Photo: Lha Charitable Trust
Dharamshala based social work non-government organisation (NGO) Lha Charitable Trust has organised a three-day conference Strengthening Tibetan Civil Society, taking place at Sarah, Dharamshala from September 30 – October 2 and attended by 36 representatives from 29 Tibetan NGOs based in India and Nepal. These Tibetan civil society organisations (TCSO) are run and led by Tibetans who are implementing development projects within the areas of education, health, livelihood, community development, gender issues etc.
The organising team believes that the conferencehas provided a platform for TCSOs to network, exchange ideas, share experiences and learn from the experts. The forum was co-sponsored by three institutions who have been involved in supporting Tibetans since the very first groups ofTibetans reached exile:The Tibet Fund, Tibet Relief Fund and Swedish Organisation for Individual Relief (SOIR-IM).
The three-day event provided training for representatives from Tibetan NGOs on strengthening fundraising capacity, conducting project needs assessment, understanding legal and financial compliances and finding ways to collaborate and network.
“We believe civil society organisations have a vital role in the Tibetan community, which faces challenges in many different sectors and it is recognised that a key to social and economic development and poverty reduction is the strength and vibrancy of civil societies,” said Dorji Kyi, Director of Lha Charitable Trust. “The conference aims to create effectiveness, impact and sustainability in local Tibetan organisations and empower their staff, in particular Tibetan youth, to serve their communities, improve lives and make social changes,” she added.
“We would like to thank the sponsors for enabling us to create this important platform where all the NGOs come together for discussion: the major challenges faced by all Tibetan NGOs are same, as we serve the same community,” said Dorji Kyi.
Photo: Lha Charitable Trust
Ms Kaysang, co-founder of Dromo – the first feminist resource group in Tibetan exile community – said “These few days are important to a new organisation like Drokmo because in a short period of time, we are getting access to learn a lot about the legal aspects of managing an organisations, how to raise funds, doing needs assessment, etc. For many Tibetan NGOs, we start out with a lot of passion and dreams to create a better society, but we do not really know how to handle the nitty-gritty of the work that goes into ensuring that an organisation operates well.”
This conference is the second of its kind. The first Strengthening Tibetan Civil Society training was co-hosted in April 2016 in Dehradun by the Tibet Fund, Tibet Relief Fund and SOIR-IM.
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