Tanzania Association of NGOs (TANGO)

The largest component of the Tanzanian civil society organizations is the NGO sector of which the current statistics show that there are about 9000 NGOs which are registered with the government. In this issue of the NGO/CSO Watch we give a gist of the content of the NGO Code of Conduct which was gazetted some two years ago.

It is important to note that the NGO Code of Conduct is anchored in the NGO Policy and Act No. 24 of 2002. This is because the Act provides for the establishment of an umbrella organization to be known as the NGO Council, whose purpose is coordinating and networking NGO affairs on Mainland Tanzania.

To actualize the functions stated above in 2003 NGOs undertook district through regional elections to national election of people to serve on the NGO Council which has now come to be known as the ‘NACONGO’.

Owning to the demand of Section 27(1) of the NGO Act which tasks the Council with the duty of developing and causing to be adopted a Code of Conduct and such other regulations which shall facilitate self-regulation of NGOs in Tanzania. The first ever Tanzania Council of NGOs which was elected in 2003 spent all the six years in office developing a strategic plans and the now operational code of conduct.

The Code of Conduct which was formerly launched in 2008 aims at establishing core values and principles that guide the conduct and operations of all NGOs working in Tanzania.

The Code of Conduct guides NGOs in meeting the challenges of sustainability, democratic and participatory management of NGOs/CSOs. The code also seeks to strengthen the institutional capacity of NGOs by fostering an enabling environment for Tanzanian NGOs.

Objective of the Code of Conduct are:

• Promote an open transparent and enabling environment for NGO work in Tanzania.
• Promote and encourage transparent and accountability within NGO operations.
• Contribute and promote principles and ways of working that ensures effective collaboration and coordination among NGOs and other stakeholders.
• Establishment mechanisms for Code observance y all NGOs, sub-national, National and International.

Values upheld by the Tanzanian NGO Code of Conduct:

• In essence the Code of Conduct spells out the values which the NGO Council upholds, which include the self-determination, ownership, autonomy and empowerment.
• Other issues which the Code fosters are respect for Human Rights, Dignity, Equity and Equality, sovereignty,Freedom of Expression and Association.
• Last but not the least the Code seeks to promote popular voices of the masses and mutual partnership.

Observance of the Code:

• Although the Code has been in force since 2009 very few locally rooted NGOs seem to know its content or have aligned their operations to the demands of the Code of Conduct.
• In a bid to operationalize the Code of newly elected NGO Council plans to mount a national wide campaign aimed at creating awareness on the NGO Code of Conduct.
• In order to make the Code awareness campaign to be effective NACONGO will have to put in place by-laws which will enforce the Code.