|
|
 |
NiZA Approach The three NiZA programmes are characterised by a common approach:
- Each NiZA programme focuses on a number of clearly defined political objectives all linked to the over-all objective, i.e. to enforce civil society and democratic processes in southern Africa.
- The programmes enter into partner contracts with organisations that work towards structural changes in the areas of the media, human rights or economic development.
- NiZA programmes focus on extending the power of civil society by giving explicit support to regional cooperation and capacity enforcement.
- Partner organisations have a say in establishing the programmes’ policies. It is they who single out the areas in which they are in need of capacity enforcement.
- Lobby and advocacy are undertaken on the initiative of partners in southern Africa and implemented, together with organisations in the North, after discussions with these partners.
- NiZA programmes supply materials to be used in the Netherlands for awareness-raising aimed at realising greater support for southern Africa.
Sector Plan
PSO-financed Sector Plans take a prominent position in each of the NiZA programmes. PSO is an organisation funded by the Dutch Ministry of Home Affairs to promote capacity enforcement in developing countries. As a member of PSO, NiZA has worked out four Sector Plans:
- Media and Freedom of Expression
- Human Rights and Peace Building
- New Partnership for Africa’s Development – NePAD (Economic Empowerment Programme)
- Peace, Principles and Participation; Corporate Social Responsibility and Natural Resource Exploitation (Economic Empowerment Programme).
Four assumptions are at the basis of the Sector Plans:
1. Putting partners first – The NiZA Approach
NiZA promotes a new form of solidarity, which expresses itself in a close cooperation on a strategic level with the partners in southern Africa. It is of major importance that our partners in the region have an input in all programme activities. The support NiZA gives to projects is based on initiatives taken by our local partners, who also partly determine the direction taken by Sector Plans.
2. Capacity enforcement
Through capacity enforcement, organisations in Africa are enabled to expand their human capital. NiZA supports this process in several ways, financially and by making available its expertise. NiZA promotes South-South exchanges. Is a training institute in Namibia able to benefit from research done in Malawi? Will trainees from South Africa get employed later on in other countries? Are common efforts of a number of institutions in various parts of the region really getting off the ground?
Under the Sector Plans, a growing number of experts from the South have been employed in the latest years. Presently more than 50 per cent of all the experts come from a SADC member state. Eventually, NiZA aims for a position as ‘expertise broker’ in the fields of human rights, media and economic development.
3. Coherence
The added value of a Sector Plan is that the effectiveness of a project is no longer judged from the results showed by the project partner alone; the benefits reaped by the entire sector become a major criterion as well. A Sector Plan is set up in such a way as to stimulate regional cooperation, strengthen existing networks and give an impetus to new ones. Exchanges of information and experiences between partners are of paramount importance.
4. Long-term prospects
Sector Plans are being developed for four-year periods. The added value of the Sector Plan approach is that regional networks can be expected to blossom and develop themselves further. This means that activities stand a greater chance of being continued in the long run.
| |
|
|
|
 | | | |
|
