Governments around the world have recognised the important role played by Non-Governmental Organisations (NGO's), and are now moving away from being sole providers of services to being enablers of the provision of services. This was said by the Assistant Minister of Finance and Development Planning, Mr. Popane Lebesa, when officially opening the 13th Annual General Meeting of the Lesotho Council of Non-Governmental Organisation (LCN), at the Lesotho Co-operatives College on Monday 18 November,2002.

The Assistant Minister said this move has resulted in not only the changing relationship between governments and NGO's, but also the re-configuration of roles and responsibilities among all sectors. Mr. Lebesa explained that, Lesotho is no different from the process as the government has shared roles in the preparation of studies, and the planning as well as implementation of various projects and programmes in the health, education, environment and many other sectors.     

The Assistant Minister said sustainable development would only be achieved if the nation strives to integrate social, environmental and economic dimensions of development in a single policy framework, cognizant of the fact that they are complementary and mutually reinforcing. Any imbalance in the social economic environment equation suggests that there are some needs of society that are not being adequately addressed. He also noted that, the country is faced with famine and high poverty levels and therefore there is a need to be innovative in how the public turn around the situation and ensure that the benefits of economic growth reach the widest section of the nation and to maintain the social fabric.     

This year's theme is " Linking Social Actions To Sustainable Development In the Context Of Vision 2020," while last year's theme was " Poverty the Prime Enemy for Lesotho, Time for NGO's to Fight Back."  

Since its inception 13 years ago, the LCN has successfully negotiated an agreement in a form of Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), for provision of services to Lesotho Highlands Development Authority (LHDA) in the Highlands Water Project's area.     The MOU provides a framework within which a number of Non-Governmental Organisations (NGO's) can provide specialized services to LHDA in the project area.

LCN was officially launched in May 1990, with the objective of providing supportive services to the NGO community in the country.

18 November,2002