I started last week at the Annual Conference of BOND, the British platform of Development NGOs. On Friday I was at the first conference of the Berlin Center for Civil Society; an organisation with the ambition to become the platform of global NGOs – the magic circle of civil developement. I have just left Vienna where I attended a conference on the future of CSOs organised by Concord and Trialog – respectively the European platform of developemnt NGOs and now I’m in Ljubljana for yet another conference on civil participation in Europe organised by the Council of Europe.
Without mentioning my conference tourism which has dramtically increased my enviromental footprint (you know people want me) what all these events have in common is the same question: What do we want civil society to become?
In any case, civil society has grown impressively in the last 30 years. Globalization has given it an incredible boost in the last 15 years. The shock for success is manifesting and people wonder if their dreams become reality or just a nightmare.
The BOND conference showed how NGOs have become increasingly influential in domestic politics. Three senior politicians from the three main UK political parties discussed their respective development policies in the first plenary session. Very informative but just development for accountants: figues, figures, figures. The best line was: ‘We want a British development policy’. Actually they all forgot that development is a multi-stakeholder process. They mentioned the EU once and China and the US none.
Berlin was the best conference for the third sector I have attended: a small group of people, around 80 CEOs or chairs of multinational NGOs. Everything was cool and smart, easy and smooth. I’ve been to the World Social Forum in Porto Alegre, did the Civil G8 run by Putin, Civicus naturally, attended the launch of the platform of platforms by the French last year, and tried developing a global network of leaders at ACEVO. All failed at attempeting to build global civil society. Will Belin succeed where the other have failed?
The start is very good but it’s just an elite. I’m not sure such quality can be preserved when extending the platform to a broader audience. Perhaps they don’t want to. They just want to serve the magic circle of NGOs. At the moment Amnesty, Save, Oxfam, CBM and World Vision have subscribed their membership. Let’s see what will happen.
History teaches us that they will turn into another Davos or Clinton Global Initiative or perish!
Vienna gives me the other side of the coin: the voice of small and middle side NGOs squeezed by the new global competion. They are composed of older generations of volunteers and militants. Species in extinction. They can compete with the new competitors but their passion is not enough to run efficient organisations.
Vienna was so depressing. Pessimism was infiltrated the event except for a minority of younger practitioners that I headed against the olders. It was a fight between the generations that we are going to win. It doesn’t mean that the winners are right. Let’s see what the last stop of my journey brings in Ljubljana.
While we are arguing with each other other, key issues are going to change the global environment in which we operate. Climate change has become the priority in the international agenda, stealing the NGOs monopoly in saving the world as governments and business are leading on developing the green economy. At the same time new players are joining the aid arena: the BRICS. China today committed 10 million $ in aid for Africa at the Sino-African Forum. Emerging economies invest in developing countries without strings, making NGOs contribution just pinouts.
Out of developemnt and environment, NGOS will have to find new causes if they don’t want to find themselves out of business.
The world is changing and civil society has to change along with it. Even better if it leads the change.
