Keynote Address - 32nd General Assembly of LCN and 21st edition of the NGO Week By Mario Giuseppe Varrenti, Head of Cooperation

I present my respects to His Majesty, King Letsie III,

The Right Honourable, Prime Minister, Dr Moeketsi Majoro, 

The President and Executive Director of Lesotho’s Council of NGOs, SADC’s Council of Non-Governmental Organisations, representatives and members of civil society organisations present here today and following us from all over the country,

Bo'Me le Bo'Ntate,

On behalf of Ambassador Paola Amadei, I would like to thank you for inviting the EU Delegation to the 32^nd General Assembly of LCN and 21^st edition of the NGO Week.

I rejoice that the NGO Week, a highly anticipated platform for civil society across Lesotho, can take place, once again, after the difficult past two years. 

On 9 December 2019, when you last gathered under the roof of the Manthabiseng Convention Centre, nobody could anticipate the events that would befall the world only a few weeks later.

Since then, the Covid-19 pandemic has claimed over five million lives worldwide and pushed many more into poverty. It has driven a wedge between those who could rely on stable jobs, social safety nets and a strong healthcare and those who could not, deepening inequalities between and within countries.

The pandemic has also exacerbated existing gender inequalities and caused a spike in gender-based violence and femicide, including here in Lesotho, as some of your member organisations can tragically confirm.

The pandemic has placed new strains on efforts to protect democracy and human rights and changed, for a long time, if not forever, the way collective action is organised.

Over that last two years, the global challenges we already faced when you last gathered here have not taken a break. Carbon emissions have continued to grow unabated, resulting in ever more frequent and intense extreme weather events.

The climate emergency is not only an existential threat, but also a major driver of inequality and injustice, with countries and generations least responsible for it suffering the worst consequences, such as soil erosion, crop failure, drought or disastrous heavy rains...

It is in this context that we gather here again today. Your voice is more than ever needed. As the challenges we face did not stop during the last two years, neither can the efforts to mobilise citizens and provide a platform for collective action.

I welcome in particular LCN’s and its member’s efforts to keep alive a broad and inclusive debate about Lesotho's national reforms process.

It is fair to say that without you, the reforms process would not be where it is today and I trust that you will continue to play a very active role in their forthcoming implementation, which will have its own challenges.

At the same time, especially in the midst of an electoral year, I encourage you all to maintain the highest standards of accountability to your members and grassroots activists and to safeguard the independence of civil society from politicised and partisan agendas.

The reforms, Bo'Me le Bo'Ntate, have been at the heart of the EU Delegation’s support and will continue to be there as we usher in a new phase in the partnership between Lesotho and the EU.

Following consultative dialogues with civil society, youth, human rights and women-led organisations, we adopted, only a few weeks ago, a new strategic framework that will guide our partnership until 2027.

Besides its unwavering support to the reform process, the EU will continue to promote Lesotho’s aspiration to become energy independent, thanks to renewable sources, while providing affordable access to energy, water and sanitation for all Basotho.

Aware of the long lasting impact of the pandemic, especially on the most vulnerable, we will also place, starting from this year, renewed emphasis on strengthening social protection mechanisms. 

Crucially, a robust dialogue with civil society will remain at the heart of our partnership and we look forward, at the EU Delegation, to being part of it, starting from the discussions on the agenda of this 21^st edition of the NGO Week:

Promoting national reforms, eliminating gender based violence, tackling human trafficking, enacting the Human Rights Act, security sector reforms and accountability, mitigating climate change and the food crisis, exploring new avenues for regional integration, these and many other issues will be debated in the coming days in the halls of this convention centre.

May your voice become a clarion call for citizen activism throughout Lesotho.