Canada's international
nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) are as successful—if
not more so—as government in delivering foreign
aid, says The North-South Institute's newly published
Canadian Development Report 1999: Civil Society and
Global Change (CDR99).
And public support for international development through
these organizations, measured in terms of donations,
has increased steadily over the past 30 years, says
the report.
Civil
society: A growing force
Civil
society organizations are at work on all continents.
Here are a few examples of their importance:
Brazil. While nonprofits are at work
throughout the country, there is a heavy concentration
in São Paulo (45,000) and in Rio (16,000).
These organizations employ at least 1 million
people, accounting for about 2 percent of total
employment.
Egypt. Of the nonprofit organizations
spread throughout the country, 17,500 are membership-based,
9,500 are charitable, and 3,200 work in development.
These numbers include 22 professional groups
whose members number 3 million.
Thailand. There are some 11,000 registered
nonprofits in Thailand, in addition to many
more nonregistered organizations.
India. At least 2 million associations
are at work countrywide; Ghandian-inspired nonprofits
alone employ 600,000 people.
Ghana. Among the 800 registered formal
nonprofit organizations, international groups
are particularly prominent.
Source:
Helmut K. Anheier and Lester M. Salamon, eds,
The Nonprofit Sector in the Developing World:
A Comparative Analysis (Manchester: Manchester
University Press, 1998).
|
CDR99 is the third volume in an annual series
published by the Institute. This year's report surveys
the activities of Canada's civil society organizations
(CSOs) and examines their effectiveness when working
in the developing world. The report also contains more
than 40 pages of statistics charting the ebb and flow
of money, goods, and people between Canada and the South.
Edited by North-South Institute Senior Researcher on
civil society, Alison Van Rooy, the report says the
work of civil society is vital to the global economy
and society.
About 175,000 nonprofit, voluntary organizations in
Canada currently provide community services; organize
cultural, educational, and sporting activities; and
lobby for change on the political front. These groups
and their counterparts around the globe are members
of civil society and are credited with much of the positive
change that occurs in the world today.
An estimated 300 Canadian NGOs work on international
development issues in 79 developing countries. Annually,
they raise about $412 million from the public and another
$209 million from the Canadian International Development
Agency (CIDA). Funding from all sources brings the percentage
spent by these organizations close to 22 percent of
Canada's overseas development spending—among the
highest ratios anywhere in the world.
More
than 1.1 billion hours are donated annually to Canada's
75,000 charities.
Domestically, it is estimated that the Canadian voluntary
sector each year delivers services worth more than $3,000
per person. More than 1.1 billion hours are donated
annually to Canada's 75,000 charities alone, and close
to $90 billion passes through their coffers in the form
of government grants and individual and corporate donations.
More important, half of all Canadians—more than
12 million people—participate in some kind of civil
society organization.
The report studies a few of the many areas where internationalist
civil society organizations work—international
development, environment, food security, alternative
trade, gender equality, human rights, and conflict prevention.
As Graham Riches notes in the chapter on food security,
many of “these organizations embody the key attributes
of a constructive civil society: bringing together key
stakeholders and engaging in a real debate to shape
policies and outcomes.”
Despite
their differing agendas and areas of intervention, says
Van Rooy, Canadian CSOs working internationally face
remarkably similar challenges, both from an organizational
standpoint and in their relationships with one another,
with governments, and with the people they aim to serve.
Van Rooy identifies a few of the most pressing issues:
weak political will; reduced funding; an often outdated
or irrelevant regulatory environment; shallow public
opinion; and a disinterested private sector.
Whether in environment or human rights, gender or food,
CSOs have sounded the alarms and raised public awareness
of the issues. But action is often slow to follow: the
problem is a lack of political will and a dearth of
public participation in policymaking. Faris Ahmed, one
of the report's authors, writes: “The challenge
for NGOs and governments is to set forth a broader agenda
which allows for greater participation—especially
on issues such as international finance, trade, and
climate change. By creating sufficient national pressure,
CSOs should be holding politicians more accountable.”
Among the challenges and opportunities for CSOs that
Van Rooy and the other authors see are the need for
continuing training, for increased accountability, and
for greater proficiency. Also crucial is the need for
more equitable partnerships between Northern and Southern
CSOs.
Finally, CDR99 stresses that individuals have
an important part to play in bringing about global change.
“It matters what individuals do,” writes Van
Rooy. “Without individual involvement, civil society
becomes an empty arena. The challenge is to extend participation
from our backyard to our global home.” 
The Canadian Development Report 1999: Civil Society
and Global Change is available for $35 (book and
CD-ROM) from Renouf Publishing by telephone: (613) 745-2665,
fax: (613) 745-7660, or email: order.dept@renoufbooks.com.
The CD-ROM alone is $15 and contains English and French
editions of CDR 1996-97, 1998, and 1999.
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