2nd CTA Donors Conference Convenes at Dharamsala
By Tsering Choephel
DHARAMSALA 31 Aug: The Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) convened a two-day, 31 Aug – 1 Sept, “Donor Conference” at Gankyi Hall at the Central Tibetan Secretariat here this morning.
Organised by the Social and Resource Development Fund (SARD) of the Department of Finance of the CTA, the President(Sikyong) of CTA Penpa Tsering and his cabinet members along with thirty representatives from nineteen different donor groups and forty staff members from related departments of CTA attended the opening ceremony.
The aim of the conference as CTA maintains is “to foster meaningful engagement between the CTA and its donors, with a focus on sharing the CTA’s vision for the future and understanding the donor’s objective and commitment to supporting the CTA’s initiatives.”
The overall objectives of the conference are to present CTA’s future vision, to learn from Donors, to build strong partnerships and to identify synergies between the CTA’s vision and the interests and priorities of potential donors.
This is the second such conference organised by the CTA. The first Donors’ Conference was held in Bangkok, Thailand from 14 to 15 January 2005.
Addressing the media, Sikyong Penpa Tsering said the overall expenses of CTA are around 10 million US dollars a year. He assured the financial stability of CTA for the next several years while stressing the importance of becoming ‘self-reliant’.
“They (donors) observe closely how far our society has come and developed. Within our society, the conditions of individuals have greatly improved. But, there remains a deficiency in our public administration and public facilities” he said.
Though he expressed the need for continued support in the field of education and health in future, he stressed that “for some department projects, we need to have a specified timeline for completion. It shouldn’t be the case that the support we receive and the needs we have is without an end.”
The attending members of the conference have a scheduled audience with His Holiness the Dalai Lama on Saturday and are later to attend the Tibetan Democracy Day Celebrations at Sikyong Hall at the Tsug-lag-Khang, the main temple in Mcleod Ganj on the same day.
