NGO-GOVERNMENT RELATIONS A SOURCE OF LIFE OR A KISS DEETH
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- NGO-GOVERNMENT RELATIONS A SOURCE OF LIFE OR A KISS DEETH
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PREFACE
As many of us involved in promoting and strengthening voluntary action
in Adult Education began to share our experiences, we discovered that serious
questions were emerging about our relationship with our own governments.
With our individual experiences and notions, the four of us began to share and
analyse the situation more in depth. And we discovered that certain trends had
a pattern, and perhaps a wider relevance.
It was in this sense, with a view to promote wider sharing and reflection
among leaders of NGOs from different countries of the South, that a four day
consultation was convened jointly by Budd Hall (Secretary General of
International Council for Adult Education, Canada); Francisco Vio Grossi
(Secretary General of CEAAL, Chile); Paul Wangoola (Secretary General of
African Association for Literacy and Adult Education, Kenya) and Rajesh
Tandon (Corordinator of Society for Participatory Research in Asia, India).
The consultation was a remarkably productive and enriching experience
for all of us. It became a forum for critical reflections and analysis. It also built
the bonds of friendship and solidarity.
We are grateful to CIDA for its support to this Consultation.
This report has been prepared by Rajesh Tandon. It is an attempt to
present common trends and concerns. Detailed cases of different countries are
separately available. The report is seen as a vehicle for catalysing further
reflection among NGOs in different countries and regions. It can also become a
basis for dialogue with governments and donors. We hope that it also serves
the broader purpose of strengthening voluntary actions in all our countries.
BACKGROUND
development promoting non-profit initiatives
outside the framework of commercial
enterprise, the political parties and the State
and para-statal apparatus.
Alongwith the increasing deabte, attention
and impact of NGOs, issues in their
relationships with their local goverments have
also arisen in recent years. The response of the
State and its representatives has varied
considerably and has become a matter of great
concern for members of the NGO community
and their supporters and sympathisers across
the world. While many NGOs, their networks
and leaders are trying to understand and deal
with their respective national governments and
State apparatus, it is increasingly recognised
that some collective reflections on the situation
of NGO—Government relationship across the
world be carried out with a view to share our
analysis and experiences and to develop some
common understandings and strategies to
respond to these situations. It was in this
context that a consultation inviting 18 NGO
leaders from as many countries of the
developing countries was held in New Delhi
during March 20-23, 1989. The Consultation
brought in a small group of experienced NGO
leaders to share their experiences of their own
national situations on the question of relations
with their governments and State apparatus and
the ways that this was being dealt with in
different situations.
The Consultation turned out to be an exciting
opportunity for sharing analysis and
demonstrated universally common forces and
trends that were applicable in all our countries,
which tend to characterise and define the nature
of NGO—Government relations. A variety of
long-term ideas and proposals for more detailed
reflections within the regions and countries and
In recent years, there has been increased
visibility and reference to the work of voluntary
development organisations in the development
discourse. The 80’s of this century can be
characterised as discovering and rediscovering
the role, the potential and the limitations of the
work of voluntary development organisations in
various developing and developed countries of
the world. While the existance of voluntary
organisations in certain parts of the world had
been a long standing historical phenomenon
(like India), in some other parts of the world
(like Latin America) their emergence is of a
much recent origin (particularly in the 70’s and
the 80’s of this century).
Along with the increasing attention,
visibility and impact of voluntary organisations,
there has also emerged new phraseology, new
frameworks, paradigms and perspectives. The
term "non-govermental organisation (NGO)”,
though a negative definition, tends to
incorporate the wide range of development
promoting voluntary organisations in different
countries, particularly in the the countries of the
South. The term voluntary is more applicable
on the Asian and African sub-continents than it
is in the Caribbean and Latin American
countries. Thus non-governmental
organisations (NGOs) seems to be a category of
development promoting organisations which
are initiatives voluntarily taken by citizens,
professionals, youngsters to focus their
attention on one of the developmental aspects
of their specific context. Though some
references in recent writings seem to include
private sector, commercial and for-profit
organisations in this category, they are being
excluded from the present deliberations.
Essentially the reference to NGOs here implies
3
governments. This report should be seen as an
outcome of those deliberations and not a
detailed reporting of individual case studies
from different countries (which are separately
available from the organisers). We hope that
this report will serve the purpose of catalysing
debate on this issue in different countries and
regions of the world, further enriching our
understanding on this complex issue and
creating possibilities for a more sustained and
healthy dialogue with those who can contribute
towards strengthening the roles and
contributions of NGOs in all our countries.
for more concerted sharing, analysis and actions
were also evolved in the context of this
Consultation.
The present report is an attempt to
summarise the key analysis arising out of this
Consultation and to present the range of aspects
that characterise NGO—Government relations,
the context in which they are situated and the
issues which emerge from this reflection. It also
draws certain implications for different actors in
this situation in order to create possibilities for
a more healthy and mutually respectful
relationships between the NGOs and
4
PURPOSES
It is interesting to examine the broad
purposes which give rise to the emergence of
NGOs in different countries of the South. These
purposes tend to provide the rationale for the
existence and growth of NGOs, almost like a
framework which defines the basis of their
work in different contexts. While these
purposes have been articulated in different
ways, it appeared that there were certain
categories of purposes which appeared more
fundamental than others in the work of NGOs.
A more common stream of purposes was the
empowerment of the poor and the oppressed.
It is the purpose which is based on an analysis
of society in a given context, which identifies
the oppressed and the powerless, the poor, the
labourers, the women, the tribals, the landless,
the slum-dwellers, etc., etc. Empowerment tends
to include critical analysis of one s reality and
enhanced sense of confidence to be able to work
on and transform that reality collectively,
increased information and competence to be
able to work together to transform that reality,
etc. It appears that a large number of NGOs in
different countries of the South were guided by
this overall purpose of empowerment of the
powerless, the poor and the oppressed.
in different countries. Underlying assumption
here is that collective and organised effort by
such people alone can bring about increased
attention and response to their needs and
concerns, thereby creating the basis for their
• economic, social and political well-being.
Building peoples’s organisations, strengthening
them, enhancing their capacities are some of the
overriding aspects of this purpose which seem
to guide the formation and the continuation of
the work of many NGOs in different countries
of the South.
A third stream of purposes within this
overall framework seems to be the
strengthening, re-energising and rejuvenation
of social movements. These are movements
based on social issues which effect the life of vast
majority of the under-class in our societies—the
issues of unemployment, inflation,
homelessness, illiteracy, militarisation,
communal violence, corruption, the rights of
women, children, workers, tribals, human
rights. It is here that the broad guiding force for
the work of many NGOs has been to contribute
towards the emergence and strengthening of
such social movements; not providing
leadership to them, but perhaps guiding and
strengthening the leadership of such
movements.
The second stream of purposes , related to
this, yet distinct in some ways, was the building
and strengthening of people’s organisations.
People here are defined as members of the
popular classes, the poor, the oppressed, the
powerless, the unorganised—who do not seem
to have a collective voice of their own, whose
needs and aspirations are not recognised in the
larger public policy arena nationally and
internationally, who seem to get marginalised
and further deprived as a consequence of the
contemporary development policies and trends
A fourth stream of purposes seems to emerge
from the broad global trend towards anti
authoritarianism. It seems that in the
contemporary context, authoritarian forces,
internationally, nationally, locally, within
families, organisations, enterprises have been
on the rise, resulting in increased centralisation,
control and regulation; and in response to these
forces, there has been an emerging force of
democratisation. NGOs in several parts of the
5
Chile : NGOs and Dictatorship
The rise of NGOs after 1975 has been in response to growing socio-economic and political
crisis in the country. Struggling against human rights violations, political oppressions and the
neo-liberal economic model created the conditions for their emergence. Protected by the
Church, NGOs in Chile have begun to articulate an alternative development programme for
the country.
In the current process of transition from military dictatorship to democracy, NGOs are
playing key roles. They have been involved in educating the people, and training volunteers,'
to defeat the dictatorship in the referendum. NGOs are working towards the promotion of
democracy and strengthening of a civil society based on collective self-reliance. It will be
interesting to see how future democratic government will respond to the work of NGOs.
purposes need not be the purposes which have
historically been in operation to define the roles
of NGOs. It appears that political movements,
particularly related to liberation struggles in
different countries of the south, did provide an
arena for and an impetus to the work of NGOs
in several countries (some of the African
countries, India, etc.). Historically, "doing good
to the sick, needy, destitute” individuals was also
a major starting point for much of the
philanthropic, welfarist, social service work of
NGOs over these decades. However, in our
analysis, we seem to indicate the larger social
context and rationale arising out of that context
to serve as the basis for the emergence and
development of the work of NGOs in many of
our countries of the South.
world seem to be working towards the
promotion of democratic practices and
processes—strengthening capacities of people
to create and operate democratic organisations
and working towards what has come to be
known as participatory democracy. Thus a
major guiding frame for a large number of
NGOs in many countries of the world seems to
be to work towards creation of democratic
structures and processes in our societies,
institutions, organisations, families and lives,
and not merely in representative or formal
sense, but also in the sense of daily practices and
processes. The right to information, right to
participation, right to be heard, right to know,
right to learn, right to speak, right to associate
etc. in their daily menifestations seem to be the
key foundations of participatory democracy. It is
a move against previous tendencies of
democratic centralism. It is bringing democracy
to the daily practice in our lives, in our families,
in our institutions, in our polity.
If we examine these streams of purposes
outlined above, they seem to indicate a
dimension of continuity, because these purposes
do require work over sustained periods of time
in all historical moments and contexts, though
the form of work may vary as the
menifestations of these purposes will change
over different periods of history.
The above streams of purposes seem to guide
broadly the emergence and continuance of the
work of many NGOs in different countries of
the world in contemporary years. These
6
TYPES OF NGO ROLES
It was interesting to observe the different
distinct types of NGOs based on the nature of
roles they played. There were also different
types of NGOs based on the level and their
membership. Let us start with the latter. The
Consultation did make ceratin key distinctions
between village-based, slum-based, local
peoples’ organisations and indigenous voluntary
development promoting organisations being
referred to here as NGOs. Peoples’
organisations, peasant movements, womens’
organisations, tribal associations, womens’ clubs,
federations of workers, unions, cooperatives
were seen as local peoples’ organisations and
are not being referred to as NGOs in this
deliberation. On the other hand, there were
Expatriate NGOs (ENGOs) located in the
countries of the North with their branches,
projects and programmes in the countries of the
South. This phenomenon is wide-spread in
Africa, though it is also visible in some other
parts of the world. These are efforts of
Expatriate NGOs with roots outside the
countries of the South and "doing good” in the
countries of the South. These were also excluded
from the definition of NGOs in the
deliberations mentioned here. Indigenous NGOs
are those which are operating with their roots
and origins within the countries, with people
within the countries providing leadership and
working with these NGOs. They may vary in
their level from national to state to village and
community level NGOs, but in most cases, they
comprised of initiatives of people who were
guided by the overriding purposes mentioned
above. In thi%regard, the Consultation
distinguished NGOs in this definition from the
initiatives of a group of workers to form their
own union, the peoples’ organisations in the
current debate within this category of
indigenous voluntary organisations or NGOs.
Four broad types of roles seem to emerge in
all our countries, though they were being played
to varying degrees of effectivity and coverage.
Type A : Service Providers
The first type comprised of welfare-oriented
or service-providing NGOs. These are NGOs
which are inspired by "helping others”, by
welfare concerns, and they largely provide
services for the poor and marginalised
communities. They do believe that the services
would lead to some of the purposes mentioned
above. Much of these services have been in the
area of health, through clinics, hospitals, health
provisions; in the area of education, through
schools, colleges, training programmes, nonformal education, literacy, etc.; in the area of
drinking water and sanitation, areas of
agriculture and irrigation, and in the areas of
reforestation, non-conventional sources of
energies, appropriate technology etc. etc. The
sector of development or the problem of
development may vary, but these organisations
essentially provide a service which is needed by
the members of a community. They provide this
service with great sacrifice, with high efficiency,
with low expenses, with extreme commitment
and dedication. These services are flexible,
responsive to the needs of the community,
locally grounded and relevant and tend to fulfil
an important gap that exists in meeting the
basic minimum needs of that community. In
some situations, such service-oriented NGOs
operate in those areas where government
programmes and services are non-existent.
This has been particularly so in those
countries where the State has increasingly
7
A related category of welfare work is that
which arises in situations requiring relief and
rehabilitation, the work with refugees, the work
in situations of great crises and disasters,
cyclones, famines, wars, etc. It is in this context
that the work of these NGOs needs to be seen
and understood. The debate seems to indicate
that in recent years most NGOs which started
with a service and welfare orientation seem not
to get limited to that but see it as a means to
the wider focus of work in some of the purposes
mentioned above.
withdrawn from any kind of social service
support or development role, either as a direct
consequence of the World Bank, IMF, Chicago
School policies (as in many African and Latin
American countries) or indirectly in response to
the growing militarisation, dictatorship etc. (as
in countries like Chile and Philippines). In these
situations, many NGOs have increasingly begun
to play the role of providing services even
though they may not start from that
orientation.
St. Vincent and the Grenadines : Stages in the Relationship
In the relationship between NGOs and the Government in St. Vincent and the Grenadines in
the Caribbean, three distinct stages can be traced.
The first stage was the period of colonial rule till end of 1960’s. This period saw the birth of
many service/welfare NGOs—like Red Cross, Jaycees, Rotary and some Church related. They
were comprised of businessmen and professionals, civil servants and the rich who treated
NGOs as an expression of their benevolence.
The second period was marked by national resistance till 1979. Many new NGOs emerged in
this period to work for the development of an anti-colonial consciousness. They comprised of
students, youth and other activists who looked upon these organisations as vehicles of political
transforma tion.
The third period since then has been characterized by a rise of development oriented NGOs
like Projects Promotion, Commission for the Development of Peoples, the Rural
Transformation Collective, etc. Recently, an umbrella organisation National Alliance of
Development Organisations has also been formed.
South and have contributed towards
development of many innovative approaches to
strengthen socio-economic status of the poor
and the deprived. Their approaches to planning,
to interventions in socio-economic
programming etc. have been very innovative,
flexible and impactful. As a result, in many
countries of the South, the ideas derived from
the work of such NGOs have been attempted to
be utilised in national policies. The classic, of
course, is the community health and primary
health care orientation to the entire work of
fighting ill-health. It is here that the work of
such NGOs became the basis for formulation of
Type B : Empowerment NGOs
The second type of NGOs are those which
are development oriented NGOs which directly
work on the question of organisation and
empowerment or work through educational
interventions in certain development sectors
leading to those broad purposes. These NGOs
have begun to address a variety of development
concerns—drinking water, economic activities,
literacy, adult, non-formal education, etc. These
are the popular education NGOs as they are
called in Latin America. These NGOs are
largest in number in most countries of the
8
support which is otherwise not available to
them. In broad terms, this could be defined as
educational support, and not financial support,
though the latter may also, in some occasions,
be part of the overall package. Most national
and international decision-makers, development
agencies and institutions have so far not
recognised the work of such support NGOs,
though some beginnings are visible.
national and international policies and
programmes in the field of health. Similarly, the
work of many NGOs in the area of literacy and
adult, non-formal education has become a model
for many national campaigns and other national
programmes.
Many of these NGOs start with a
development intervention, and then build
strategies for organising and empowerment of
the people. Some others seem to start by
bringing people together on issues of common
concerns, conscientising and empowering them
through a process of reflection and struggle and
then building on development interventions and
initiatives for their regeneration and sustenance.
Type D : Umbrella or
Network NGOs
It is interesting that the 80’s also marks the
rise of networks of NGOs, and umbrella or
federation type NGOs. The networks are more
informal, limited purpose and, therefore, time
bound associations of NGOs coming together to
work on a common issue or concern (like
tropical forest, drug abuse, womens’ rights,
occupational health, etc. etc.). Umbrella NGOs
or associations or federations are more formal
attempts of linkingNGQs together. In many
countries of the South, such networks and
umbrella NGOs operating at state or national
levels have emerged. The main reason for their
emergence and continuance is their need for
bringing together the experiences in different
micro settings to bear to address an issue that
requires collective strength, advocacy and wider
perspective. Thus many of these umbrella
NGOs have begun to play an important role in
raising the issues to the level of national and
international policy debate and to contribute
towards changing the frameworks and strategies
of development based on the experiences of
grass-roots NGOs operating in local settings.
Type C : Support NGOs
These are newly emerging and recognised
NGOs which provide a variety of support
functions to different grass-roots NGOs, mostly
of the types A and B mentioned before. The
support functions vary depending on whether it
is related to a sector (like health or education or
forestry) or a general support. The work of
these support institutions has been to provide
inputs that would strengthen the capacities of
grass-roots NGOs-to function more effectively
and impactfully. The work of support
institutions, therefore, has comprised of
training, evaluation, programme planning etc.
etc. Many large NGOs in some of the countries
of South Asia (like Sri Lanka, Bangladesh etc.)
have developed their own support units within
the ambit of their organisations. In some other
countries, where many of the NGOs are of
smaller size at the grass-roots level, separate
institutions playing these functions have also
emerged.
It is interesting to note that there has been a
historic process of the evolution of these types
of NGOs in different continents. Service,
welfare-oriented NGOs historically have been
the first to emerge. In many countries they date
back to the 19th century, guided by the work of
missionaries, religious and spiritual leaders,
nationalist leaders struggling for freedom, etc.
Newness of this category of NGOs makes it
rather difficult for their work to be recognised
or their impact to be assessed. But it appears
that they seem to contribute towards the
strengthening of the work of grass-roots NGOs
and also those of peoples’ organisations and
social movements by extending the kinds of
9
Jamaica : Different Umbrellas
The history of NGOs in Jamaica can be traced by looking into the history of two distinct and
opposing Umbrella organisations. Council of Voluntary Social Services (CVSS) was
established in 1940, now having 67 members NGOs primarily oriented to service/welfare
approach. It was initially funded by Jamaica Welfare (funded by an American Multinational
United Fruit Company). Later, the government ofJamaica started funding it regularly. Since
1984, CVSS has received large funding from USAID, which resulted in the loss of its
automony to an American model CVSS—United Way for administering these funds.
The Association of Development Agencies (ADA) came into being in 1984 and has 12
development oriented NGOs (of recent origin) as its members. ADA focuses on networking
and support to its members and does not receive any grants from the Government.
The approaches and experiences of CVSS and ADA are quite different. While the former has
a close relasionship with the government (almost bordering on dependence), the latter
maintains an autonomous and dignified posture towards the government. As a result, ADA
and its member organisations have faced a lot of tension in its relationship with the
government. It is attempting to play an active advocacy role in respect of government policies
and programmes.
The second type of NGOs are more a
phenomenon of the post second world war
period, in some countries the phenomenon of
the 70’s of this century. Type C NGOs have
predominantly emerged in the 80’s of this
century, though a few had their roots in the 70’s
and 60’s as well. In most countries of South
type D NGOs are very recent in their origin. It
is this historical process which is also, therefore,
reflected in different ways in different
continents. It seems that the roots of NGOs
work are perhaps the longest in many Asian
countries, particularly of those of South Asia.
The roots of NGOs work in its contemporary
form in Africa is still very weak, particularly if
we refer to indigenous NGOs. Very few
countries of the African continent have even a
visible presence of indigenous NGOs. Even
where indigenous NGOs do exist in Africa,
most of them are of type A, though only in
recent years in some countries like Senegal,
Mali, Kenya, Zimbabwe, some type B and type
C NGOs are beginning to emerge. The situation
in Latin America is of different order where
almost all these types of NGOs began to emerge
only in the last 20 years or so, particularly as
many Latin American countries began to
experience the demise of democracy and the rise
of dictatorship. There are some variations in
Central American countries from the Latin
America, but the overall picture is one where all
these four types of NGOs co-exist. The presence
of such NGOs in newly democratising countries
like Argentina is much less visible than in
countries like Chile, Brazil, Bolivia and Peru.
10
RELATIONS WITH THE STATE
Let us now examine the nature of the State i:in
different countries of the South and the
relations that these different types of NGOs
seem to have with the State. Broadly speaking,
the Consultation identified three types of State.
any relationship that State had with these
NGOs, except the nature of relationship that
the State would have with its political
opponents in such a context.
One variation seems to be Bangladesh where
the State continues to be a military dictatorship
but has an administration which is more
development-oriented than in some other
similar political contexts. Here the presence of
NGOs is also very large and visible and the
State does maintain relationships with the
NGOs, albiet in its own framework. Bangladesh
seems to be similar to some other South Asian
countries (like India and Sri Lanka) in this
aspect.
The first type of the State is characterised by
a dictatorship, military rule, autocratic,
authoritarian functioning. This is the case with
Chile at the moment and has been the case with
Philippines, Brazil, Argentina. It appears that in
a State with dictatorship, all NGO work,
irrespective of type, was seen as outside the
framework of any legitimate social order or
governance. Thus NGOs in the Philippines and
Brazil, though in large presence during
dictatorship, were not seen as NGOs and
perhaps more a part of the opposition political
force opposing the dictatorship. The same seems
to be the trend in Chile in recent years. In some
countries with dictatorship, like Argentina,
NGOs did not exist in any substantial force and
are only now beginning to emerge after the
return of democracy in 1985. Thus most NGOs,
irrespective of their type in a State which is
controlled by military dictatorships, seem to be
outside the perview of any legitimate activity
and were seen as a part of the political forces
opposing that State. There was no question of
The second type of State is that which is
characterised by a single ruling party—a
situation very common in many African
countries (like Zimbabwe, Kenya, Uganda,
Ghana etc.). In these situations the State seems
to accept the work of type A NGOs, but reject
all other types. In fact, in many of these
situations, much of the NGO work was limited
to type A only as has been in many African
countries. An interesting variation in this was ‘
that the Church in many African countries was
also promoting NGO work of type A—the
service and welfare-oriented—and that the
Brasil: Attempting Political Unity
Brasil is another Latin American country witnessing transition from dictatorship to
democracy. NGOs have a long history in Brasil. A wide range of NGOs with diverse
perspectives and approaches co-exist in Brasil today. Their heterogeneity is also a challenge at
this historical juncture.
In this transition to democracy, NGOs need to come together in a manner so as to contribute
towards this transition. This is a challenge of forging a political unity with other sectors of the
society—political parties, labour unions, citizens groups, etc.
11
IS2.QCCM.’VIUhnTY HEALTH CELL
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—
not necessarily get reflected in the programmes,
approaches and strategies of such parties in
government.
NGOs willing to accept the role of the State in
defining development frameworks and
paradigms, NGOs willing to implement the
programmes of development prepared and
financed by the governments are accepted,
recognised and legitimised by such
governments.
It is here that many NGOs have brought to
the attention of the State and national debate,
the concerns and the needs of such sections of
the population and the issues being thrown up
as a consequence of implementing a model of
development. The highlighting of pollution
issue, the highlighting of the issue of
occupational health, of destruction of forests, of
rights of women, of the question of small scale
local development efforts, of traditional
practices in health, education, irrigation,
agriculture, etc.—those have been brought to
The third major reason seems to be most
common to single party States, but reflects the
situation of many left parties in different
countries of the South. It is the belief that the
party is the voice of the people and that the
party represents the aspirations, the concerns,
the wishes, and the needs of the popular classes
of all sections of the people, particularly, the
Philippines : New Contradictions Under Democracy
With the overthrow of Marcos regime in February 1986, NGOs in Philippines began a
process of dialogue and discussion to promote a more equitable and democratic path of
development. However, this turned out to be a short-lived hope as the new government failed
to bring a more pro-people agrarian reform. As a result, several NGOs and people’s
organisation began to form alternative coalitions and federations. Congress for People’s
Agrarian Reform (CPAR) emerged as a coalition of 12 peasant organisations and several
NGOs in mid 1987. Freedom from Debt Coalition is another such network.
The new government has initiated certain legislations to enhance the role of independent
people’s organisations and to guarantee the rights of NGOs. But these bills may actually
reduce NGO autonomy and relegate them to mere implementers of official development
policy. The government is also bringing another bill to investigate NGO fund utilization.
The government is also trying to divide the NGO community by selective involvement of
’’favoured” NGOs in consultation on government policies and programmes.
The NGOs are once again on the collision course with the government as its policies move
away from the interests of the poor.
powerless, the marginalised, the exploited and
the deprived. But in many situations where the
party has become a part of the State, where the
party is ruling the State, the party is governing
the State, the gap between the party and many
sections of the people has increased. The
concerns of the very poor, the landless, the
tribals, the women, the environmentalists, those
displaced by dams and large projects, workers in
the unorganised and the informal sectors etc. do
the attention of the State and national debate by
the work of NGOs. A common line of the party
in situations where a single party is ruling the
State, has been that all such work with the poor
and the oppressed and on issues and problems
concerning the country must be done under the
umbrella and within the organs of the party.
Since NGOs are autonomous, independent
initiatives, intentionally taken outside the
framework of the State and the party, these are
14
♦
<
not accepted or liked by the single party (or the
left parties) ruling the State. These are branded
as divisive efforts, as imperialist designs, as
initiatives intended to deflect the attention from
the common purpose which seems to be defined
in narrow terms of capturing the State power
and bringing top-down, centralised models of
development and change. Given the overall
purposes mentioned early on in this report, it is
evident how most NGOs in countries of the
South would be working on perspectives and
rationales different from the single party States,
even when those parties define themselves as
socialists, leftists, communists, etc.
communities where the State delivery
mechanisms fail to do so. The work of the
NGOs demonstrates close rapport and
relationship with the people, is generally very
responsive to the needs of specific communities
and is carried out in a flexible, informal and
efficient manner. Thus most NGO programmes,
even of service delivery, seem to be highly
inexpensive in comparison to the State delivery
of the same programme.
The second broad reason for increasing
acceptance of the NGOs and their contributions
by certain States has been an international
pressure coming from multi-lateral, bilateral
and other international development financing
agencies. Many countries of the South are
increasingly under pressure to accept the work
of NGOs, to involve them in many
development programmes financed by bilateral
and multi-lateral agencies. Even the World
Bank has recently begun to demand the
involvement of NGOs in many projects that it
provides loans and credits to. Thus pressure
from outside, from powerful funders, donors
and international policy-makers seems to
influence the representatives and the agencies
of the State in many countries of the South, to
Acceptance
The debate in the Consultation also looked at
the reasons why the State has been accepting
certain types of NGO work and why there has
been some increasing trend towards its
ambivalance, a sweet and sour acceptance of
the work of certain NGOs in certain countries.
One of the main reasons for accepting the work
and the contribution of NGOs has been the
recognition that NGOs demonstrate a capacity
to deliver programmes and services to most
inaccessible and unapproachable areas and
Bangladesh : National Collaboration
The tradition of voluntarism was consolidated in Bangladesh after independence. A large
number of NGOs have emerged to play serious roles in the reconstruction of the country since
then. Since more than 200 NGOs have been receiving foreign funds, the government brought
in a legislation in 1978, which was further tightened in 1982. Now, all NGO projects have to
be approved by the Government before they can be implemented. In recent months, there has
been further attempt to restrict NGOs, which has been resisted by the NGO coalition.
BRAC is one such example of a large NGO which has found from its experience that large
size of programme helps in convincing the government. In a nationwide child survival
programme called Extended Programme of Immunization, BRAC covered about 85,000
villages m Bangladesh to help organise the people to take advantage of the programme. This
example of collaboration with the government in a national programme helped build the
credibility and recognition of BRAC in the eyes of the governemnt. Yet, NGOs in Bangladesh
recognise how widespread is the ill-feeling of bureaucrats towards them.
15
)
the government was largely available only for
the development programmes and-strageties
prepared by the government itself; therefore, it
relied on the assumptions and models used by
the government, and, in most countries where
such funding was available, NGOs accepting such
atleast look at and pay attention to, and provide
partial recognition to the work of certain NGOs
in their countries.
The third and increasingly profound and
important reason for the acceptance of NGOs
and their contribution by many governments of
the South has been as increasing advocacy and
"noise-making” roles of NGOs within the
countries and internationally. On several
questions like health, drug policy,
environment, peace, womens’ rights, rights of
the indigenous people, literacy, etc. NGOs
within many countries of the South and through
their international networks, umbrellas and
federations have made sufficient noise, brought
sufficient attention to these issues and attempted
funding are in a dependency-cleint relationship
with the government; and this
dependency/clieritism was most common and
wide-spread among type A NGOs, those initially
providing only services or engaged in welfare
work. These are also the ones who are the
largest recipients of government funding and
they are the ones who demonstrate most
predominant dependency—client relationship
with the government and its agencies.
influencing national and international decision
makers in a concerted manner such that their
work is now being recognised by governments
and their agencies. This is one of the
increasingly important reasons also for the
continued "sweet and sour” character of the
relationship that the State seems to feel with
certain types of NGOs in the countries of the
South.
Adversarial
On the other hand, another type of
relationship could be characterised as
adversarial where the NGOs and the
government are perpetually locked in an
adversary relationship. This is the type which
was visible in relation to all those NGOs which
challenged the policies of the State, its
development frameworks and paradigms, on the
one hand, or directly supported people’s
organisations and social movements, on the
other. It was the type of relationship where the
government perceived NGOs as their
adversaries, as raising issues and concerns and
as operating in ways and means which
challenged the policies of the government, its
programmes and strategies, the assumptions
underlying its frameworks and models, and the
practices of its representatives and agents. In
some situations, where government officials at
the local and state level were identified as part
of the vested interests exploiting, marginalising
and harassing the poor and the oppressed, the
work of the NGOs towards the purposes of
empowerment, building peoples’ praganisations
and strengthening social movements was seen
as leading to the questioning of those vested
interests, and thereby an attack on the officers
Relationships
If one, therefore, examines the nature of
relationship that NGOs have with
governments, three broad categories can be
identified.
Dependency
The first most common and most
predominant form of relasionship is where the
NGOs are in a dependent-client position vis-avis the governments. This
dependency/clientism arises in situations where
NGOs are either implementing development
programmes prepared by the State and its
agencies, or receiving funds from the State, or
both. It is a dependency of ideas, of money, of
resources. The analysis of the experiences in all
countries of the South represented during the
Consultation seems to indicate that funding by
16
of the government, its structures and apparatus
In other situations, where the NGOs were
working towards anti-authoritarianism, towards
promoting participatory democracy, towards
working for increased voice of, access to and
control by the people, their work was seen as a
critique of the structures and the styles of
functioning of the government and its
departments—a questioning of the bureaucratic
controlling, unilateral, one-way, secretive,
centralised, style of functioning of the
governmeYit, its departments and officers.
Where both the above trends combined
together in a specific context, the very work of
NGOs guided by the very purposes mentioned
above was fundamentally opposed to the very
structures, the very manner and very character
of the government, its agencies, departments
and officers and thus in a fundamental sense a
conflict-of-interest” was objectively present
and subjectively portrayed and heightened. It
was in such situations that the adversarial
relationship was the primary relationship
between the NGOs and government.
relationship was the manner in which the
government tried to deal with such NGOs in
such contexts. As has been mentioned earlier,
encouragings dependency and reducing
autonomy and independence of such NGOs
was seen as a way of quietening them, of
bringing them in-line , of making them tow the
official development policies; and, funding is
most effectively used to attain this purpose.
Thus many NGOs, facing the problem of
resources and seduced by the allure of
local/national, government funding, initially for
the work that the NGOs themselves outlined,
soon realised how dependent they have become,
on the officials, structures and procedures that
operate this funding and how curtailed their
autonomy and independence has become as a
consequence.
The second profound strategy used by
government and its agencies dealing with those
NGOs where adversarial relationship did, or
may, exist was cooptation. This was a strategy
predominantly used in democratic, liberal
settings and the cooptation was done through
involvement of NGOs in various policy-making
committees, structures and debates of the
Response
The interesting aspect of this adversarial
Jordan : Funds and Autonomy
The voluntary sector^ in Jordan comprises of four types of NGOs : Philanthropy, Sport, Civic
and Culture. The Philanthropy NGOs are 630 in number, have more than 80,000 persons
working with them, and are organised under an umbrella organisation called General Union
of Voluntary Society (GUVS).
The government passed a legislation in 1966 to provide a legal framework for registration of
NGOs. The Ministry of Social Development is authorized to register Philanthropy NGOs.
The law also gave the Ministry authority to investigate and direct NGOs. The Ministry also is
authorised to approve the names of elected representatives of NGOs, and this is done only
after security clearance is obtained.
Jordanian NGOs have recognized the importance of autonomy and the role of funding in the
same. GUVS members raise their own resources from the national and international sources
upto the tune of US $ 30 million per year. One interesting method of raising these funds is by
National Lottery. GUVS volunteers run the national lottery in Jordan and its proceeds are
used to finance the work of NGOs.
17
becoming increasingly restrictive, are being
implemented with increasing vigour, and
government departments and agencies
responsible for their implementation are being
strengthened, computerised and made more
efficient. The strategy of regulation is one
which is within the framework of legal
jurisprudence, laws and structures of various
countries of the South, which in itself is based
against the small, the poor, the weak. Thus
individual NGOs can be harassed, kept on
tenterhooks, perpetually entangled in
procedures and details by regulatory agencies
and mechanisms introduced by these
governments. It is, for example, very common
for NGOs in many countries to spend a whole
lot of time in filling forms and complying with
procedures under these various regulatory
mechanisms. The leadership of NGOs thus gets
bogged down with such unnecessary paper
work, thereby reducing their energies and
commitments, and blurring their visions for
actual work and contribution.
government, thereby getting their commitment
and ideas, and neutralising their potential for
critique and autonomy. The form of cooptation
varied from recognising, facilitating NGO work
to including them in official delegations,
committees and structures to a variety of
informal, interpersonal mechanisms used by
various government officials. Whenever debates
on policies and programmes are organised,
NGOs are invited to participate in a discourse,
the arena and the terms of which are apriori
determined by the government and its agencies.
It is these kinds of strategies which over a
period of time lead to neutralization of the
leadership of NGOs and the cooptation of their
structures and programmes.
The third most common strategy that
governments use throughout the world,
particularly in the countries of the South, is
regulation of NGOs. It is interesting that
during the last two decades, almost all countries
of the South have one or the other legislation
brought in by the government to regulate the
work of NGOs. This regulation may require
registration, may require permission, may
require approval of programmes, may require
monitoring and scrutiny of programmes, may
require regulation, monitoring, scrutiny of
funding (particularly if it comes from
international, multi-lateral, bilateral or other
foreign sources). These regulations are
Fourthly, increasingly very common in many
countries of the South, intimidation as a
strategy has been used by many governments
and their agencies to deal with adversarial
NGOs. Where the relationship with the NGOs
is likely to be adversarial, harassment,
intimidation (including physical violence),
torture and attack have been practiced in many
Indonesia : Legal Permission Required
For an NGO to work at the village level in Indonesia, it requires a permit from the Provincial
Government with an acknowledgement from the Regional Government. The Pemda (or
Provincial Government) many a times do not provide this permit easily.
Even when permit is granted by Pemda, it does not mean that Bappeda (local planning
agency) allows an NGO to work smoothly. When Bupati (President of Bappeda) changes, this
permission may have to be sought again. If local NGO work is different from the official plan,
it creates further difficulty from Bappeda. In case of such disagreements, an NGO may be
forced to withdraw its work from that village. Only personal relationship and understanding
with the local Camat (head of the sub-district government) can help in such a situation. This
makes the NGO dependent on the personal whims and fancies of the local officials.
18
Consultation meant by the collaborationist
relationship was a relationship of authentic
collaboration which was based on mutual
respect, acceptance of autonomy, independence
countries of the South, irrespective of the
character of the State. This has been so in a
single party State, and under dictatorship as
well as under so-called liberal democratic State.
India : Struggle for Democracy
The
The history of voluntary action in India is
is very old.
old. Voluntary
Voluntary action
action was closely associated
with freedom struggle, and found great supporrin Mahatma Gandhis call for constructive
work.
Since independence, the relation between NGOs and the government have been witnessing
ups and downs. While government funds NGOs, and this funding has been increasing of late,
regulations to restrict NGOs’ autonomyand flexibility are also regularly promulgated by the
government. Recent illustrations are the tightening of Foreign Contributions Regulation Act,
in 1984-85, and amendments to Income Tax Act in 1987.
The diversity of perspectives, approaches, styles and size of NGOs m India has been both its
strength and weakness. While enriching the pluralistic and democratic framework of NGO
contributions, it has also come in the way of building alliances and unity at national level. This
is a major challenge facing NGOs m the country.
and pluralism of NGO opinions and positions,
and entailed genuine partnership between
NGOs and the government to work on a
problem facing the country or a region. It was,
however, mentioned that examples of such
authentic collaborationist relationship are few
and far between in many countries of the South
and that this depends on a variety of factors and
parties involved in the larger development and
social transformation process in a given context.
The law and order apparatus of the State, the
police, military, intelligence agencies of the
State, are increasingly being used to harass,
intimidate or attack those NGOs and their
members who are not able to be restricted by
other strategies mentioned previously or whose
work tends to create major 'conflicts-ofinterests’ and likely embarassment for the
government, its officials and structures.
Collaborationist
It was in this context that the role of the
donors (particulary international funding
agencies) and the role of political parties within
a country were identified as making important
contributions towards the strengthening of
mechanisms and possibilities for building such
collaborationist relationships. Before we analyse
these possible contributions that international
funding and donor agencies can make as well as
the contributions that political parties within
countries can make, it is important to analyse
the various concerns and issues that were raised
in the context of the above analysis.
Of course, NGOs respond to those situations
in different ways and the Consulation did
discuss emerging strategies that NGOs
individually, severally and collectively are using
to cope with these situations of adversarial
relationship. But one of the interesting issues
that emerged through the Consultation is that
in certain types of social-political contexts,
(particularly liberal democratic set-ups), the
nature of NGO-government relationship need
not be perpetually adversarial and that it could
occasionally be collaborationist. What the
19
Eritrean Relief Agency
ERA is a unique example of an NGO that operates closely under a national liberation
struggle. Started 7 years ago, it now has an annual budget of US $ 50 million. It works with
local groups of peasants, women and youth for supporting their relief and rehabilitation work
in villages. While the liberation front organises the people, developmental inputs and
assistance are provided by ERA. About 120 professionals work as volunteers with ERA.
While ERA faces no government in Eritrea, and its current relationship with the Liberation
Front is harmonious, it faces the future challenge of post-liberation society. What will be its
roles then ? The quest for social justice and democracy will keep ERA working among the
people, even when political liberation is attained.
20
<
ISSUES AND CONCERNS
upon NGOs in many countries of the South (for
a variety of reasons mentioned above) to get
involved in the promotion of development
programmes, largely designed by the State itself.
Even where some of these programmes appear
to be based on NGO recommended
development principles and assumptions, many
NGOs are finding that their cooperation with
the State, in large measure, becomes a sub
contract for completion of development targets
and programmes. The nature of the relationship
becomes one of the contractor and the sub
contractor, where the NGOs receive a certain
payment for fulfilling certain targets prescribed
by the State within a given development
framework.
Some of the concerns are emerging as
dilemmas in the experiences of NGOs of the
countries of the South debated and discussed in
this Consultation and are posed here for further
relection, analysis and strategising.
Voluntarism vs. Privatisation
One of the growing trends in many countries
of the South is to promote NGOs under the
guise of promoting privatisation of social
services for the amelioration of conditions of
the poor in the rural hinterlands and urban
slums. The policies of the World Bank/IMF and
the Chicago School are encouraging many
governments to withdraw from prpvision of
social services in health, education, drinking
water, etc.; consequently, the private sector is
encouraged to play the role of service-provision
as well as generation of work/income for the
poor and the deprived. It is within this context
that a question haunts : whether increased
support for NGOs from multilateral,
international, governmental sources is not likely
to push them into supporting the trends
towards privatisation of services ? It is
important to examine that NGOs play a
distinctive role, and not a role of substituting
the State, that NGOs do provide necessary
services where it is crucial but in provision of
those services, they do not displace the official
delivery mechanisms or absolve the State from
playing its moral and constitutional role in this
regard. This is a question that needs to be
examinsd in each specific context and poses a
serious dilemma for continued growth and
support of NGOs.
It is, therefore, important to examine each
specific cooperation and the extent to which the
terms of that cooperation are reducing the role
of NGOs to mere commercial implementers of a
programme and achiever of targets for and on
behalf of the government. This has been
particularly so in health and family welfare
programmes throughout the world and is
increasingly being seen in relation to
literacy/education and social forestry activities.
Cooperation with the State does not mean
either filling the gap where the State is unable
to provide effective and responsive services or
fulfilling the targets of governments. It does not
imply a commercial relationship, even if some
of the resources for NGOs come from the
government itself. Cooperation also should not
absolve the State from its responsibility to pay
attention towards improving and revitalising its
own service delivery mechanisms. Cooperation
with the State should not lead to obsolving the
government from examining the assumptions
and frameworks of its development
t
Cooperation vs. Sub-contracting
Increasingly, the governments are calling
21
COWIMUNlT^^lti CELL
00
i
programmes and strategies in the light of the
experiences generated by the NGOs, through
the experimentation, innovation and provision
of services, on the one hand, and the critique of
the government policies and programmes, on
the other. It is important that this dilemma is
examined in each specific context and that its
implications for sub-contracting understood by
the NGOs and the government alike.
is pluralistic in nature, diverse in its origins and
assumptions, and follows the philosophy "let
hundred flowers bloom." Obviously, there is a
tension between the two.
Similarly, governments’ attempts at national
coordination and developing a common
framework for setting policies and priorities
tends to lead to centralisation of decision
making and planning alongwith narrow access
to and control over resources. The work of the
NGOs on the other hand, demands social
distribution of power and resources,
decentralization and access to and control over
resources by communities for their own
development. This is another dilemma in this
relationship.
Decentralization vs. Coordination
A major challenge in the NGO-Government
relationship that has emerged is the apparent
opposing forces involved in decentralisation and
local planning preferred and promoted by the
work of NGOs at the grass-roots, on the one
hand, and national policies, priorities and
programming to be carried out in a coordinated
fashion by the governments, on the other. It
does not require absence of either; it is neither
desirable to have no national policies and
priorities; but perhaps there is a need to evolve
them through a process of wide-spread
consultations with diverse sections of society,
with particular references to the poor and the
unorganised as their voices are rarely heard in
public discourses and debates. NGOs through
their work in micro settings at the grass-roots
level do provide a basis for local, decentralised
planning and programming, responding to the
specific needs of local communities and
populations. They have the possibility of
mobilizing community needs and aspirations
into articulated forums and forms. Yet any
attempt to nationally coordinate such
decentralised micro efforts is likely to face
several constraints.
The first contraint arises out of the hegemonic
tendencies entailed in governments’ attmept at
national coordination, as it tends to promote a
single view as the only view of a given reality, a
single strategy as the only strategy to deal with
that reality, a single framework as the only
framework to transform that reality. On the
other hand, the work and experiences of NGOs
Disagreement vs. Opposition
The work of NGOs throws dp experiences,
ideas and perspectives which are based on their
work in micro settings at the grass-roots level.
This brings up diverse opinions, approaches and
analysis, many a rimes in opposition to the
perspectives and analysis of the government, its
officials and agencies. This disagreement also
occurs between the NGOs and the political
parties as the analysis and the perspectives of two
differ on many issues and occasions. This
disagreement need not be seen as political
opposition in a narrow sense of the word.
Disagreement is not necessarily unhealthy in
such situations. Development and social
transformation are complex phenomenon and
no simple or single solution is available for all
of them in any given setting. Therefore,
multiplicity of views, experiences and analysis
can only be healthy in resolving some of these
developmental knots.
But differences and disagreements are
generally viewed as deliberate antagonism and
opposition by governments,its officialsand
agencies, parties and their polit-bureaus. This
tends to provoke responses from the
governments and parties in ways that tends to
22
NGOs take up for advocacy, critique or
influence. It is important to keep in mind that
NGOs should not become supportive,
inadvertantly, of the larger international forces
exploiting the economies in the countries of the
South.
undermine the expression of differences and
delegitimise those engaged in such expressions.
It is important to distinguish between
differences and disagreements on the one hand
and deliberate opposition on the other. This is a
delemma that delicately influences relationships
between these two parties.
Voluntarism vs. Statism
Questioning vs. Weakening
The growing Statism and all pervasive
character of the State in influencing the lives of
ordinary people in many of the countries of the
South is also a trend that needs to be contended
with. The State has begun to capture every part
of the life of the citizens, centralising resources,
decision-making and power and centrally
determining the range of development
strategies, options and provisions. As a result,
State machineries and apparatus have become
cumbersome, ineffiencient, currupt, ineffective,
unresponsive, arrogant, bureaucratised, etc.
They end up eating large amounts of resources
available within the country, resources which
are otherwise important for the growth of
communities and people in different contexts of
the country. Citizens’ initiatives, individuals
aspirations, collective efforts by communities,
students, teachers, womens’ groups,
environmentalists, a host of NGOs efforts need
to be seen in the context of growing Statism, as
a way of restraining and checking the universal,
monopolistic and unilateral impingement of the
State on the lives of the people. NGOs can play
a significant role in this regard.
A major role of NGOs as mentioned earlier
has been to critique and question the policies,
programmes and strategies of the government,
particularly in relation to promoting
development in the country and supporting the
socio-economic advancement of the poor and
the exploited. This critique has been raised
through direct lobbying and advocacy work,
through publications, debates and discourses,
workshops, seminars and training programmes,
through the experience generated from
working at the grass-roots, through the
mobilization and empowerment of the people
themselves, through the networks and
federations etc. etc. This is necessary, healthy
and crucial.
Yet in situations where the State is withering
away, or the state is weakening as a consequence
of international forces, continued and
indiscriminate questioning may further support
the forces and weaken or strangulate the State.
This has become particularly relevant in the
context of international scenario obtaining in
recent years and for countries of smaller size
and shorter history of independent functioning
(as in many African and Caribbean countries).
The role of the NGOs in such situations need
not be exclusively that of questioning and
critiquing or opposing the State, and may
occasionally entail cooperation with the State to
challenge and oppose more powerful
international forces affecting the country,the
government and the people. Therefore, a
specific analysis of the situtation of a given
State, its character, the government and its
agencies needs to be made on every issue which
But this poses dilemmas referred to above
and it is important for NGOs to promote
democracy as a process, not merely a structure,
against growing authoritarianism, centralisation
and standardisation promoted by the State and
its agencies. The trends towards increasing
militarisation, heavy spending on defence, arms
and growing conflicts and wars all over the
countries of the South—further strengthen the
forces of centralisation, standardisation,
corruption, leading to growing Statism in many
of the countires of the South. And NGOs need
23
the nature of the NGOs, the overall purposes
for which they emerge and exist, and the types
of roles that they seem to be playing in various
societies of the South. They also emerge because
of the differences in the character of the State
and the manner in which the State responds to
different types of NGOs in different historical,
political contexts. With increasing trends
towards withdrawl of the State under
international pressure or whithering of the
State in many countries of the South, there is a
possibility of the seduction of NGOs. This
seduction may create a situtation where NGOs
end up attempting to replace the State or to
pretend as if they are the State. It is important,
under such circumstances, that the preferred
approaches, principles and priorities of NGOs
get reflected in a manner in which they function
in capturing and recapturing democratic forms
and processes, in continously occupying political
spaces and social interstices available in a given
context, and in assisting the process of
articulation of the voices of the ordinary
citizens, their aspirations and demands from the
poor and the unorganised. The social
distribution of power, its control and
accountability, the preference for micro,
decentralised modes of operation, the flexible,
informal and responsive institutional
arrangements, the commitment for a wider and
larger vision of social change, the pluralistic and
diverse opinions, aproaches and perspectives
provide a richness that NGOs bring. It is
important that the governments find ways to
support the contribution of this richness that
NGOs bring without killing it.
to play a role with respect to monitoring,
checking and restraining these forces with a
sensitive and authentic understanding of the
national and international context.
Collaboration vs. Autonomy
One of the most important issues effecting
the NGO—government relationship is the issue
of co-existence with mutual respect, dignity and
autonomy. The State, its agencies and officials
are relatively much more powerful in relation to
individual NGOs and groups of NGOs in many
countries of the South. They are much more
resourceful, much more informed and much
better equipped to deal with resourceless,
mostly uninformed and ill-equipped NGOs. Yet
on many occasions the relationship demands
cooperation and co-existence. The challenge is
how does this cooperation occur without
undermining the autonomy and the
independence of the NGOs. The dilemma is
that NGOs require resources and capacities,
which the State and its agencies have, can offer
and should offer. How does the provision of
resources and capacities from the State and its
agencies to the NGOs be done in a manner that
does not undermine the latters’ autonomy and
independence, but in fact contributes towards
strengthening the same. This is the
fundamental question confronting both the
NGOs and the governments and other parties
in this developmental context. An effort to deal
with this dilemma is needed if the complex
character of the relationship between NGOs
and the government needs to be understood and
promoted more carefully.
The above mentioned dilemmas arise out of
24
I
IMPLICATIONS
include sharing of information and a learning
approach towards development planning and
programming. An attempt to demonstrate
mutual respect, irrespective of size, power and
position, can be such a positive intervention
towards building a climate of openness and trust
that can contribute towards healthy NGO—
government relationship and increased
contribution of NGOs in solving the problems
What then are the requirements for this to
happen ? What are the implications of the
above analysis tor the governments, for the
NGOs’ for the donors ?
(i) Implications for Governments
Several implications emerge from the
foregoing analysis if the governments want to
strengthen healthy relationships with the
NGOs in their countries and internationally. Of
course, many of these implications would be
relevant for those types of States which are not
dictatorship. Yet they are being presented here
of society.
c.) Access to Information
Governments need to reexamine their
approach towards sharing of information in
relation to the policies and programmes that
they implement and the problems and
conditions of the people in the country.
Legislative measures may need to be enacted to
support right to information and to create
mechanisms for easy and open access to
information about government plans and
programmes by public at large and NGOs in
particular. Experience shows that sharing of
information helps influence the attitudes of
NGOs as well as contributes to an authentic and
serious debate on problems and positions,
instead of distortions and speculations. This is a
major contribution that governments can make
in an attempt to strengthen their relationship
with NGOs and to enhance the possibility of
their contributions.
in their totality.
a.) Policy Support
Governemnts need to examine various
legislations, policies and procedures that
attempt to regulate or thwart the growth of
NGOs in their own countries. Besides
eliminating restrictive laws and procedures, a
positive policy support needs to be created if
NGOs have to grow and develop to play their
important roles in the countries of the South.
Thus governments may need to provide
deliberate policy support for this kind of
situtation to develop.
b.) Climate of Trust and Openness
Political leadership, senior officials,
representatives of the government and its
agencies need to deliberately work towards
creating a climate of openness and trust with
NGOs, their leaders and networks. This climate
of openness and trust must include
opportunities for interaction, for dialogue, for
debate. The climate must create possibilites for
dissent and disagreement being voiced and
articulated in relation to the policies and the
programmes of the government. It should
(ii) Implications for NGOs
If NGOs are interested and willing to play
their long-term roles and make their sustained
contribution towards solving the problems of
development in their own countries as well as
in developing a collaborationist relationship
with government and its agencies, there are
several things that they need to do for
25
the State and the governments in their own
countries in that light. This is important
otherwise NGOs may inadvertantly end up
supporting the very forces which may harm the
interests of their people, if they do not examine
the international context within which they
need to develop the perspective about their
relationship with the national and local
governments.
themselves.
a. ) Institution-Building
NGOs need to work towards building their
institutional capacities to function as
autonomous, independent, effective and
competent entities with mechanisms for long
term sustained work. This is important in order
to also resist attempted cooptation,
delegitimisation and seduction.
b. ) Increased Networking
NGOs, particularly those working at the
grass-roots level, need to find ways to build
linkages across themselves in order to develop
wider networks within their own countries and
across countries of the South. This will help
share information, prepare analysis and find
strength to play advocacy and critique roles at
the national and international levels. NGOs of
the South also need to deliberately build
networks and relationships with-like-minded
NGOs of the North so that they can find allies
and supporters for their work from among the
NGOs of the North. This is of great importance
as the world is becoming increasingly
internationalised and linkages across countries
and regions are being shortened and made
easier. It becomes also important to pay
attention to this networking because, as we
discovered during the Consultation, many of the
forces that operate in each of our countries are
common and similar and that their
menifestations and impacts are also similar.
This will help NGOs to use their experiences
and energies in diverse settings to be brought
together to deal with common global issues and
concerns which can not be dealt with only at the
level of a region or a country.
d.) Building Alliances
For too long NGOs have been ignoring the
possibility of building wide-spread and larger
alliances within the countries of the South.
While networks, associations and federations
among NGOs do exist, they do not extend
beyong their limited horizons. There is an
increasing need for NGOs to play an active role
in building alliances with other sectors of the
society—with trade unions, with cooperatives,
with political parties, with citizen groups, with
teachers and students etc. etc.
The purpose of building these alliances is to
promote a wider education of the people at
large of the roles and contributions of NGOs,
on the one hand, and the importance of getting
involved in the process of reflection, analysis,
critique of the policies of the government, its
programmes and their impacts, on the other. It
is consistent with their need to increase their
support base within the countries, on the one
hand, and to play their broader role in
promoting participatory democracy, on the
other. The experience shows that wherever
NGOs have done this, their relationship with
the government has become one of more equal
partners, and healthier.
(iii) Implications for Donors
c.) Understanding of the International
Context
NGOs working within the countries of the
South need to increasingly pay attention to, and
develop understanding of, the international
scenario, forces and trends. They need to do so
such that they can devise their postures vis-a-vis
As has been mentioned earlier, international
funding agencies, multilateral agencies, bilateral
agencies, UN agencies, the World Bank and a
host of other such donors significantly affect the
nature of the NGO-government relationship in
many countries of the South. Therefore, there
26
are serious implications for the donors, if they
want to contribute towards healthier and more
productive relationships between the NGOs and
the governments of the South.
I
b. ) Promotional Role
As has been mentioned earlier, many donors
have been promoting the involvement of NGOs
by putting pressures on various governments.
This pressure is brought at the time of
negotiation for funding by the governments and
many governments seem to buckle under this
pressure and agree to the involvement of
NGOs. This leads to certain attitudes of
resistance and negativism on the part of the
government, its officials and agencies who see
NGOs encroaching on their territories, either .
for resources or for development roles. It is
important that international donor agencies are
seen as allies and promotors of NGOs in the
countries of the South, but not in a way that
tends to make government defensive, suspicious
or resistant. Their major contribution could be
in ways in which they can influence the
strategies in programming for development by
these governments and create a space for
diverse NGO roles within that process.
a.) The Funding Strategy
The manner in which the international
NGOs and other donors devise their funding
strategy can significantly undermine the nature
of the NGO-government relationship. In many
cases, bilateral agencies are engaging in direct
funding of NGOs in the countries of the South,
thereby creating nurvousness and suspicion in
the minds of the governments who seem to be
by-passed by the this process. Certain donors
are bringing in such large amounts of resources
that they contribute to overnight growth, and
consequent destruction of .NGOs from the
South. Donors’ funding strategies many a times
determine programmes, policies and priorities
of the NGOs of the South, instead of
encouraging the latter to evolve their own
priorities and programmes in response to their
analysis of the local conditions and situations. In
some other situtations, donors tend to fund
governments for conduiting support to NGOs
for different development programmes and
thereby strengthen the hands of the
government in creating dependency and
controlling the operations of the NGOs. There
is no easy solution and different funding
strategies have different implications; what is
important is for the donors to understand that
their funding strategies either to the
governments or to the NGOs or to both have
significant implications in effecting the nature
of the relationships between the NGOs and the
government in a specific country. Therefore,
they need to carefully examine their own
funding strategies arid assess their implications
on this relationship in each given context.
c. ) Encouraging Solidarity
Many donors operating in several countries of
the South seem to be building networks around
themselves and identities of the NGOs are
being defined in relation to their donors. This is
an extremely unhealthy practice and needs to be
curtailed forthwith. Networks and associations
as ways of coming together have to be around
issues and concerns, and not around donors and
their philosophies. It may lead to divisiveness
and fragementation as has been demonstrated
in several countries of the South.
What donors need to promote is building
solidarity across NGOs within the countries and
across countries of the South and with countries
of the North. They need to demonstrate their
commitment to building of this solidarity
through their actions and not merely through
their words.
27
FUTURE
voice, their strength is heard and seen
and respected NGOs have and can make
important contributions in this reagard.
In some ways the NGOs and governments
are contradictions in terms. In some ways, the
nature of relationship between NGOs and
governments is inherently problematic. In some
ways the experience of this relationship in most
countries of the South has been such that has
generated hostility, suspicion and mutual
antagonism. It is important that the
contemporary socio-political context in different
countries of the South is looked at from the
perspective of strengthening democratic
processes and mechanisms. It is important that
the coots of a civil society are built and
strengthened in most countries of the South. It
is important that autonomy, independece, the
right for self-determination be extended to the
nations, states and to the local communities. It
is important that local solutions are sought to
local manifestations of global problems. It is
important that people, their knowledge and
wisdom, their understanding and insights, their
capacities and competencies, their aspirations
and dreams are put in the centre of the entire
process of social transformation. It is important
that parties and governments, that polit-bureaus
and ministries, that federations and
departments do not forget the complexities in
any process of social transformation.
Historically they have played significant roles
in promoting understanding and awareness of
the people, their mobilization, organisation and
participation in determining their own future
and in helping them articulate their voices and
their dreams. It is important that NGOs are
viewed in this way—as expressions of
autonomous, decentralised initiatives, as
manifestations of democratic processes and
forms, as non-profit voluntary efforts, as
expressions of scial commitment for an
equitable and just society. And thus encouraged,
supported and strengthened. One of the most
significant relationships that can enhance or
mark the growth and the contribution of
NGOs in any country is the NGO-government
relationship, largely determined by the
responses, actions and the perpectives of the
government and its agencies.
It is hoped that in the years to come, political
leadership and official positions will take steps
in concrete and definite ways to create
conditions conducive for building a healthy,
productive and authentic relationship between
the NGOs and the governments in different
countries of the South.
If all this has to happen, it has become
increasingly clear that ordinary people, their
28
7. Joao Francisco De Souza
Av. Prof. Artur De Saa 584
Apart, 302, Cidade Universitaria
50740, Pernambuco
Recife
BRASIL
LIST OF PARTICIPANTS
1. Horacio R. Morales Jr.
President
Philippine Rural Reconstruction
Movement, 940 Quezon Avenue
P.O. Box 10479
Broadway Centrum
1112 Quezon City
PHILIPPINES
8. Luis Rigal
Centro de Inv. y Promocion
Educativa y Social
Zabala 2677
1426, Buenos Aires
ARGENTINA
2. Dr. A.T. Ariyaratne
Lanka Jathika Sarvodaya
Shramadana Sangamaya (Inc.)
98, Rawatawatte Road
Moratuwa
SRI LANKA
9. Adriana Delpiano
Investigadora-Educadora
PIIE
Brown Sur 150
Santiago
CHILE
3. Dr. Francisco Vio Grossi
Secretary General.
CEAAL
Casilla 6257
Santiago 22
CHILE
10. Yusuf Kassam
Director of Programmes
International Council for
Adult Education
720, Bathurst St.
Suite 500
4. Dr. A. Khatib
President
General Union of Voluntary
Societies (GUVS)
P.O. Box 910254 - 1635
Amman
JORDAN
11. Paul Wangoola
African Association for
Literacy and Adult Education
P.O. Box 50768
AALAE Secretariat, Loita Street
Finance House (6th Floor)
Nairobi
KENYA
5. Mr. Horace Levy
Social Action Centre
9, Central Avenue
Kingston 10
JAMAICA
12. F. Stephen
Executive Director
SEARCH
701/2, 24th B’ Cross
Sth Main, 3rd Block
Jayanagar
Bangalore-560 Oil
INDIA
6. Cecil Ryan
National Alliance of
Development Organizations
P.O. Box 1443
Kingston, St. Vincent
WEST INDIES
29
I
16. Dr. Rajesh Tandon
Society for Participatory
Research in Asia (PRIA)
45, Sainik Farm
Khanpur
New Delhi-110 062
INDIA
13. Ms Muchlisah Noor
WALHI
Pejompongan, Penjernihan-I
Komplex Kevangan No. 15
Jakarta
INDONESIA
14. Dr. Salehuddin Ahmed
Director Programs
BRAC-Bangladesh Rural
Advancement Committee
66, Mohakhali C.A.
Dhaka-12
BANGLADESH
17. Mrs. Catherine Buyoya
Director
Inades-Formation Burundi
B.P. 2520
Bujumbura
BURUNDI
15. Paulos T. Gidrgis
Chairman
Eritrean Relief Association
P.O. Box 8129
Khartoum
SUDAN
>
30
ICAE
720, BATHURST ST.
SUITE 500
TORONTO, ONTARIO, M5S 2R4
CANADA
CEAAL
CASILLA 6257
22, SANTIAGO
CHILE
AALAE
P.O. BOX 50768
AALAE SECRETARIAT,
LOITA STREET
FINANCE HOUSE (6TH FLOOR)
NAIROBI
KENYA
PRIA
45, SAINIK FARM
KHANPUR
NEW DELHI-110 062
INDIA
)
1989
1
•f
Society for
Participatory Research
in Asia
45, Sainik Farm, Khanpur
New Delhi-110 062.
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