About 85% of Zimbabwe’s Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) have complied with the requirements of the Private Voluntary Organisations (PVO) Amendment Act, marking significant progress in the sector’s transition to the country’s revised regulatory framework.
The National Association of Non-Governmental Organisations (NANGO) said the compliance rate translates to about 700 organisations, based on figures obtained from the PVO Registrar.
Speaking, recently, on the sidelines of the NANGO Regional NGO Expo and Winter School in Bulawayo, NANGO Executive Director, Ernest Nyimai said recent engagements with the registrar showed that in March, 371 organisations had completed registration, adding to the more than 400 NGOs already registered under the PVO framework.
“From our recent engagement with the PVO Registrar, we were informed that by March about 371 organisations had registered. When you add the more than 400 organisations already on the register, we are looking at around 700 organisations, which translates to about 85% compliance,” Nyimai said.
He said the progress demonstrates that most civil society organisations are embracing the new regulatory framework, although more work is needed to assist those yet to complete the registration process.
Nyimai said NANGO is helping organisations understand and comply with the PVO Amendment Act, as well as other recently introduced regulations, including the General Import Regulations and the Risk-Based Supervision for Protection from Terrorist Financing Abuse Regulations.
“Our role is to support our members to understand the different regulatory frameworks that are being introduced. The first thing is to bridge the knowledge gap, and secondly to accompany them through the registration process,” he said.
He said NANGO had also created engagement platforms that bring NGOs together with regulators to provide compliance guidance and address implementation challenges.
While welcoming the progress, Nyimai said smaller organisations often face greater compliance challenges than larger, well-resourced NGOs.
“We have very small organisations and well-established national NGOs, yet the same rules apply to all. Going forward, we need to do more compliance accompaniment to help organisations navigate these changes,” he said.
He noted that although the sector had made significant progress, efforts would continue to ensure all eligible organisations comply with the PVO Amendment Act, in line with Government’s drive to strengthen accountability, transparency and good governance in the operations of private voluntary organisations.
