STRATEGIC PLAN 2019-2024

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INTRODUCTION TO THE
EASTERN CAPE NGO
COALITION AND ITS
FOOTPRINT
The Eastern Cape NGO Coalition (ECNGOC) was
established in 1995 when development NGOs of the
Eastern Cape Province decided to establish and participate
in an association of NGOs, through which joint action,
representation of common interests, provision of training
and support, information-sharing and co-ordination of
activities could be pursued. The ECNGOC is an umbrella
organisation that represents more than 900 CBOs,
NPOs and FBOs across all development sectors in the
Eastern Cape. It is recognised as the most representative
structure of the NGO sector in the province. The ECNGOC
implements initiatives and has representative structures
and consultative platforms in the 6 districts and 2 metros of
the province. It plays a significant role as a collective voice
in many consultative stakeholder forums and governmentled
development structures and processes, not just in the
province, but in South Africa.
The ECNGOC addresses its mandate through working on
three focus areas. These are:
• Strengthening NPO compliance and legislation
• Strengthening NGO sustainability through capacity
development and collective voice
• Influencing the development trajectory through
Asset-Based-Community-Driven Development (ABCD)
and bottom-up accountability
The overall objective of its interventions is to address
South Africa’s triple challenge of poverty, unemployment
and inequality.
In its strategic plan the ECNGOC applies the internationally
used terminology of civil society organisations and the
civil society sector. According to the World Bank definition
civil society organizations include “a wide array of nongovernmental
and not for profit organizations that
have a presence in public life, express the interests and
values of their members and others, based on ethical,
cultural, political, scientific, religious or philanthropic
considerations”. 1 Within the civil society sector the
ECNGOC sees itself as the main representative body of
the NGO sector in the Eastern Cape and implement its
interventions with special focus on serving its member
organisations.
In its initial phase the membership of the organisation was
predominantly made up of established NGOs. Over the
years the membership became more diversified and a high
number of grassroots-community-based organisations
(CBOs) joined the organisation. The peer learning
between experienced and emerging organisations and the
engagement between the provincial and the grassroots
perspective enrich the discourse and interventions of the
organisation.
1.1 Programmatic approach and
key interventions
Since its foundation the ECNGOC focuses on pro-poor,
people centred development in its advocacy and program
implementation.
Eastern Cape NGO Coalition – STRATEGIC PLAN 2019 - 2024
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