22-01-2014

  The first Network meeting of Tawsol / public sector and civil society outreach

El Sadat for Development and Social Welfare in coordination with the Ministry of Solidarity held the first meeting of the Network on Thursday, January 22, 2014 at the Ministry of Social Solidarity in the presence of representatives of the government and representatives of civil society organizations. The public sector and civil society outreach Network ( Tawsol ) is an ongoing activity in all phases of the project . The Network will meet on monthly basis. This Network aims to increase cooperation and the creation of resources for government officials and civil society organizations to support each other and call for a consolidated cooperation. The leaders of this Network will plan for sustainability, and create a roadmap for the civil society , government and donors. Furthermore, the Network will informally develop relations within civil society sector and the public sector. The Network in coordination with the staff of research programs will produce reference guides for the civil society.

 The meeting addressed the following points : 

 - Introduction of the Network  - Introduction of public sector and civil society outreach (Tawsol) project

 - Introduction of different roles of the Network’s members 

- Expectations of the government, civil society, and the civil society’ needs from the government and the perceptions and understanding of both of what is a positive relationship that should be between them Additionally attendees addressed several points; emphasizing that the government is a supporter of civil society , and therefore has to have a communication pathway between the government and the civil society be cause NGOs are the mediators between the government, citizens and the community. Also to promote the importance of defining the concept of civil society and whether this definition includes trade unions, movements or it is limited solely to NGOs. At the same note attendees recommanded that the role of government should be well introduced to the civil society sector, along with the services and directories that the government offers to the civil society. Some of the attendees ushered to the high importance of partnership’s concept between civil society and the government , which means equal participation in all stages and the expectations of civil society from the government and the government's expectations of civil society and the most important problems facing each other, representatives of the civil society confirmed that a mechanism should be developed to communicate the government with the various ministries to facilitate the work of NGOs in addition to the work on the creation of mechanisms for the sustainability of civil society projects .