Capturing Change: Isn’t There a Better Way?
Posted on 19 May 2011 | 5 responses
By Alexandra Pittman
Is it possible to measure the inherently political issue of transforming gender norms and inequalities with highly depoliticized approaches and tools? Can complex and messy social change processes be captured with linear cause-effect frameworks?
This challenge is the subject of a recent paper Capturing Change in Women’s Realities: A Critical Overview of Current Monitoring & Evaluation Frameworks and Approaches in which Srilatha Batliwala and I put forth a challenge and call to action to donors and civil society organizations focusing on women’s rights. It is a call to deeply question the culture of measurement and accountability systems that we have created and maintain.
Our works draws from research and strategizing with activists, donors, women’s rights organizations, and feminists in a variety of settings. We show how the dominant logical-frame and results based management type of evaluations and assessments that many donors rely on do not fully capture the complex changes related to women’s rights and feminist organizations’ efforts.
In one example from our paper, a landless agricultural worker who had participated in an empowerment program describes the impact the program made on her life: “Three years ago, when the landlord in whose fields I work addressed me, I would answer him looking down at his feet. Now, I answer with my eyes on his chest. Next year, I will be strong enough to look him right in the eyes when I speak to him” (p.19).
Take a moment to reflect on this change process. Would a quantitative indicator of self-confidence have captured this successful outcome in a similarly powerful way? Would we have even been able to capture this outcome using traditional logical framework approaches? What happens to the richness of this example when we begin to aggregate?
Where is the Leading Edge of Development?
Posted on 25 March 2011 | 3 responses
By Ramesh Singh
Earlier this week, the Irish NGO Trocaire published a report called Leading Edge 2020. The purpose of the report is to provoke discussion around the key challenges facing those working in international development in the coming decade. In particular, it asks where the “leading edge” will be for international NGOs (INGOs) like Trocaire.
It identifies and prioritises five major global trends: climate change, shifting geopolitics, demographic change, pressure on natural resources and widening inequality.
The report points to a picture of uncertainty about the “international development framework” in terms of whether aid will decline, whether new taxation will provide new finance, whether new donors like Brazil and China will provide new aid and how results-driven development effectiveness might work.
The report finally presents a recommendation of ten things INGOs need to do.
Trocaire should be thanked for sharing this report widely. Often, NGOs spend a lot of time and energy doing situation analysis and scenario projections but they seldom openly share such reports.
Popular Culture and Social Change
Posted on 21 March 2011 | No responses
By Sujeet Kumar
I am keen on deepening my understanding of the intersection between art, culture, and social change and have always tried to be an observer of the cultural context within which social problems arise and can be resolved. How does cultural context tie into concepts and strategies for change, beyond the obvious imperative of respect for and knowledge of local culture? What methodologies and creative processes can the development sector engage for achieving better outcomes and developmental objectives?
Theater has been very effectively leveraged as a tool for social change. To give an example from first-hand experience, in rural parts of eastern India, local theatres and street plays (called jatras) are very common and serve as a powerful medium to disseminate information and educate people. I remember, when I was working with an education NGO there, several years back, one of the successful strategies employed by the NGO was to champion girls’ enrollment in primary school through staging plays in the villages.
A leading NGO in India, Barefoot College has a dedicated team of traditional and non-traditional musicians and puppeteers who are collectively known as the ‘Barefoot communicators’. They began with using live and interactive music, puppet shows and street plays to initiate discussions on socioeconomic messages and powerful themes such as drinking water, environment, communal harmony, violence against women, women’s empowerment and child rights.
Hot Issues in Governance of Global NGO Alliances
Posted on 11 March 2011 | 4 responses
By Ken Caldwell
In the last decade, we’ve seen dramatic growth in the scale and global influence of leading alliances of international non-government organisations (INGOs). The ten largest INGO alliances now generate around $8 billion dollars in income each year between them, and are increasingly being sought out as global partners by the public and corporate sectors.
However, that growing profile and influence brings with it growing public scrutiny of their accountability and transparency, and new challenges in effective global governance. It feels like lots of factors are now combining to create the need for new models of global governance, suitable for the new phenomenon of genuinely global NGOs.
I’ve been fortunate to have the opportunity to work on these issues with a number of these alliances over the past few years. While there is no blueprint to follow, and each alliance has its own history and ethos, there do seem to be some common themes emerging.
This post proposes five hot issues being faced by most leading NGO alliances. I hope this will help stimulate a debate on these issues – and others that I may have missed.
Richard Stearns of World Vision U.S. on Faith, Leadership and Management
Posted on 3 March 2011 | 2 responses
This interview was originally posted on the World Affairs Commentary blog.
In a recent interview with Richard E. Stearns, President and CEO of World Vision U.S., we discussed faith, non-profit leadership, and the future of non-profit management. Richard E. Stearns joined the U.S. offices of World Vision, the international Christian humanitarian organization, in 1998 as President and CEO. He previously spent 23 years in the corporate sector in senior level positions with Lenox, the fine china company, Gillette, and Parker Brothers Games.
Rahim Kanani: Since joining World Vision as President over a decade ago, and having arrived with decades of leadership experience in the for-profit sector, how would you characterize the global trend of relief and development organizations adopting more and more business models?
Richard Stearns: I think the trend is inevitable. We live in a much more transparent world with larger and larger cash flows going through NGOs across international borders. The days of answering a donor’s question with a sweet story about one child who was helped are gone. We need data that demonstrates that ALL the sweet children in a community have benefitted and in tangible, sustainable and measurable ways. Governments and private donors are demanding to know what returns their investments have achieved. For the NGOs themselves, it is critical to know how well programs are working and also to know where and when they are not, so that substantive steps can be taken to address ineffective programs.
The Vital Importance of Civil Society and Private Philanthropy in Building Egypt’s Democracy
Posted on 20 February 2011 | 2 responses
By Steven Lawry
Egypt’s civil society is small, though hardly ineffective. Civil society organizations have been working bravely for decades on severe problems of poverty, human rights, and social disempowerment. Official policies toward independent social action have been consistently hostile.
Laws governing nonprofit organizations impede the registration of organizations dedicated to charitable activity, especially where an organization’s mission is focused on matters that the government believes to be politically sensitive. This includes virtually all human rights work; most work involving community organizing for poverty alleviation; and work on reproductive rights (including Egyptian-led efforts to eradicate the practice of female genital mutilation).
Seemingly mundane efforts to help widows and unmarried women secure government identity cards that are necessary to open bank accounts and establish businesses are regularly frowned upon, ostensibly out of fear of raising the ire of Islamist groups. Government censors understand that the arts can be powerful vehicles for expression of political dissent, through depiction of the depredations of everyday life. Plays cannot be publically produced without the prior approval of censors. Events often go ahead on an unofficial basis, with producers taking care not to charge admission, something only officially-sanctioned events are permitted to do. Struggling artists struggle in Egypt more than in other places.
Will There Be a New Wave of Philanthropy in India?
Posted on 17 February 2011 | 2 responses
By Sujeet Kumar
This week, the Business Standard, a leading Indian Business daily, announced the list of the “super-rich” in India. The list has 657 rupee and 45 dollar billionaires. This unprecedented wealth creation can be attributed to a host of factors such as the surging Indian economy, the unleashing of entrepreneurial spirit, and the sheer opportunity to make wealth in a nation where almost every sector is booming.
As would be expected, this list has generated quite a bit of debate in India about growing economic inequality. This has brought demands that the wealthy should give back part of their wealth through philanthropy, as is becoming increasingly common in Western countries, most notably in the U.S. In fact, some have even suggested that there should be legislation mandating the rich to share their wealth. I have been a fierce critic of the lack of a culture of philanthropic giving amongst wealthy Indians. There is so much potential for philanthropy and for supporting social causes in India, yet the mindset has hardly been toward giving back to society.
There are a few notable exceptions. In the largest act of philanthropy by an Indian, Indian software tycoon and Wipro chairman Azim Premji donated (last December), nearly $2 billion to fund rural education and development programs in India. It is one of the largest charitable donations in the country’s history and eclipses any other donations by any person or corporation in India. It should silence critics who say Indian billionaires are measly donors compared to their foreign counterparts.
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The Role of Faith-Based Organizations in Haiti’s Reconstruction
Posted on 15 February 2011 | 6 responses
By Jesse Wallin
I recently had the chance to witness Haiti’s ongoing recovery efforts first-hand over the course of two weeks this past January. I was working with Haiti Outreach an NGO which builds wells, water-systems and schools throughout the country. During my time with Haiti Outreach, I was exposed to a variety of faith-based organizations (FBOs) and this has me contemplating the role of FBOs in Haiti’s recovery process.
The international community has played an important, and well documented, role in Haiti’s post-quake reconstruction efforts. Foreign governments to date have pledged over $5.3 billion dollars in the form of humanitarian aid and debt forgiveness. UN Security Council resolution 1927 authorized the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) and has committed approximately 12,000 uniformed personnel to maintaining peace and security throughout the country.
The role of non-profits in Haiti’s reconstruction efforts has been heavily publicized. The traditional players – Oxfam, Red Cross, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), Save the Children, etc. – have been actively involved in reconstruction efforts. Less publicized, however, has been the significant role of FBOs in Haiti’s ongoing recovery process.
Living Unhappily Ever After: Southern NGOs and Northern NGOs
Posted on 27 January 2011 | 3 responses
By Ramesh Singh
Keystone has just published NGO Partner Survey 2010 a report about the relationship between northern NGOs from high income countries and southern NGOs from mid and low income countries. The report is a presentation of response and ratings of more than 1000 southern NGOs about their bilateral relationships (partnerships) with 25 NGOs from Europe (16) and USA (9) who cooperated with Keystone in this survey. The list of 25 northern NGOs notably does not include some of the bigger, more visible or vociferous advocacy NGOs.
The 80-page public report that does not give out much about the 1000+ southern NGOs in terms of whether they are organizations or movements of poor and excluded people or intermediary NGOs, or whether they are bigger or smaller NGOs and whether they are from countries where civil society space and sectors are well developed or not (and such factors would affect the nature and the quality of relationships).
The report recommends that “every year (northern) NGOs publish systematic feedback from their southern partners that is independently collected on an anonymous basis and is structured and presented in comparison to similar feedback received by other (northern) NGOs.”
The Relevance of Alternatives to Social Entrepreneurship
Posted on 24 January 2011 | 3 responses
By Sujeet Kumar
In the last several years, there have been discussions and attempts to distinguish between social entrepreneurship and ‘plain vanilla’ charitable/NGO work. Semantics notwithstanding, I am myself, oftentimes, confused as to the real differences between the two.
Oftentimes, charitable organizations survive at the mercy of their donors contributions, which can vary. A nonprofit that practices social entrepreneurship, on the other hand, relies less heavily on donor funds because it creates social programs that are meant to be self-sustaining. Social entrepreneurs invest in social ventures and generate their own revenues to sustain themselves.
Thus, in theory at least, social entrepreneurship is the model to embrace and practice, it seems. But is it really relevant and applicable in all settings? Is it always a superior model and approach for meeting development objectives and effecting social transformation?
Unfortunately, there has been a feeling somehow that social entrepreneurship should be the mantra and since it is a financially sustainable, “more business-like” approach, it ought to be the superior way and that all charitable organizations should aspire to be social enterprises. This is unfortunate because we forget that the “more business-like” social entrepreneurship approach is still, at the end of the day, just one approach.
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