Information You Can Use: A Bi-monthly Service for the UN and Civil Society
Volume 2, Issue 1, January - February 2005
Social Partnership
- The NGOs and the media
Source: The Barbados
Advocate
10 January 2005
by: Dr. Basil Springer
The World Bank defines NGOs as 'private organisations that pursue activities to relieve suffering, promote the interests of the poor, protect the environment, provide basic social services, or undertake community development'. In wider usage, the term NGO can be applied to any non-profit organisation which is independent from government. NGOs are typically value-based organisations which depend, in whole or in part, on charitable donations and voluntary service. Although the NGO sector has become increasingly professionalised over the last two decades, principles of altruism and voluntarism remain key defining characteristics www.lib.duke.edu
At a family party on Old Year's night, after a while there was, for the most
part, the inevitable segregation by gender. In the men's corner the discussion
quickly focused on a review of the economy over the past year and the prospects
for 2005.
We looked at the main productive sectors' agriculture, tourism, manufacturing
and financial services. We concluded that there were opportunities for growth
in these sectors but also recognised that there were constraints related primarily
to vision, management expertise and appropriate sources of financial capital.
The question then arose as to what innovative approaches could be developed
which would have a positive impact on the current trend of development in
our economy.
Having been stimulated by a recent discussion in St. Lucia just before Christmas,
my contribution at that point was that a focus on the Non-Governmental Organisation
(NGO) sector could provide the appropriate stimulus that we are looking for
to give some impetus to the rate of growth. The term NGO is very broad and
encompasses many different types of organisation. In the field of development
and humanitarian assistance, NGOs range from large entities such as Rotary
International, Soroptimist International, CARE, OXFAM, Red Cross Society,
World Vision and Counterpart International to locally based self help groups
such as Barbados Cancer Society, the Heart Foundation of Barbados, Barbados
Association of Retired Persons (BARP), BARNOD and BAMCI. NGOs also include
research institutes, churches, professional associations and lobby groups.
NGOs may be classified as operational, where the primary purpose is the design
and implementation of development related projects or advocacy where the primary
purpose is to defend or promote a specific cause and to influence the policies
and practices in a country. NGOs may therefore be seen as supportive to the
primary social partners i.e. the private sector, the public sector and the
trade unions. In the Barbadian context, the social partnership is restricted
to these primary partners and needs to be expanded to include the NGO sector.
Another innovative thrust for the New Year could be the review of the role
of the mass media. In my opinion, they too, should be included in the social
partnership. The role of the mass media is to inform and educate the wider
community, not only from cursory presentations of news, but from deep investigative
and well informed analysis of a wide range of issues. If the media were included
in the social partnership and there were mutual respect among the social partners
for their respective roles in terms of national development, then we may very
well find that this model may redound to the benefit of a more well informed
populace which will pave the path to sustainable development.
The practice of a formal social partnership beyond the shores of Barbados
is very rare. The practice of a formal social partnership at the regional
level is non-existent. Each social partner has its own contribution to make
in the context of regional development but yet history and current practice
pander primarily to the public sector as being dominant in all developmental
pursuits.
There will of course be the defence that there have been attempts to involve
other social partners through selected regional bodies. The question that
arises is 'are these selected bodies truly representative of the social partners
in the region?'
One of the major sources of funding for developing countries comes from International
Donor Agencies. The donor agencies have concluded that, whereas the public
sector may be optimal as a channel of funds for major infrastructural projects,
for economic growth projects, this is not necessarily the case. On the other
hand, there has been a resistance, by the tax payers in the donor countries,
to the donor agencies channelling funds directly to the private sector. It
is seen as a direct contribution to the bottom line, whereas for the emerging
private sector, it may well be needed to ensure that there is a sustainable
bottom line in the future. This, of course, is a necessary condition of sustainable
development. It has therefore been proposed that NGOs, through their operational
and advocacy agendas, could indeed provide an appropriate compromise for the
channelling of these funds. In the New Year it would be heartening to see
a more proactive approach to expand the social partnership to formally include
NGOs and the media, at the national and regional levels and for NGOs to proactively
present themselves as significant attractive complements to the private and
public sectors.
(Dr. Basil Springer GCM is Change-Engine Consultant, Caribbean Business Enterprise
Trust Inc. www.cbet-inc.org)