Application Form of BOCONGO (Botswana)

1	Name of the Organization	Country
	Botswana Council of Non Governmental Organisations.   Republic of Botswana
2	“Letter of Intention” Please include: (1)   reason why your organisation is eligible to be part of Steering Committee; (2)   what kind of contribution that your organisation can make for Civic Commission for Africa
	BOCONGO is eligible to be in the Steering Committee because it is the national umbrella body of NGO’s in Botswana. It therefore is the logical representative of the NGOs in Botswana. BOCONGO has representation in many sectors of the registered NGOs in the country. BOCONGO can make valuable contribution to Civic Commission for Africa by sharing with other members the invaluable experience of BOCONGO in lobbying for the civil society. The manner in which BOCONGO works with the government is admired by other countries in Africa and many African countries can learn a lot from Botswana’s experience of peace stability and progress.
3	How much could your organisation allocate in order to fulfill responsibility to be part of Steering Committee? BOCONGO is relatively well funded in terms of budget for regional and international networking. The organization has a budget to cover for communication (phones, email, internet and mail, memebership fees etc. Roughly amounting to US Dollar 5000.00 *Please include how to spend it. (in USDollar)
4	Please share the view of your organisation on the report of Tony Blair’s Commission for Africa, “Our Common Interest”. http://www.commissionforafrica.org/english/report/introduction.html
	BOCONGO has read the report and our opinion is that it is a commendable proposal and a step in the right direction. He report needs to be followed up with concrete action. Perhaps the most important recommendation from the report is the emphasis on giving Africa a stronger voice in terms of poverty eradication measures.
5	Please list issues that your organisation would like to emphasize in order to reflect “voices” of your civil society effectively. *Please include reason why you listed those issues.
	BOCONGO would like to like to reflect on poverty eradication since we view this as the single biggest challenge facing Africa. It is important for countries to ensure that the Millennium Development Goals are fully implemented. The MDGs captures the challenges facing Africa and offer a platform on which to tackle the problems. The mosty important solution is to give the poor a voice in poverty eradication and also make poverty eradication an urgent political priority.