency, the South African Social Security Agency, gathered in Ekurhuleni from 14 to 17 August 2012 with the aim of creating a platform for effective partnership between government and the non-profit sector to strengthen action towards eradicating poverty, enhancing the quality of life of South Africans, and creating a more humane society.
Believing that the collective and individual contributions of Civil Society Organisations (CSO) are critical and important sources of innovation for social inclusion and addressing key national goals, including the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs);
Recognising the important roles that non-profit organisations played in mobilising, protecting and facilitating development in marginalised communities, while at the same time working with the people and mass-based organisations to realise the ideal of a non-racial, non-sexist and democratic South Africa. This included the invaluable contributions of umbrella organisations in the civil society sector, such as the South African National Civics Organisation (SANCO), the Community Based Organisations Network (CBO Network), and the South African National Non-Governmental Organisations (SANGOCO), as well as sector based networks and faith based organisations such as the South African Council Churches.
This summit, therefore, seeks to rekindle and leverage these capabilities and values of the non-profit sector towards development action aimed at reducing poverty, unemployment and inequality in partnership with government. This partnership between government and NPOs is based on the shared vision of an inclusive society free from racism, ethnicity, sexism, poverty, inequality and unemployment, including elements of this vision as articulated in the National Development Plan. Such a partnership should be based on mutual accountability and trust.
We therefore resolve:-
- To improve public confidence in the non-profit sector through improving accountability and transparency. This can be achieved through a combination of appropriate government regulation and self-regulation of the non-profit sector. This requires government to improve its capacity to effectively execute its regulatory functions. The non-profit sector commits to refine and implement its own code of conduct.
- Both government and non-profit organisations should transform their institutional arrangements so that they can meet the needs of poor and the marginalised.
- Government should demonstrate its commitment to the vision of an inclusive society through the development of appropriate policies, accompanied by requisite resources for effective implementation.
- The non-profit sector in this partnership should demonstrate its commitment to the vision of an inclusive society, through its goals, location, the manner in which they are constituted and a commitment to participatory engagement with communities.
- Government, its funding institutions, and the NPO sector must mobilise resources to effectively deliver services to the poor and the vulnerable.
- Government must improve its planning frameworks so that it is able to make requisite resources available to NPOs.
- The NPO sector must diversify its funding sources.
- Government, Corporate Funders, Private Foundations, International Funders and NPOs must ensure that funds are equitably distributed to redress the currently skewed resourcing patterns so that NPOs in poor, rural and marginalised communities have access to resources for the fulfilment of their mandates.
- Government must encourage the private sector to fund and invest in the prioritised areas of service to the poor and marginalised communities.
- Strengthen government institutions to mobilise resources from the private sector and international donors.
- Effective resource mobilisation by all stakeholders will require participatory planning processes where government includes civil society in its planning process and in turn civil society also includes communities in its planning processes.
- Government commits to create an enabling environment to strengthen non-profit organisations focusing on training and development within the sector for them to build capacity of other non-profit organisations.
- Such an enabling environment will include measures to make reporting requirements by all donors, including government, standardised and user-friendly.
- In order to improve relations between government and NPOs and among NPOs, organisations active in this partnership will work towards the strengthening of networks to represent them to minimise fragmentation within the sector.
We appreciate the contribution of the Department of Social Development, the National Development Agency and the South African Social Security Agency in convening civil society and commit to ensure that follow-up proceedings will take place.
