Burgess COMMENTARY

Peter Burgess

Published on NGO Pulse (http://www.ngopulse.org) Home > About SANGONeT About SANGONeT The Southern African NGO Network (SANGONeT) was founded in 1987 [1]. Over the past 26 years SANGONeT has developed into a dynamic civil society organisation with a history closely linked to the social and political changes experienced by South Africa during its transition to democracy. SANGONeT is still one of very few NGOs in Africa involved in the field of information communication technologies (ICTs) and continues to serve civil society with a wide range of ICT products and services. SANGONeT's vision is to be a strategic leadership organisation influencing social transformation through ICTs. We strive to contribute to a just, equitable and prosperous Southern African society, where the impact and contribution of sustainable development programmes are supported by appropriate, relevant and affordable ICT solutions. SANGONeT's mission is to support the effective use of ICTs in Southern African civil society organisations by providing quality services and initiatives. We exist for the purpose of facilitating access, sharing information, building capacity, raising awareness, enhancing reach and impact, and linking people and organisations through the use of ICTs in Southern Africa. SANGONeT’s services and interventions [2] continue to be shaped by the challenge of strengthening the capacity of NGOs in finding long-term and sustainable solutions in response to Southern Africa’s development problems. NGOs’ capacity for service delivery increasingly requires that attention be given to their ability to integrate ICTs into their activities. Although many South African NGOs are already active users of ICTs, much more needs to be done to build the capacity of the sector in this regard. With approximately 100 000 non-profit organisations operating in South Africa, and only a small percentage of these equipped with the necessary ICT capacity and expertise required in support of their development work, the potential impact of ICTs on the work of NGOs remains limited. This situation defines the raison d’étre for the role and contribution of an organisation such as SANGONeT in support of the NGO sector in Southern Africa and beyond. SANGONeT info@sangonet.org.za [3] www.sangonet.org.za [4] April 2013 Source URL: http://www.ngopulse.org/about-sangonet Links: [1] http://www.ngopulse.org/node/6311/og-panel/2 [2] http://www.ngopulse.org/node/6311/og-panel/6 [3] mailto:info@sangonet.org.za [4] http://www.sangonet.org.za