One of the major issues in community development (CD) locally, internationally and globally is the role of Non-Government Development Organisations (NGDOs) in promoting development. Is there a place for community development , or the NGDOs which facilitate it, in the world of globalised markets, the Coca-Cola (TM!) culture and the Internet?
This paper aims to show that NGDOs have an essential role in future. Their experience in community development overseas, as well as their democratic structure at home, allows them to participate in the global movement for economic and social justice which will create sustainable and participatory development. Community Aid Abroad - Oxfam Australia (CAA) is used as a case study of one such agency, but its history is echoed by many others in the sector.
NGDOs' work has always been to implement a development philosophy based in a particular socio-economic paradigm. Four development philosophies which have been implemented in this century are identified: give a man a fish; teach a man to fish; organise a fisherfolk's co-operative; and campaign for the right to fish. The fifth philosophy, 'so long and thanks for all the fish', is based in the counterpoint to the mainstream of competitive growth-centred economics. The dimensions of this people-centred, sustainable and participatory development are explored and some current concepts of the future role of NGDOs are described.
The underlying theme throughout this paper is that a clearly articulated philosophy of participatory sustainable development which is based in values of co-operation and empowerment will motivate people to act to counter the negative impacts of globalisation.
The implications for NGDO's role at the local, international and global scale are explored and recommendations for changes to their activities made. At the local scale, a domestic program with their supporters and other organisations, as well as a reconciliation process with Indigenous Australians is recommended. At the international and global scales, both horizontal linkages into global peoples movements and vertical linkages into the United Nations system are necessary.
The implication for NGDO's of implementing participatory sustainable development is that the work we do in Australia is of equal importance to achieving our mission as the work we do overseas.
There is a widespread perception that 'development' has failed. Ongoing famines, civil wars, ethnic conflict, and the expanding gap between rich and poor in almost every country have created the impression that the development efforts of the past 50 years have been wasted.
The failure of economic rationalism and growth-dependant economies to solve unemployment in the West has raised debate about both the aims and the method of development. The increasing integration of national economies into both regional trading blocs and the global financial and trading market is raising concerns about the decreasing level of national autonomy, let alone local or community autonomy.
Global environmental problems are becoming increasingly obvious- the greenhouse effect, loss of biodiversity, the hole in the ozone layer- and many of them are due to the effects of uncontrolled industrialisation.
The whole concept of development itself is being questioned as well as the notion of developed/undeveloped nations and what constitutes poverty and wealth. (Sachs 1992, Hettne 1995). 1
The role and practice of Non-Government Development Organisations (NGDOs), who have been one of the agents of development, is also being re-assessed in the light of these broader debates. Even the definition of NGDOs is being questioned as it is seen as too broad - encompassing everything from industry -based groups to village committees. I will use the term NGDO for groups based in Northern countries who have an international presence, and the term Voluntary Peoples' Organisations (VPOs) to describe locality-based groups, such as most of their 'project partners'.
Re-assessments of development theories are not new. For example, Korten 2 identifies four generations of NGDO philosophy: relief and welfare; community development; sustainable systems development; and people's movements. Hettne however, sees the history as one of imposing 'modernisation' on Third World economies.
I have identified five philosophies, symbolised by the fishing metaphor which has been used by NGDO's in their marketing materials: give a man a fish; teach a man to fish; organise a fisherfolk's co-operative; campaign for the right to fish; and 'so long and thanks for all the fish'.
Although different philosophies have been popular at different times, the history is not lineal, as Korten implies, with a clear progression from one to the other. In fact, all five philosophies are all still being implemented by various agencies at present as each is useful in different situations. For example, in emergencies such as war, refugee camps or natural disasters, we may have to resort to 'giving a man a fish' until the situation stabilises enough to undertake more lasting action.
1. Give a man a fish
The earliest NGDOs were the Churches working through their missions in Africa and Asia in the late nineteenth century. They often preceded colonisation of the area by a European power and much of their work was in the 'charitable' model of their home countries. The deserving poor, often those who had converted, were given European-style education and health services.
This 'give a man a fish' model was continued in the early relief agencies formed during and after the Second World War. Oxfam was formed during the war (in 1942) to provide food and medicines to Greek civilians during the Nazi occupation. Other well known agencies (CARE, Save the Children Fund) were also formed to provide relief to Europe after war.
During the late 1940's and early 1950's Africa and Asia saw a number of emergencies, often caused by refugee movements as political boundaries were redrawn in the wake of colonial powers leaving. European relief agencies responded and eventually their focus moved entirely to relief of emergencies in 'poor' countries by giving goods such as food or medicines to the poor. Korten names the role of the NGDO in this development philosophy as a 'doer'.
The Food for Peace Campaign, later to become Community Aid Abroad - Oxfam Australia was started by Father Tucker, of the Brotherhood of St Lawrence in 1953. Its role was:
..that of a bridge of friendly assistance between Australia and Asia. It has two main objects: first to awaken Australians to the need to help millions existing in poverty in many parts of Asia and second to help alleviate at least some of this." (Food for Peace News quoted in Blackburn 1993:17)From its inception there was a recognition of the need to raise awareness in Australia, but the emphasis was still on alleviating poverty through projects overseas. As Food for Peace was closely allied to the Brotherhood of St. Lawrence, its philosophy was based in Christian values of charity and assisting the less fortunate.
2. Teach a man to fish
The FAO Freedom from Hunger Campaign, launched in 1960, chose as its motto the ancient oriental proverb: "Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach him to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime." (OECD 1988:21)By the late 1950's the overseas relief agencies began to sense that the emergencies they were dealing with were often caused by chronic poverty. Some changed their focus from providing emergency relief to providing training, technical assistance and infrastructure.
The implication was still that Europeans knew best and that the solution to poverty was to teach people how to become developed (industrialised). Third World governments, planners and overseas experts all believed that the solution to poverty was to modernise their economies, through industrialisation and economic growth. The effects would 'trickle down' to the poor. The assumption was that poor people were 'backward' and that European-style education would raise them to a civilised lifestyle.
3. Organise a fisherfolk's co-operative
Food for Peace, or CAA, as it became known after 1962, was involved in the 'counterpoint' to the mainstream from its earliest days. The projects supported, and most of the project partners, were from the Ghandian tradition of village-level work through voluntary workers motivated by the philosophy of non-violent action. There was an emphasis on the agricultural, income-generating and health sectors and self-help projects in tribal communities, often initiated by animators from outside the community.
In the1960's Oxfam and CAA initiated a system of Field Officers who would identify projects. The Field Officers had an important role in providing non-funding support such as advice, training and contacts with other organisations. Field Officers gained a broad experience which enabled them to develop a more strategic outlook and the range and number of project partners rapidly increased.
Experience showed that responding to locally initiated requests was not enough if the agency wished to reach the 'poorest of the poor': articulating a request for assistance is often beyond their capabilities. The functions of field directors thus include identification of smaller specially deprived groups in areas of the country not assisted by other agencies. (OECD, 1988:22)The self-help development philosophy is still the basis of some of programs CAA supports. A community development method is used to ensure that beneficiaries gain the confidence to articulate their needs and that they combine into groups to carry out the projects. The program is carried out by voluntary peoples organisations (VPOs) such as co-operatives, village or women's committees and savings groups. Korten names the NGDO role in this development philosophy of self-help to meet basic needs as being a 'mobilser'.
At home, the aim was still to encourage direct links between people overseas and donors, through the groups, as illustrated in the quote below:.
We are greatly concerned about the gap between our prosperity in Australia and the poverty of millions overseas. We want to express urgently our concern by symbolic and practical ends. We assist genuine projects of self-help in countries such as India, linking them directly and personally with Australians. (Now! 1961 quoted in Blackburn, 1993:19)Development Education, about the conditions of people in poverty overseas, became an important part of the work, both in schools and in the community, through group activities such as Film Nights.
4. Campaign for the right to fish
The 1980's and early 1990's saw CAA and other agencies gain a greater awareness of the structural causes of poverty. Environment, Feminist and Indigenous Rights movements during the 1970's and 1980's had questioned both the types of projects being carried out and who was benefiting (or not) from them. Discussions, often emanating from Third World development theorists, included concepts such as basic needs, dependency (of the periphery on the centre), decolonisation, self reliance, ecodevelopment, Women and Development, even 'ethnodevelopment'. (Hettne 1995) 3
David Armstrong, CAA's CEO, expressed these changes in thinking at the 1990 Queensland State Conference:
The old idea behind aid, that instead of giving a man a fish you should teach him how to fish, is triply flawed: firstly it's a woman, not a man; secondly it's the rich who control fishing; and thirdly fishing stocks are being depleted world-wide. (quoted in Blackburn, 1993:351)These changes in development philosophy caused changes in CAA's program which are still obvious today. The techniques of community development are now used in program work to create VPOs which can challenge the power structures which perpetuate poverty. People are encouraged to claim their basic rights, and community development is renamed as participatory development. The philosophy is one of empowerment and the role of the NGDO is as a catalyst:
The internal motivational objective is to raise the poor's understanding of their experience through collective assessment, improved articulation, problem-solving and commitment to tasks they have set for themselves. They also learn from their total experience and derive a political resolve towards collective action for achieving their objectives. This is also what is meant by empowerment. (Ponna Wignajara 1992:400)
5. So long and thanks for all the fish...
It is an important and popular fact that things are not always what they seem. For instance, on the planet Earth, man had always assumed that he was more intelligent than the dolphins because he had achieved so much - the wheel, New York, wars and so on - whilst all the dolphins had ever done was muck about in the water having a good time. But conversely, the dolphins had always believed that they were far more intelligent than man - for precisely the same reasons.All four of the development philosophies described above assume that economic growth alone, whether imposed from outside or generated from within communities, will alleviate poverty. In the mid-1990's there has been continued and increasing questioning of the whole concept of development . The 'dolphins', those who question the values of growth-centred development, are defining their own concept of development - one which is based in a philosophy of participation by all in the economy and politics . After years of being misinterpreted and ignored by the mainstream, the marginalised are creating their own development, on their own terms- they are moving to another planet.Curiously enough the dolphins had long known of the impending destruction of the planet Earth and had made many attempts to alert man to the danger; but most of their attempts were misinterpreted as amusing attempts to punch footballs or whistle for titbits, so they eventually gave up and left Earth by their own means shortly before the Vogons arrived.
The last ever dolphin message was misinterpreted as a surprisingly sophisticated double backward somersault through a hoop whilst whistling "Star Spangled Banner", but in fact it was this: so long and thanks for all the fish. ( Adams, 1979:119)
Increasing numbers of indigenous and Third World organisations are representing themselves when lobbying their governments and in participating in international forums. Within CAA, the impact of the increasing capacity of our counterparts has seen a move towards decentralisation of decision making to in-country program committees. There is even ongoing discussion within Oxfam International about the formation of Southern development agencies under the Oxfam umbrella, particularly in India and Southern Africa.
As well as the concept of development, the relevance of NGDOs such as CAA, as a broker between people in Australia and overseas, is being challenged.
Mike Edwards (1997) gives three options for NGDOs in the future- they become irrelevant, business as usual with North-South alliances, or they metamorphose into a peoples movement. If they accept the latter option, Edwards believes NGDOs need to take on a new role- one of creating change through acting in markets and in civil society. Market processes will be used to reduce both social and environmental costs of global capitalism through consumer actions, fair trade networks and ethical investment agencies. NGDOs will link communities and civil society organisations to create a system of global governance. Local constituencies will be built around lifestyle issues, that is people will become involved in creating sustainable development in their own communities.
Thomas Princen and Matthais Finger (1997) 4 also suggest that the role of NGDOs is to make links between the local and global levels. NGDOs need to create transnational organisations whose boundaries 'fit the issue at hand rather than the boundaries of any existing political identity', that is, they should transcend national boundaries.
At the global level, activism is not so much about participation and influencing existing structures and decision-making processes, but instead about creating and inventing them. This is what international NGOs... are really doing. (Thomas Princen and Matthais Finger, 1997)In addressing the global environmental crisis, which has emphasised the need for a new concept of development, Princen and Finger call for institutional transformation and for societies to learn their way out of the crisis.
We cannot trust in exclusively economic, political, technological or educational solutions. Teaching and preaching ready-made solutions to individuals must be replaced by collective, vertical, horizontal and cross-disciplinary learning.Rather than imposing an external concept of development, NGDOs should provide opportunities for people to learn from each other and to participate in creating their own concepts. The NGDO's role in these self-managed networks will be as an activist and energiser.
Development Education has already changed to reflect the new thinking. It is now concerned with imparting values and behavioural norms which will create social change and sustainable development and has been renamed Global Education to emphasise its broader scope.
An overview of some thinking around the dimensions of development in the 1990's shows a consensus starting to develop. The alternative/ participatory/ people-centred development has many names but comprises a philosophy explicitly based on norms and values. Development is no longer seen as merely an economic process, which increases the quantity of goods. Social and political empowerment and a healthy ecosystem are also important goals for the 'so long and thanks for all the fish' development philosophy. I will call this participatory sustainable (PS) development , to emphasise that it combines social justice with earth-centred economics.
David Korten's fourth generation, the People's Movement, is a loose network of peoples organisations made up of 'countless points of individual action mobilised around a single vision'. This vision is defined by Korten and other writers as an alternative definition of development based in a human-centred economics. Korten emphasises the need to create an alternative economics based in households and communities where the aim is to maximise the income of all people rather than maximising profits.
Burkey (1993) 5 believes that although people are affected by global or national processes over which they have little or no control, local development initiatives are still the way in which social, economic and political structures will be improved for marginalised people. He names four interdependent types of development - human and personal, political, economic and social development which together will create self-reliant communities.
Friedmann (1992) 6 , however, believes that self-reliance is not enough, as poor people do not control the resources needed to improve their situation.
A politics of claiming is inherent in an alternative development, which is always about the use of common resources (usually controlled by the state) and the removal of those structural constraints that help to keep the poor, poor. If an alternative development is to advocate the social empowerment of the poor, it must also advocate their political empowerment. (Friedmann 1992:7)
Friedmann identifies four domains of social practice, each with institutions that operate in that sphere, in which alternative development will be created: the state (executive government & the judiciary), civil society (the household), the corporate economy (corporations) and the political community (independent political organisations and social movements). The four domains make up the 'life space' or territory of communities. Alternative development is based on empowering households and individuals through their involvement in socially and politically relevant actions. It aims to increase their access to social power in all four domains: to create an inclusive democracy; appropriate economic growth; gender equality, especially within households; and intergenerational equity or sustainability.
Paul Ekins (1992)7, an economist, developed a four capital model of wealth creation which will create a 'life economics'. The goal of development can no longer be merely growth in production and financial capital, but also needs to include positive effects on environmental capital, human capital (knowledge, skills, health and motivation), physically produced capital (infrastructure, machines) and social/organisational capital (legal, political, community, family, organisations and firms). He explained the concept of organisational capital as :
For present purposes organisational capital is taken to be quite distinct from human capital, being embodied in the structures, rules, norms and cultures of organisations and societies at large, which enable people to be jointly productive. (Ekins 1992:150)
Korten(1992) 8 also emphasises the importance of shared integrating values (social capital) and a shared desire for change in maintaining support for NGOs in market economies. NGOs are where people attempt to promote their values, as most of their other relationships with organisations involve economic exchange or exercising political power. People will participate in organisations which match their values.
Estelle James and Susan Rose-Ackerman (1986) 9 also discuss the role of 'donative non-profit organisations' in a market economy and the importance of both ideology and participation in governance, even within their neo liberal economic analysis. As there is no distribution of profits in a donative non-profit, they suggest that the motivation for the entrepreneurs who start donative non-profits must be ideological. They point out that most of these organisations originated from churches.
Their reason for encouraging participation in governance is to do with the fact that donors are purchasing a product (overseas development) which they never see. The usual market forces of purchaser- supplier relations are not operating because the purchaser (donor) is not the consumer. Having a voluntary governing body, such as the CAA National Executive Committee, assures donors that staff will be kept accountable. Donors need to know that they have representatives who will ensure that staff will work hard and won't replace the share of profits they would receive in a profit-making enterprise with high salaries, expensive offices and other perks.
James and Rose-Ackerman, being conventional economists, don't include the social or political reasons for encouraging participation in their analysis. It has taken a reassessment of conventional economics and therefore of economic development theory, by people such as Manfred Max-Neef and Paul Ekins to include social, political and environmental factors in economic analysis.
Poverty is everywhere! Australians generally, and NGDO supporters in particular, have sufficient financial, human and physical capital to meet their survival needs. Their poverty is a lack of social, organisational, and environmental capital.
One of the great benefits of working through existing NGDOs is that they have a supply of organisational capital. They have a legal structure which allows participation; systems for evaluation and demonstrating accountability; and policies to ensure co-ordinated activity throughout the organisation. As NGDO's become increasingly professionalised, there is usually a reduction in opportunities for the membership to participate in the tasks of the organisation. There is a consequent division between staff and members and a decline in the organisation's social capital.
An essential component of social capital is a clearly articulated set of norms and values of the organisation, and in the case of NGDO's a clearly stated philosophy of sustainable and participatory development which would provide the motivation for participation by supporters.
The United Nations Commission on Global Governance (1995) 10 has provided a set of values which could inform PS development. They analysed current international issues such as persistent poverty, the rise in civil conflict and the rise of a 'global neighbourhood' and discuss the need for an ethical dimension to global governance. They list the values which will unite all people:
The history of development philosophies above demonstrates that all NGDO's have, by their methodology, implemented a philosophy of development. If they are to be part of the 'so long and thanks for all the fish' development philosophy, they will need to communicate the values, norms and activities implicit in the philosophy to staff and supporters.
Their overseas and domestic program would then be clearly explainable as contributing to implementing a concrete vision for the future. Action people take within their own communities would be recognised as contributing to the global task of building a sustainable system. The global connections would be ones of solidarity and understanding developed through undertaking analogous community development action.
The role for NGDOs in Australia, their domestic program, should be to work to implement our vision of development through combined campaigns or other action with domestic organisations as well as with our own supporters. True partnerships of equals working to achieve a common goal of PS development will be achieved by using the CD method of empowerment to rebuild social, organisational and environmental capital.
The two principles, 'work with people, not for them' and ' together we can change the world', are the basis of all CD work.
The first step in the process, bonding, involves making contact, creating a dialogue and then finding a sense of commonality. This relationship is then extended to include more people by the same method. The original relationship then becomes part of a net of relationships which make up the community or movement. The process can be thought of as netweaving.
However, the movement is likely to dissipate unless it is utilised. The second stage in the CD process, banding, is when people agree to take combined public action to improve their situation. A venue and a structure which can allow public discussion and decision making, organisational capital, is required. People also need to be motivated to take action by a belief in their ability to succeed and a commitment to a philosophy. Once the net is woven, it can be used, banding can be thought of as 'working the net'.
To rebuild social capital, to develop the NGDO community, requires creating the bonds between supporters and then facilitating them banding together to take action. A concientisation process about the need for a new development paradigm will motivate them to action.
Community participation in NGDOs is presently through office volunteers, groups, committees, and campaign networks. The linkages between this inner circle need to be strengthened to form the basis for extending out into the wider community. As they have already made a commitment to the organisation, we should begin with attempting to satisfy existing supporters social needs and aspirations.
Kamenetzky (1995)11 in his discussion of human needs and aspirations emphasises that we satisfy socio-cultural and psychological needs (ie other than survival needs) through self-expression, relations between individuals and relations between individuals and nature. Socio-cultural needs include intellectual, emotional & physical communications; participation; and autonomy. Psychological needs include knowledge; dialogue with the spirit; and recreation. An NGDO's domestic program could satisfy these needs by changing the types of activities they facilitate. For example,
Self-expression can be encouraged by:
Although the domestic program would use the same community development means as is used overseas, the ends will need to be adapted to our circumstances in Northern countries. For example, there are state welfare systems and existing NGOs dealing with most social welfare issues in Australia. Many are service providers, with a 'give a man a fish' concept of development. They have little in common with our work, unless we change to become service providers as well. However, the concept of domestic service provision is outside most NGDO's mandate within their home country.
Organisations with a campaigning focus, are closer to the 'so long and thanks for all the fish' philosophy and more likely to understand the benefits of building alliances to create PS development. NGDO's should thus focus on netweaving with other community organisations working towards elements of the vision: environment, community development, indigenous and other human rights. Some possible communities of interest based on common issues would be:
As Friedman states, one of the aims of PS development is to empower those at the margins of our society. In Australia there is the added incentive of the reconciliation process to encourage us to build connections with Indigenous people. The level of awareness of Indigenous issues has been raised by media coverage of debates around the Native Title Act and the Stolen Generation Report as well as the Reconciliation Convention. Response to recent campaigns shows there is currently strong interest amongst NGDO supporters in acting on Indigenous issues, but few avenues for action available.
CAA started its Aboriginal program in 1975. It is now in a separate program section, the Indigenous Australia (IA) section, with Indigenous staff. The focus of the program is on educating Indigenous people about claiming their rights. Most states have Solidarity with Aboriginal People (SWAP) groups. These supporters have come together because they want to build relationships with indigenous people and expect that CAA will provide the avenue.
However, before NGDOs offer to be a broker between supporters and indigenous people, we need to 'negotiate a place', that is to be clear about our role and motivations in offering our assistance. The colonial history of Australia has left deep divisions between indigenous and immigrant people which are only recently being reconciled, so the enthusiasm of well-intentioned people could be counter-productive if it is still based on a donor-recipient relationship.
There is now a danger of paternalism becoming maternalism- we no longer tell them what's good for them, now we act like overbearing mothers idealising all indigenous people as being perfect. Our admiration of other cultures can inadvertently stifle their growth and ability to change, or cause them to be commercialised and commodified. We are in danger of cultural vampirism, unquestioningly assuming that indigenous cultures are available for our consumption eg tourism, art and music. This maternalism can block our ability to 'get alongside' indigenous people and, just as much as paternalism, prevent a dialogue between equals. Rather than attempting to 'give them a fish' by carrying out projects for Indigenous people, we should build a partnership of equals through a process of Reconciliation. NGDO's domestic programs would then include building relationships with Indigenous people and organisations.
Australian Governor-General Sir William Dean (1996) 12 provided a useful framework for reconciliation in his lecture 'Some Signposts from Daguragu': acknowledgment of the past; recognition of the need for redress; acceptance of Aboriginal right of choice; the heart of reconciliation- to go forward as friends and equals; clarifying representation; things can remain undone; consensus about what must be done; a formal ceremony of reconciliation. The following list describes some actions that NGDO's could undertake either as an organisation, or through connecting our supporters with Indigenous communities through a voluntary 'skillsbank'.
Although the role of NGDOs has always been to provide public goods, the type of goods has varied according to the theory of development being implemented. In the world of transnational companies and global markets, the concept of global public goods is becoming more relevant. Langmore (1997) 13 lists global problems such as cross-border pollution, refugee movements, spread of diseases and loss of critical biodiversity. He believes that only the provision of global public goods by international NGDOs and the United Nations institutions will solve these problems.
NGDOs are positioned to take a leading role in promoting PS development at the international and global scales because, as shown in the overview above, their program work has been moving towards participatory development for at least ten years. They have developed expertise in areas from environmental rehabilitation to sustainable agriculture to community economics which are the basis of PS development.
Connecting with overseas people
NGDOs have well-developed relationships with overseas counterparts. Activities such as Study Tours are strengthening the links from Australians to our counterparts, while regional meetings of field officers are strengthening links between them. The challenge for NGDOs is to be able to netweave, to build connections, despite differences in culture, wealth and experience between their supporters and people overseas. Over the last century, most people have felt some connection to people overseas by their support of brokers such as churches, government aid programs, and NGDOs.
Churches and their missions provide a built-in community of philosophy. There are numerous examples of sister-parish schemes, collections for specific missions and worldwide networks of religious orders which provide people in Australia with an indirect link to people of similar faith overseas. Most NGDOs in Australia are closely linked to the membership of a particular church, although their programs overseas are usually separated from missionary activities (eg Caritas, World Vision, TEAR). The churches prove that global networks are possible if there is a common ideology.
Governments connect with people overseas on our behalf through the taxes we pay, which they spend on the official aid program (Ausaid), diplomats and trade missions. CAA has a long history of lobbying the government on both the quality and the quantity of the Aid Budget. It could also lobby diplomats and trade missions to promote PS development through their activities overseas. For example, diplomats could be required to provide briefings to Australian companies about the culture of countries they work in.
NGDO supporters have traditionally felt a sense of connection with people overseas by their donations to our overseas programs. There is no room here to discuss all the reasons why sending goods or sponsoring individuals is counter-productive. A direct link from donor to recipient has a number of inherent dangers- to work successfully there must be a comprehensive understanding of the conditions facing recipients and of the best way to improve those conditions. Stigmatising 'the poor' is an issue in domestic social welfare as well as in overseas development, and led to the growth of the State welfare system- partially as a way to separate the donors (through taxes) from the recipients (through benefits). Similarly, NGDOs play a role in decreasing stigmatisation, paternalism and inappropriate demands from donors on recipients.
There are a number of ways in which direct links can be made on a more equal footing than the donor-recipient relationship. The section on Peoples Movements below, describes what I believe to be the preferred way of connecting with people overseas, but the list below describes some more conventional ways a NGDO could facilitate direct connections:
If NGDOs want to be part of a global movement for social change, then they will need to promote empowerment and participation of their members and partners and build the links between them. Wiseman emphasises the opportunities offered by globalisation:
Indeed if empowerment is substantially about the recognition and celebration of a creative relationship between diversity and co-operation, then globalisation provides many opportunities for new emancipatory experiments and relationships. (Wiseman 1996)
The next step is building a common understanding through honestly sharing our experiences and problems, the most obvious being that growth-centred economics has harmed our society and environment as well as brought benefits. We need to acknowledge that as First World residents our present prosperity is the result of European colonisation and undertake a process of reconciliation with dispossessed and marginalised people. Only then will we be able to build relationships as 'friends and equals', true partnerships.
However, bonding with people is not enough to achieve change, there must also be a banding together for action. Of course, all the local actions by individual parts of the movements do add up to considerable change, but Korten and others who promote the concept of unstructured Peoples Movements have not yet stated how these movements will be able to take combined, focused action.
I believe that the answer lies with international organisations such as NGDOs developing memberships of people in both their home country and countries where they work. The relationship between donors and recipients would be replaced by relationships between equal members of an organisation all working to achieve its philosophy of PS development. The organisation would become a global community of ideology.
NGDOs could promote these linkages by:
Vertical linkages- International organisations
A strong global civil society, the peoples movements, will still need to engage with governments to lobby for changes to international trading and other regulations which inhibit PS development. They will need vertical linkages when acting at the international scale so that representatives of the movements can negotiate with representatives of States. The United Nations (UN), despite its many problems, is the only global decision making mechanism available, and NGOs are increasingly monitoring and lobbying it. For example, CAA supporters have been mobilised to participate in postcard campaigns aimed at the practices of the World Bank and the IMF.
Since the Rio Earth summit, large NGO forums have accompanied all UN Conferences and they have had some success in influencing the outcomes. The peoples movements were able to make vertical linkages by sending representatives who have been able to negotiate with states' representatives at these conferences. The NGO forums are also important venues for building connections within the peoples movements, so NGDOs should consider funding members rather than staff to attend.
The UN Commission on Global Governance (1995) 14 endorses this role of NGOs and recommends the formation of a Forum for Civil Society attached to the UN to provide a permanent mechanism for NGOs to influence the UN's decisions. Oxfam International should be encouraged to become a member of any such forum.
The credibility of NGOs with the UN is based on the perception that they represent a constituency, that they are in fact a part of civil society. International NGDOs , however, face the Peak Body dilemma - how to maintain connections with their support base while participating in negotiations with governments and business on its behalf.
While participating at the international scale, they need to remain firmly based in the local communities which provide their mandate. They will achieve this by using a CD methodology based on building relationships, facilitating participation and animating action to build a strong membership at home and overseas.
The solution to the problems caused by globalisation and transnational corporations is to mobilise a global peoples movement to create participatory and sustainable development. This philosophy of development is based in values of empowerment, participation and co-operation and emphasises action in the political, social and environmental domains as well as in the economy.
NGDOs are well placed to create a movement for PS development because they already have connections with people at home and overseas. NGDOs have the organisational capital to work at the local, international and global scales and the knowledge of CD methodology needed to build a social movement.
At the local scale, NGDOs should develop a domestic program with our own supporters and those of other organisations, including Indigenous people and organisations. A program based in a clearly stated set of values and philosophy of development will motivate people to action. However, we need to rebuild our social capital through netweaving and networking to encourage participation. Our activities also need to change to meet members socio-cultural needs. The domestic program would include a focus on facilitating reconciliation with Indigenous Australians by undertaking activities to achieve Deane's six steps.
At the international scale, NGDOs themselves should move towards becoming a peoples movement by facilitating connections between people of similar interests or philosophies in Australia and overseas. The problems of donor-recipient relationships can be overcome by including overseas activists as full members.
Vertical linkages are also needed so that the peoples movement can negotiate with representatives of states, particularly in the UN system. They should also support moves to create a permanent Forum for Civil Society as part of the UN system.
NGDOs will be able to fulfil their mandate to 'create a better world for all' in the face of globalisation as long as theyt can maintain positive relationships at all three scales of action. They will achieve this by using CD methods and by behaving according to values of participation, empowerment and co-operation.
The alternative is to become irrelevant, or worse, to be destroyed, while the majority of the world says: so long and thanks for all the fish...
Adams D. (1979) The Hitch-hikers Guide to the Galaxy . Pan Books, London, UK.
Deane W (1996) Some signposts from Daguragu. AGPS, Canberra.
Friedman J. (1992) Empowerment : The politics of Alternative Development. Blackwell, Oxford, UK.
Hettne B. (1995) Development Theory and the Three Worlds: Towards an international political economy of development. Longman, Harlow, UK.
James E. & Rose-Ackerman S. (1986) The Nonprofit Enterprise in Market Economics. Harwood Academic Publishing, Switzerland.
Langmore J. (1997) A new paradigm for aid. ACFOA News No.50, March 1997, p4-5. ACFOA, Canberra.
Sachs W. (1992) 'Bygone splendour' in Ekins P & Max-Neef M. (eds) Real Life Economics: Understanding Wealth Creation. p156. Routledge, London, UK.
The Commission on Global Governance (1995) Our Global Neighbourhood. Oxford University Press, Oxford UK.