Highlighting challenges for NGOs

The International Development Course (IDC) that took place in Cambridge on 4 December 2010 did not disappoint, reinforcing the already strong reputation of this biannual conference. Those attending the IDC came from diverse backgrounds, although a majority were university undergraduates, many contemplating a career in the not-for-profit, development sector. The IDC schedule combined lectures with tea breaks, lunch, and a societies fair, providing ample opportunity for networking and casual discussion.

Participants at the IDC were spoiled for choice as to which lectures and workshops to attend. Speakers included Cambridge-based NGO directors, University academics and researchers as well as high-profile lecturers such as Dr John Baker, Chairman of the UK Foreign Compensation Commission, and Benny Dembitzer, who has worked for development agencies including UNDP, USAID, and DFID.

The topics up for discussion were equally wide-ranging. Talks on broad themes such as gender considerations in development practice were interspersed with more focused discussions of specific project case studies or personal narratives of a life in development. Elfrida Calvocoressi discussed her background working towards local conflict resolution with the NGO CHIPS (Christian International Peace Service). Alexis Walz shared her experience managing Cards from Africa UK in Cambridge, explaining how the money raised through the sale of handmade cards helps support orphans in Rwanda employed as card makers. David Barker, founder of Whitebox Digital, recounted the story of his entry into the sphere of social entrepreneurship and his attempts to reshape business mentalities by providing jobs and skills training to the long-term unemployed.

Highlights from the IDC included Methodist Relief and Development Fund (MRDF) director Kirsty Smith’s introductory lecture on ‘the Role and Challenges for NGOs in Development today’. Ms Smith offered a refreshingly candid critique of NGOs’ involvement in development, contrasting the more conventional, positive image of NGOs as independent, values-led actors with a more nuanced presentation of their weaknesses and shortcomings. She enumerated a number of key challenges facing NGOs. These include a tendency to ‘reduce the process of development to narrow goals’, focusing on ‘service delivery framed in a nice neat project’. The resultant ‘local and limited focus’ may ‘detract from broader, state services’ and in a worst case scenario, help to undermine the state’s ability to act by, for example, prompting doctors to leave the state healthcare system in order to work in private, NGO sponsored clinics. More often than not, the difficulties associated with fundraising and marketing reinforce the NGO tendency to ‘focus on small, seemingly uncontroversial projects’.

All the same, Ms Smith tempered this negative view of NGOs with a more forward-looking discussion of the ‘good practices’ NGOs might adopt as a means of ensuring a positive development impact. Sustainability and long-term planning emerged as the would-be top priorities underpinning any NGO project. Instead of focusing on specific and often short-term targets, NGOs should concentrate on the ongoing development process. This involves investing in material and human resources at the local level so that all development gains are not dependent on continued foreign aid support. In sum, the ‘good practices’ Ms Smith identified can be used as a yardstick for evaluating the success of NGO development projects, such as the street children’s support facility run by MRDF.

The combination of compelling lectures, animated workshops, and interactive seminars on a variety of topics ensured that the IDC was, in addition to being informative, a thoroughly exhilarating event. The critical tone adopted by many speakers discouraged any overly complacent view of UK contributions to overseas development, while still emphasizing the possible benefits of a sensitive and creative approach to development projects. All told, this December conference set a high bar for the next IDC event, scheduled for May 2011.

By Michaela Collord ~ 8 December 2010

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Links

The Cambridge IDC is a biannual day-long event organised by a student committee with the support of the Humanitarian Centre. To find out more, visit http://www.srcf.ucam.org/camidc

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