BBC investigates the politics of NGOs in India
on Richard Johnson (India), 05/Jan/2012 13:44, 34 days ago
What do non-governmental organizations (NGOs) really do to improve the lives of people in developing countries and work for sustainable development of impoverished and oppressed societies?Plenty, as I learned in India over the course of a year with an exceptionally dedicated and scrupulousNGOcalledPREM. But the world ofNGOs and so-called development, like many a human endeavor, is rife with contradiction, corruption and power politics.Part 2 of a new three-part radio documentary by Allan Little called "The Truth aboutNGOs" examines the complex and ever-changing worldNGOs inhabit in India. Though the focus is mainly on Mumbai, not on the rural jungles of Odisha, many off the issues are the same: credibility, transparency, efficacy, relevance and corruption (both ethical and fiduciary). Further, it explores in basic detail the complicated relationship betweenNGOs and government, and the role of the wealthy, powerful and often out-of-touch internationalNGOs (e.g. Oxfam, Save the Children, others).Part 1 of Allan Little's NGOreportage examinedNGOinvolvement in influencing government and policy in Malawi, and in foisting Western cultural values onto local society via the power vested in them by the money theseNGOs receive from foreign donors. What is a human rights struggle in the West (gay marriage, e.g., or economic equality) becomes a form of neo-colonialism in Africa. And by making localNGOs dependent on this stream of funding, the foreign donors and the agendas they represent and can wield wide-ranging, undemocratic power in the developing world. It's no stretch to imagine that local government and those opposed toNGOs can paint them as agents of a new imperialism.Part 3, onHaiti, is airing this week.[Tip of the hat toDean Bradleyfor alerting us to these documentaries.]