DOCUMENT RESUME

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TITLE Advocacy & Lobbying: Influencing Policy.INSTITUTION Asian South Pacific Bureau of Adult Education.REPORT NO ISSN-0814-3811PUB DATE Dec 94NOTE 59p.

PUB TYPE Collected Works Serials (022)JOURNAL CIT ASPBAE Courier; n59 Dec 1994

EDRS PRICE MF01/PC03 Plus Postage.DESCRIPTORS Adult Education; *Advocacy; *Agency Role; Community

Education; Developing Nations; Economic Development;Foreign Countries; Policy Formation; *PrivateAgencies; *Public Policy; *Voluntary Agencies

IDENTIFIERS *Nongovernmental Organizations

ABSTRACTThis issue contains nine papers dealing with

influencing public policy through advocacy and lobbying. "InfluencingPublic Policy" (Rajesh Tandon) looks at opportunities nongovernmentalorganizations (NG0s) have for influencing public policy andconstraints to advocacy. "Recent Changes in the Global AidEnvironment" (Sunimal Fernando) considers changes in the northerndonors that are leading to a redefinition of the relationship betweenthem and southern NG0s. "NGOs and Policy Influence" (Jane G. Covey)explores three issues that are important for the expanding role ofNGOs in policy influence. "Advocacy for Influencing Policy" (T. D.Daniel) addresses the role of and challenges for NGOs in policyinfluence. "Public Education and the Commonwealth Government"(Alstair D. Crombie) interprets and reflects on a survey ofAustralian Commonwealth Government programs that included someelement of public (community) education. "World Summit on SocialDevelopment: A Postscript" (Maria Lourdes Almazan-Khan) presentsreflections resulting from the author's participation at the UnitedNations World Summit on Social Development, Copenhagen, Denmark."Lessons Learned: Making Summits Work" (UNICEF) describes strategiesfor implementing goals, including identification of the do-able,political commitment, mobilization of a much wider range of socialresources, and deployment of the expertise and resources of theUnited Nations (UN). "The United Nations and the NongovernmentalOrganizations" (N. Jasenthuliyana) discusses the role NGOs play inthe work of the UN. "Asian Regional Forum of AlternativeInstitutions" (Rajesh Tandon, Argus Purnomo) argues for the creationof an Asian Regional Forum on Alternative Development Institutions. Abook review by Pathma N. Sivaram of "Demanding Accountability" isprovided. (YLB)

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ASPBAE COURIER No. 59DECEMBER 1994

ADVOCACY & LOBBYINGINFLUENCING POLICY

US DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATIONO'ie Ot Eclacabonai Rasearcn ar,o Invovemr.r1

ED CATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATIONCENTER (ERIC)

This document has been reproduced asreceived from the person Or organizationoriginating it

0 Minor changes have been made toimprove reproduction quality

Points of view or opinions stated in thisdocument do not necessarily representofficial OERI position or policy

"PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE THISMATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY

UJ liltTO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCESINFORMATION CENTER (EMI.-

ASIAN- SOUTH PACIFIC BUREAU OF ADULT EDUCATIONCOLOMBO, SRI LANKA

2 BEST COPY AVAILABLE

ASPBAE COURIER No. 59DECEMBER 1994

ADVOCACY & LOBBYING :

INFLUENCING POLICY

ASIAN- SOUTH PACIFIC BUREAU OF ADULT EDUCATIONCOLOMBO, SRI LANKA

3,)

ASPBAE Publication Policy

ASPBAE is a nqn-profit, non-governmental regional organization with membershipthroughout Asia-Pacific region. Its overall purpose is to strengthen the theory andpractice of adult education as a contribution to invidual and social development.

ASPBAE publications are an integral part of its activities to support, share and learnamong practitioners, theoreticians and policy-makers. Therefore the reader is encour-aged to use the materials contained herein for further sharing and learning with dueacknowledgement to ASPBAE. Your feedback on this publication is invited to helpASPBAE improve these publications in future.

CONTENTS

Influencing Public PolicyRajesh Tandon

Recent Changes in Global Aid EnvironmentSunimal Fernando

NGOs and Policy InfluenceJane G. Covey

Advocacy for Influencing PolicyT. D. Daniel

Public Education and the Commonwealth GovernmentAlstair D. Crombie

World Summit on Social Development: A PostcriptMaria Lourdes Almazan-Khan

Lessons Learned: Making Summits WorkUnicef

The United Nations and the NGOsJ. Jasenthuliyana

Asian Regional Forums of Alternative InstitutionsRegesh Tandon/Argus Purnorno

Book Review

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ASPBAE COURIER No. 59December 1994

EditorW.M.K. Wijetunga

ASPBAE COURIER

ISSN No 0814-3811

ASPRAE COURIER is produced twice a year, in June and December. Opinions ex-pressed in the Courier are not necessarily those of the Editor, or the members of theBureau.

All material contained in the Courier, unless otherwise stated may be freely reprintedor reproduced with due credits to promote the free flow of information and discus-sion. A copy of such reprint would be appreciated.Annual Subscription, Inclusive of PostageASPBAE Region (Asia and the South Pacific) Other RegionsIndividuals US$ 20-00

US$ 40-00Institutions US$ 40-00 US$ 60-00Life Members and Member Organizations in good standing are entitled to complimen-taxy copies of the Courier.

All payments, by cheque/bank draft should be in US dollars, or the equivalent in con-vertible currencies to the credit of "ASPBAE" or "Asian-South Pacific Bureau of AdultEducation".

From 1 July 1995 all communicationsre the Courier should be addressed to:ASPBAEc/-PRIA42 Tughlakabad Institutional AreaNew Delhi 110 062INDIA

This paper is a revised version of a key-note address given at anAdvocacy Workshop organised by Actionaid, India.

Dr. Rajesh Tandon is President of the Asian-South Pacific Bureau ofAdult Education (ASPBAE), and Executive Director of the Society forParticipatory Research in Asia (PRIA), New Dethi, India.

RAJESII TANDON

INFLUENCING PUBLIC POLICY

I was wondering whether thisphrase "NGO Advocacy" or "VoluntaryAction Advocacy" existed at the timeRaja Ram Mohan Roy took initiative topursue social reforms; or even at thetime of Mahatma Gandhi's work wheresignificant policy changes werebrought about. I was humbled by thisreflection that advocacy in India hassuch historical roots and is not some-thing which we have just discovered.To my mind as a citizen's action toinfluence policies that affect their lives,advocacy has a long history; perhapsas long as citizenship itself. In morerecent years, what have been exam-ples of effective impact of the work ofvoluntary organisations in framingimportant policies in our country? I

remember that in 1975 I attended arural labour camp; emergency hadbeen declared at that time and it wasin the hills of UP Dehradun, amongthe tribals, nomadic people and thecamp was discussing the new Aboli-tion of Bonded Labour Act which was

then promulgated during the emer-gency and I was wondering what wasthe history to that and it became clearduring the course of the camp. In1973 some social activists, working inthe hills of Dehradun began to talkabout 'bonded labour' and ways todeal with it and they brought a min-ister and a bureaucrat two sympa-thetic persons, to the area. Significantpolicy formulation has taken place asa consequence of this social action.Bonded Labour Abolition Act waspromulgated during the Emergency torelease and rehabilitate bonded labourin the country.

The 1977 Primary Health CarePolicy of the Government of India waslargely fashioned after the work ofmany voluntary organisations in thefield of health care; the emphasis onpromotive and preventive health carethat was brought into the policy (notjust curative), had its base in thework of a large number of voluntary

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organisations. And, likewise, aroundthat period the National Adult Educa-tión Programme was actually craftedby a group of adult educators activein voluntary organisations in thecountry. This is to put into perspec-tive that while the concept `NGO ad-vocacy' may be a recent concern butthe practice in reality has been herefor long. And as a consequence of thework of voluntary organisations, manya times indirectly, there have beensignificant policy formulations thathave occurred in our history.

By this recognition then, one couldcount a number of other issuesaround which impact on Public Policyhas occurred as a consequence of thework of voluntary organisations. If onelooks at the issues of women's rights,environment, children's rights, NGOs,directly or indirectly, have led to policyarticulation. I am continuously usingthe phrase 'Public Policy' because Ilike the idea of Advocacy being definedbroader than lobbying and defining itas process as opposed to an event. Iam concerned that we do not sub-sume under this phrase everythingthat we do in our work. If the workwas organising people or making themaware of their rights to include thatin this definition of advocacy in myview would be to dilute the meaningof the term itself. Therefore, I am look-ing at the question of Advocacy largelyin the context of Public Policy, largelyin the context of formulation, influenc-ing, altering, modifying, implementing,discarding, resisting, encouragingwhatever to do with Public Policy.Without reference to Public Policy,the use of the term is very genericand not meaningful at all. I wouldnot include organising, awareness rais-ing, conscientising, skill building asadvocacy. In my view it must specifi-cally focus on the question of PublicPolicy. There may be different ways of

influencing Public Policy; it may in-clude the involvement of people them-selves in influencing Public Policy, useof media, academic research etc. ButI think without focus on Public Policy,the meaning of the word advocacy willget diluted.

Many people think that influencingPublic Policy is not the area of workof NGOs and many others think thatis the only contribution that we canmake. If we view influencing PublicPolicy as the primary work of advo-cacy action on our behalf, then the,apparent contradiction between grass-roots-action and advocacy disappears.It is on the basis of the cumulativeexperience of working at the grassrootsthat we actually can cOme up withinteresting, insightful, relevant, appro-priate suggestions for the content ofthe Public Policy itself. I think theexperience of people working in theareas of health care, in the areas ofbondage, literacy, was the reason whythey were able to bring in that sub-stantive focus in the policy that theywere influencing. It is the work at thegrass-roots that becomes the basis ofgenerating ideas which may providethe su `3stance of a particular PublicPolicy. Yet, it is not to say that influ-encing Public Policy can only happenif you have worked at the grass-roots.There are numerous examples of influ-encing Public Policy very much in thefavour of the poor even in our coun-try by those who never had any directwork at the grass-root level. Therefore,the challenge that we are facing maybe how to link the work at the grass-roots with the task of influencing,framing, formulating and interpretingappropriate pro-poor Public Policy inour country. The question is notwhether one can lead to the otherit inevitably does. Those who wereengaged in the work of primary healthcare or literacy in 1950s or 1960s

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were not doing that work because theywanted to influence Policy in the1970s. They were doing that workbecause it was important to them. Butwhen circumstances materialised in amanner and their experiences wereknown, it became an important basisof new policies on health care, adulteducation, etc. In recent years, muchof the NGO response, has been largelyin rejecting or reacting to Public Policyformulations; it has been successful attimes stopping implementation of apolicy because it seemed anti-poor.But if we are in the business of in-fluencing Public Policy, we may haveto also take upon ourselves the taskof formulating or providing positivecontents to what the policy shouldlook like. This task may entail dirty-ing our hands in sitting in the sameroom with those who ultimately writethat policy. Merely resisting anti-poorPublic Policy may not necessarily leadto desirable Public Policies in favour ofthe poor.

The second comment I wanted tomake is the importance of recognisingthe national and global dimension inPublic Policy formulation. Throughoutthe period of post World War II, theconcept of Development itself, the con-cept of Development Aid, the conceptof Development Planning, etc. are in-herited from the countries of theNorth. Despite our pretensions that wewere formulating National Policy, a lotof those policies were influenced byglobal forces and. agendas. By late1970's, many World Conferences influ-enced our own Public Policies. TheAlma Ata Conference on PrimaryHealth Care; FAO WCARRD Confer-ence on Integrated Rural Development;the Women's Decade (Mexico and Nai-robi), Environment (Rio), HumanRights Conference (Vienna) are clearexamples. All I am trying to say is

that the global dimension of develop-ment policy formulation has existed aslong as development has been on theagenda. It is only in the economic lib-eralisation trends that we may be see-ing something more visibly in the lastcouple of years. And therefore, thereis a need to at least take a global viewin Public Policy influencing, even if weare operating at a micro or a locallevel or state or district level policymatters.

Opportunities

One of the major opportunities thatis available today is the reasonablerecognition, nationally and internation-ally, of the legitimacy of Voluntaryorganisations, NGO-kind-of work. "Rea-sonable" I am saying deliberately be-cause at times it is unreasonable but1 think there is a reasonable recogni-tion that the voluntary organisations/NGOs have a role to play in the de-velopment arena.

Second opportunity is arising out ofthe maturity of our own experiences.We went through a period in the 50sand 60s where the previous variety ofvoluntary action inspired by Gandhianmovement was starting to go out offashion and it was in the mid/late 60sthat a new spurt of what we see ascontemporary kind of Voluntary Or-ganisations in our country emerge. Sowe can see 20 to 25 years maturityperiod on the basis of our experiences,our analysis, our ability to work witheach other with all its limitations,bindings etc. So there is a maturity ofexperiences, we have scale, macropolicy influencing.

The third opportunity I see is thecurrent nature of flux in which theState and its apparatus finds itself in.The dominance of state as pre-emi-nent, primary instrument of develop-

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ment which was established in ourcountry in 60s and 70s has beenshaken in the last couple of years.There is a flux in the way in whichthe State apparatus is functioning andthat creates a great deal of opportu-nity to influence policy formulations.

Concerns

And of course true to our own cul-ture we look at the constraints thatare existing. They are not so muchconstraints in the environment as theyare in my view concerns about ourability to seize the opportunity.

The first set of concerns relate toConceptual Stagnation. Let me elabo-rate that with respect of advocacywork. First is the stagnation in ourunderstanding about the role of thestate. Despite what has happened inthe rest of the world, and what ishappening in our own country, manya times when we discuss strategies tochange the condition of the poor weare recommending more of the same

we are recommending more of thesame State, more of the same machin-ery, which with 45 years of its func-tioning has demonstrated no possibil-ity of either being sensitive to or con-cerned about the needs of the poor.Therefore, more of the same - be it inthe area of population as the latestissue of seminar proclamations or inthe area of poverty-alleviation as thereport of South Asian Commissionproclaims - they are all recommend-ing 'better' State, more efficient State,less corrupt State, more pro-poorState, but more State. I do not thinkit is possible better State. more effi-cient State, less corrupt State is notpossible at all. We need to thinkabout more clearly what its role is inthe development arena, what its roleis in causing poverty rather in allevi-ating it.

The second area in which I findconceptual stagnation is on the ques-tion of lobbying, advocacy, democracyetc. The form of governance that wehave inherited after the British colo-nial rule was not the form of govern-ance that was gradually emerging fromour own socio-political milieu. It wasan 'alien' form which was 'imposed'.That forrn of governance called repre-sentadve democracy of parliamentaryvariety only functions if we accept thatlobbying is a legitimate activity. ManyNGOs abhor those who move in the"corridors of power" a phrase we usein great distaste; "those who dirtythemselves in shaking hands withpoliticians/bureaucrats". In fact, a vi-brant democracy is one where all in-terests are organised to lobby forthemselves. The tragedy of our democ-racy is that certain interests are wellorganised and are lobbying, but awhole lot of other interests, particu-larly those of the poor, are not organ-ised and have not done lobbying. So,if we are going to function in thisform of governance which is a 'repre-sentative democracy', we will have toaccept the necessity of lobbying, ofdemanding accountability from thosewho are 'Public Representatives', bethey politicians or bureaucrats. It isnot something which is uniformlyunderstood or agreed upon, becausethere is negative connotation to 'lob-bying'. Therefore, the question ofpolicy formulation, policy change,policy altering, influencing PublicPolicy, in this form of governance isessentially going to be an incrementalprocess. We are not operating in arevolutionary context where dramatictransformations take place. If that isthe thing, then advocacy should notbe on our agenda. Therefore, incre-mental changes in public policy willrequire a long-term, sustained lobby-ing effort which carries with it the

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concerns and the interests of the di-verse sections of the poor within theworld.

And, third, of course, is the dimen-sion of our identity. Who are we? Itis a perpetual question: it is a goodquestion to be confronted with once ina while. In the life of an adult span-ning 45-50 years, if the question ofidentity plays up every morning, theadult will remain paralysed. In thesame way, we as a sector, will remainparalysed if we do not come to termswith our identity. That identity, in mymind, must be expressed as an au-tonomous identity in the frame-workof Civil Society: and not an identitywhich is negatively defined (as 'Neti'Hindu tradition) non-profit, non-gov-ernmental, everything non; that is, aresidual identity. Instead of this re-sidual identity, we should have a posi-tive definition of who we are. That willhelp us in looking at our role as le-gitimate actors in formulating publicpolicy, if not something which we dobecause there is a global 'fad' aboutt his.

The second set of concerns relate towhat I have hesitatingly call 'Hesita-tions in Partnership' which includesnetworking, coalition-building, extend-ing hands of solidarity with eachother. I am including opportunities ofbuilding partnerships with media,academia, with other sectors (includ-ing the corporate). The experience ofnetworking and coalition-building evenwithin the folds of the NGOs and vol-untary organisations in the post-inde-pendent India has been rather frus-trating, painful and difficult. Unless inour analysis we reach understandingthat networking, coalition building,partnership are critical elements of ourstrategy to influence Public Policy andcannot also develop an understandingof why it is painful and difficult? What

should be done to overcome those inour own unique cultural milieu, dis-tinctive to our country?Capacity

The third set of concerns relate to'Limitations of Capacity'. I have in-creasingly found defending myselfwhen I say there are limitations incapacity. It does not mean that we donot have capacity. We have immensecapacity. But I would like to humblyshare with you my concern that we dolack capacity. We lack capacity ineven comprehending how Policy is for-mulated in this country, leave aloneits global dimensions. There is a limi-tation to our understanding how policyis formulated in our country.

The second area of capacity limita-tion is about the type and range ofcapacity that we have. While there hasbeen . a growing debate onprofessionaliPtion of NGOs (includingin our cc -4,y), that debate has beenlimited to bringing in some people whohave got some 'professional' degrees.By bringing medical doctors, veterinarysurgeons, agronomists, educationists,engineers, water engineers and soilscientists, chartered accountants,management graduates by bringingpeople with 'degrees' alone, we do notcreate a professionalised competence.Unfortunately, sometimes the two getconfused. Whenever an NGO is tryingto professionalise, it starts recruitingpeople with degrees. The concern withthe type and range of the competenceis that if our accumulated experienceof worki 1g in an area has led us tobelieve that policy in that area re-quires significant expertise then thecapacity should be able to not onlyanalyse but also record and documentit, in a way so as to he understoodby those who are in the 'business' offormulating policy. Unless we have thecapacity within our folds this part of

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the work cannot be off-loaded to sometemporary consultant. It has to be anintegral part of our work, if influenc-ing, changing, altering Public Policy isan integral part of our work.

The third set of constraints in ca-pacity relate to our approaches ap-proaches in how we look at effectiveways of influencing Public Policy. I

think experience shows that a combi-nation works that it is a mix of anumber of approaches (Media, Legal,Research) together in a strategic waythat gives results in influencing Pub-lic Policy. Therefore, the question is ofbuilding a capacity with such a com-bination to be able to use such acombination. There are many interest-ing ways in which capacity buildinghas occurred. Not merely by training

it is a very limited option. By bring-ing people on short duration basis, bybuilding relations with institutions thathave that kind of capacity, etc. I hopethat when we discuss the question ofcapacity building we not only discuss

limitations but also the solutions tocapacity building that we have foundthat may give us some idea. Otherwisestandard prescription of training maybe too general and not enough oradequate.

Finally, the work of advocacy byNGOs requires clearer perceptions.Those NGOs which have been engagedin significant grass-roots conscienti-zation, mobilisation and organisationbuilding have also been engaging inAdvocacy to demand better policiesand better implementation. However,mobilisation per se, or in itself, is notsufficient for influencing public policy.Grass-roots mobilisation is a criticalvariable, but it does not automaticallyequate with, or result in, advocacy. Itis useful to keep this distinction inmind, otherwise we will use a newlabel (Advocacy) to define our pastwork, and thereby dilute the meaningof the theory and practice of NGOAdvocacy.

This article is based on a background paper presented to a recentnational seminar in Colombo, Sri Lanka on 'Northern Donors and theFunding of Southern NGOs', organised by IRED Asia.

Mr. Sunimal Fernando is the Deputy Secretary General of IREDInternational, and is based in Colombo.

SUNIMAL FERNANDO

RECENT CHANGES IN THE GLOBAL AID

ENVIRONMENT

It is generally assumed that Aidleads to Development. In an idealsense Development can be defined asa process through which a countryseeks to achieve prosperity with eq-uity. Aid, on the other hand, empha-sises a country's subordinate status. Itmay even perpetuate this status andharden the inequalities which are usu-ally associated with this status. Aid isin fact a contradiction of Development.It must be made clear that Develop-ment does not depend on Aid. In factwhat is required for Development isinnovation, creative ideas, dedication,commitment, social mobilisation andpolitical will. Aid, which creates eco-nomic, psychological, cultural andpolitical dependence is in fact a seri-ous constraint to a country's develop-ment. The history of countries in theworld clearly shows that it is thecountries that did not receive Aid andnot the countries that received Aidthat developed with autonomy, dignity,self reliance and self respect.

It must be clear that Aid is not a"natural" transfer of economic re-sources. It is a political process; Aidin fact is clearly a post-war and post-independence phenomenon in the de-veloping world. It is also not altogetherwrong to say that Aid is a kind ofextension to colonialism. Having beenfathered by the ex-colonial countriesthemselves, Aid came to reflect manyof the economic, political and culturalinterests of the former colonisersthemselves. In some instances the at-tempt made through Aid was to per-petuate the colonial presence, in oth-ers to continue previous economic re-lations. There were also attemptsmade through Aid by the erstwhilecolonisers to maintain the spheres ofcultural influence which the colonisingenterprises had produced. Military,strategic and defence concerns werealso important in some instances.

Broadly speaking, in the 1950's and1960's Aid was linked to the process

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of decolonisation. During this periodthe main objective of Aid was for therich countries to try and maintain acolonial presence in the countrieswhich achieved political independence,sometimes by creating a type of De-velopment in which the South pro-vided raw materials and markets whilethe North produced manufacturedgoods, and sometimes by creating ar-eas of cultural unity based on thedominance of an European culture ofwhich Francophone Africa, AnglophoneAfrica and Spanish speaking LatinAmerica are good examples.

From the 1960's to the 1980's Aidwas linked to the process of neo-co-lonialism in which the objective of Aidwas to strengthen the flow of re-sources from the South to the Northand thereby perpetuate an economicorder in which the prosperity of theNorth depended on the poverty of theSouth. It was also aimed to ensuremilitary and political security againstthe spread of the socialist world order.

After the collapse of socialism in thelate 1980's and the emergence of aunipolar world system, Aid is nowbeing used to spread the neo-liberaleconomic order together with the west-ern model of a consumerist societyand its related system of "good govern-ance" to all parts of the world. Thecultural diversity and non-western,non-consumerist world views such asthose of Asia with their deep histori-cal and phiiosophical depth are thusbeing destroyed and supplanted witha homogeneous world system fash-ioned by the North in its own imageand according to its own norms andvalues.

However, through all these histori-cal periods and irrespective of the dif-ferent political, economic, cultural andmilitary motivations relating to Aid,

the volume of Aid from the richer tothe poorer countries has neverreached the proportions which arethought of as desirable. None of theworld's richer countries have managedto give 1% of their GDP as Aid to thepoorer countries. It is Drily theScandinavian countries who have evenapproached this figure; but they tooare now reducing their Aid signifi-cantly in recent years.

The channels of Aid are various.Some of it goes from the governmentsof richer countries to those of poorercountries as bilateral Aid. When a richcountry makes a donation to interna-tional agencies who then re-allocatethese funds in terms of poor countryneeds, it is said to take a multilateralform. Besides this, and this is ourpresent concern, the rich countriesalso make substantial sums availableto funding agencies to be channelledto developing countries through NGOswho may be of either poor country orrich country _origin. Such fundingagencies do also receive funds fromprivate sources including individualsin the rich countries. Funds chan-nelled to NGOs from these many typesof donors sometimes come as emer-gency aid and aid for relief and reha-bilitation; sometimes as humanitarianaid such as food aid; sometimes associal welfare aid; and sometimes asdevelopment aid. More recently assist-ance to NGOs has come in the areasof human rights and the environment.

Unfortunately there is now a signifi-cant diminution in the flow of this Aidfrom the North to the South. There isa serious economic crisis in the Northwhich has refused to disappear despiteseveral predictions to the contrary. Inthe North there are problems of em-ployment and problems of income aswell as threats to the accustomedstandard of living. In addition Eastern

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Europe has become a new priority. Aidbudgets have had to be drasticallyreduced. If Aid continues it is becausepolitical necessity demands that itcontinues at a reasonable, thoughmuch reduced level. But under theradically changed circumstances of theNorth, not only the quantum but thepriorities of Aid have also changed inrecent years. Aid continues to beavailable but not for the same famil-iar activities and not under the samefamiliar institutional arrangements asbefore.

At the same time, largely as a re-sult of the hardships associated withthe economic and moral crisis intowhich the developed North hasplunged itself through its dedication tounrestrained capitalism, consumerismand market orientation, the Northernworld view itself is now being increas-ingly questioned by the Northern peo-ple themselves, especially by theyouth. The problem that is tormentingNorthern society today is the problemof increased marginalisation and socialexclusion. Northern society is ques-tioning itself and is increasingly plac-ing its own economic, political andcultural institutions under scrutiny.While socialism has been - temporar-ily or otherwise discarded, the capi-talist world vieW and its incumbentphilosophical, economic social andpolitical institutions are now beingseriously questioned in the face of thegrowing social exclusion that is ac-companying the economic and nioralcrisis of the North.

What all this amounts to is clear:this is a time of change and crisis.Even if it wants to do so, the Northcannot continue with programmes ofAid of the type that it has folleweclsince the decolonising exercise began.Some change in policies and in em-

phasis is inevitable. The South on itsside can feel no great satisfaction athow Development has operated duringthe last four decades. The changeswhich Development promised have nottaken place. It is arguable that thefew benefits which have accrued to theSouth as a result of Development ac-tivities have been at the cost of val-ues and attributes which the South ifgiven a choice. may not Lave wantedto lose.

This raises several issues for theSouth in its Development. Is the fu-ture to be a mere replication of whathas happened in the North and whichthe North itself is today seriouslyquestioning? Or is it to take far morecognisance of its own ethos, ofthought and culture, of its values andhistorical heritage in fashioning theobjectives of its development and themeans through which these objectivesare best achieved?

Given these differing perspectivessome may even argue that the Northand the South have to pursue differ-ent courses in economic affairs andtherefore in international strategies.However, this cannot be. The Northcannot cut itself off from the South,not merely for political reasons butbecause of economic necessity. Equallythe South cannot pursue its Develop-ment as if the North did not exist. Theissue from the point of view of theSouth is the issue of the best deal.How does it negotiate a position thatis advantageous to itself given thechanging circumstances that the worldexperiences today.

Are these circumstances with whichSouthern NGOs need not be con-cerned? Is this a process in whichthey have some role to play? Shouldthey as before take funds from what-

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ever source offers it to them and for-get wider issues? Should they allowthe funding difficulties with whichthey are faced to push them into aposition wherein they forget their roleas civil society institutions, forget thevoluntarism and dedication to a socialphilosophy which gave them their le-gitimacy and become "micro enter-prises" subcontracting for Aid agencieswhich come looking for implementingorganisations at grassroot level whichare more flexible, efficient and cost-effective than governmental institu-tions? In whatever way NGOs answerthese questions for themselves, therecan be little doubt that they must atleast be aware of the changing contextof their activity and of the new politi-cal, economic and institutional optionsthat are now before them.

In these circumstances new oppor-tunities are arising for cooperation andcollaboration between civil society inthe North and civil society in theSouth. As the opportunities increasefor closer collaboration between civilsociety institutions in the North andthe South in their search for an al-ternative to the capitalist world orderwhich is increasingly presenting itselfas a challenge to human civilisationitself, civil society is called uPon toconfront the Aid system with a newperspective and from a new philo-sophical base and renegotiate if pos-sible a new relationship with it.Such a new relationship, if such ispossible, will mean new political op-tions for the NGOs, new institutionalarrangements of partnership, new fi-nancial mechanisms to replace theproject based donor dependent fund-ing system and a new culture of dig-nity, autonomy and self respect inplace of the existing culture of de-pendence and subordination in theSouth.

The very circumstances of the cri-sis in the North create new opportu-nities for NGOs. But in understandingthe nature of the changed Aid environ-ment that flows out of this crisis inthe North which reflects a deeper cri-sis in human civilisation itself, adapt-ing themselves politically, manageriallyand institutionally to a new set ofoptions in development philosophy andNorth-South partnership or coopera-tion, the Southern NGOs face a newchallenge. Tneir sources of funds havenot merely been reduced, they are notwell tuned to the new opportunitiesthat are before them. Moreover, thesefunds and many of the developmentphilosophies and activities they sup-port may be inimical to the very in-terests of the Southern countries asdefined by these new options pre-sented by the North and supported byAid. How then are the Southern NGOsto operate in the future?

The very circumstances of the cri-sis in the North create new opportu-nities for NGOs . -But in understand-ing the nature of the changed Aidenvironment that flows out of thiscrisis in the North which reflects adeeper crisis in human civilisation it-self, adapting themselves politically,managerially and institutionally to anew set of options in developmentphilosophy and North-South partner-ship or cooperation, the SouthernNGOs face a new challenge. Theirsources of funds have not merely beenreduced, they are not well tuned tothe new opportunities that are beforethem. Moreover, these funds andmany of the development philosophiesand activities they support may beinimical to the very interests of theSouthern countries as defined bythese new options presented by theNorth and supported by Aid. Howthen are the Southern NGOs to oper-ate in the future?

11

The obvious question is can theythen manage without Aid? If they areto pursue such a course can they mo-bilise local resources sufficient fortheir activities? Are they re-idy, politi-cally, ideologically and psychologicallyto place their faith on a developmentmodel that places primacy of empha-sis on social mobilisation, innovation,the people's own knowledge and com-mitment to succeed rather than onmoney. funds and resources fromabroad? Or can they generate an in-come through some of their activitieswhich would be sufficient for theirpurposes?

Are foundations and endowmentsworkable solutions? What role can theprivate sector play? Are the SouthernNGOs ready to negotiate a new rela-tionship with the Aid system on theirown terms through a display of theirunited strength instead of competingwith one another to access a pittancefrom the Aid system which will help

them to survive financially and "re-main in business"? Are they ready tomove away from a mode of Develop-ment that places primary importanceon Aid and adopt instead a. modewhich demands collaboration withthose civil society institutions andmovements in the North that are try-ing to evolve an alternative to thecapitalist world order through a peo-ple-centred bottom up process thatplaces reliance not so much on moneyand material resources but on har-nessing the knowledge and experienceof the people themselves? Whicheversolution is adopted it is clear that wewill see a redefinition of the relation-ship between the Southern NGOs andtheir Northern donors on the onehand and Southern civil society insti-tutions and Northern civil society in-stitutions on the other, in the circum-stances of the Northern crisis and thechanged Aid environment that accom-panies it.

This paper is reproduced from IDR Reports, vol 9 no. 2, 1992 publishedby the Institute for Development Research, Boston, USA..

Jane G. Covey is the Executive Director of the Institute of Develop-ment Research, Boston, USA. Her interests range from public health togender issues in organizations.

JANE G. COVEY

NGOs AND POLICY INFLUENCE

NGO Roles in Policy Influence

For some time now our NGO col-leagues have been saying that it isimportant for the NGO sector to be-come more active and effective in itsefforts to influence government policy.This interest arises from NGO experi-ence during a time when there ismore scrutiny of the state's ability toprovide services efficiently and equita-bly, when democracy is on the up-swing, and when the problems facingthe poor and marginalized seem par-ticularly intractable.

The ways in which NGOs involvethemselves in policy are many. SomeNGOs have played innovator roles,creating new programs or developmentconcepts that have subsequently beenadopted by government agencies. Inthe Philippines, for example, an NGOprogram to train teachers andstudents in new forms of intensiveand sustainable agriculture was so

successful that the governmentadopted it for the school system as awhole. Other NGOs have taken on therole of watchdog, monitoringgovernment formulation andimplementation of policies to safeguardthe interest of grassroots groups. Forexample, a coalition of NGOs andpeople's organizations in Mexico Cityplayed a key role in defining andimplementing policies to cope withearthquake damage in poorneighbourhoods. Still other NGOs haveacted as catalytic bridges in promotingcross-sectoral cooperation onintractable problems. The SavingsDevelopment Movement in Zimbabwe,for example, was created by a smallNGO that linked village savings clubswith government agencies and fertilizercorporations to improve agriculturalpractices affecting thousands of poorfarmers. Taking on these or otherroles may enable NGOs to haveimpacts vastly out of proportion totheir size and resources.'

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As they carry out these roles, NGOscan use a variety of strategies. Theymay collaborate with the state to dis-seminate a successful local innovationor to improve state services. Strategiesaimed at changing public policy andprograms include education (i.e., pro-viding information, analysis and for-mulation of policy alternatives), per-suasion (i.e. using information andanalysis to press for policy alterna-tives), and litigation (i.e. , challengethrough the courts). These roles in-volve the interplay of cooperation andconflict as NGOs engage in the com-plex business of policy reform. On theone hand, they must offer positive andworkable alternatives and be willing tonegotiate and compromise- actionsthat inevitably bring them closer togovernment agencies. On the other,they need to maintain their primaryallegiance to the grassroots groupswhose interests they are representing.A fifth common strategy is contesta-tion through protest in various formsto draw attention to negative impactsof state Policies and to bring pressurefor Change.2

NGOs are engaging in policy issuesusing a variety of roles and otrategiesaround the world. In the Philippines,The Green Forum, a new coalition ofNGOs, church groups and people'sorganizations, is working on severalcampaigns to influence the Depart-ment of Environment's implementationof forest protection policies, to placeenvironmentally sustainable develop-ment on the national agenda, and toparticipate in the 1992 Earth Summit.In Kenya, KENGO, an environmentalNGO network, is beginning a grass-roots energy study that will form thebasis of recommendations for a na-tional biomass energy policy. In Chilethe transition to a more democraticregime has produced a government

invitation for the NGO community toparticipate in thinking through na-tional development plans.

As NGOs take on these policy influ-ence activities, they face many chal-lenges. To be effective public interestadvocates NGOs need greater capacity(1) to analyze existing policies andoffer sound alternatives, (2) to buildalliances with other NGOs and move-ments, (3) to tap the talents and in-terests of resources such as academiaand the media, (4) to gain access andinfluence with politicians and govern-ment officials, and (5) to align theiradvocacy work with expectations andneeds of their grassroots constituents.Few of these capacities are automati-cally developed in the course of thegrassroots activities that are most fa-miliar to most NGOs. Often NGOs willbuild these capacities through learn-ing by doing," but it will help a greatdeal if they can also share experienceswith other NGOs that have alreadylearned rather than repeat mistakes ofthe past.

NGOs also face a complex challengein balancing various strategies. Toomuch emphasis on collaboration canlead to state cooptation of NGOs thaterodes their relations with grassrootsconstituencies. Too much emphasis oncontestation and challenge producegovernment backlash that reduces thepolitical space and opportunities forinfluence. NGCs need to be able toboth challenge and cooperate withgovernment agencies, and to makestrategic choices among various op-tions that are sensitive to national andlocal circumstances.Broader Concerns

We believe that three issues areparticularly important for the expand-ing role of NGOs in policy influence atthis time, (1) the role of civil society

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in development, (2) the identification ofappropriate policy influence strategies,and (3) the roles of external donors inNGO policy influence. These issues areposed because of their direct influenceon the role of NGOs in policy and thebroader processes of building pluralis-tic democratic processes to whichNGOs commonly subscribe.

1. Civil society and development

The recognition of civil society, themarket and the state as interactingdeterminants of development requiresthe simultaneous articulation of devel-opment goals in social, economic andpolitical terms.3 Nan Wolfe has pro-posed that "civil society" is the arenafor social development.

Civil society points toward families,neighbourhoods, voluntary organiza-tions, unions, and spontaneous grass-roots movements.... The crucial char-acteristic of civil society is that it ismanageable, available to ordinary peo-ple, part of everyday life.4

Historically, many NGOs have de-fined their primary role in terms ofsocial development. Even their eco-nomic activities are imbedded in thecontext of community building andempowerment as in the creation ofeconomic cooperatives. Entry into therealm of policy influence, a politicalfur ction, offers other avenues forbuilding civil society.

Analyses of social movement andsocial change suggest that affectingpolicy is only one benefit of participa-tion in the policy process. Socialmovements also provide mechanismsfor participation in civic and politicallife that foster consciousness and en-able expression and pursuit of com-munity interests in many way. By

encouraging associations and organiza-tions that represent diverse interests,social movements can elaborate theinstitutional base of civil society.

But there are also potential draw-backs. As NGOs add policy influenceto their repertoire of development ac-tivities, it is important that they un-derstand how policy influence activitiescan conflict with their goal of promot-ing democratization and empowermentat the grassroots. In the UnitedStates, for example, it has been ar-gued that lower grassroots participa-tion has gone hand-in-hand with in-creasing specialized expertise in policyadvocacy, as grassroots groups havesuccumbed to over-reliance on expertsand specialists.5 Public interest advo-,cacy in the U.S. has apparently failedto strengthen broad citizen participa-tion, and allowed NGOs to rely ongovernmental or elite patronage in lieuof grassroots support.6 If NGOs takeon "professional" policy roles withoutbuilding popular participation in theprocess, they may unintentionally be-come part of a system that ignoresgrassroots input in spite of their ini-tial values and commitments.

The nature of civil society and theways in which NGOs may strengthenor weaken its contributions to eco-nomic, political and social developmentneed more discussion and debatewithin the NGO community. Special-ized analytic, technical and persuasivecompetence is required for NGO influ-ence on policy-making. But how dothese organizations stay in contactwith the grassroots? How do they re-late to the NGO sector as a whole? Towhom are they accountable? The moreNGOs become involved with policyinfluence, the more important theseissues become.

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2. Influence strategies

Cross national and cross-culturaldiscussions of policy influence revealboth impressive similarities andbefuddling differences. Often the largerforces that contribute to poverty,alienation and environmentaldegradation and the dynamics ofstruggles between the powerful andthe powerless are all too similar. Atthe same time, basic assumptionsabout social relations (e.g., how toresolve conflict), the nature ofcitizenship (e.,g, rights and privileges ofthe individual in relation to the state),and appropriate change strategies (e.g,the balance of cooperation andconflict) are often very different.

Relations among governments 'andNGOs vary considerably acrosshistorical and political contexts. Oneconference of NGO leaders from allover the world stvide3ted, for example,that influence strategies had to beadjusted to respond to type of regime:Quite different approaches were calledfor in democratic systems, one-partystates, and military dictatorships.7Simple formulas and frameworks willnot suffice to capture the complexityand fluidity of citizen and NGOparticipation in policy influence. AsMichael Bratton puts it:

"Just as we require a framework thatenables us to account for citizenengagement as well as disengagement,we need to leave room for engagementbetween state and society that may becongruent as well as conflictual...more subtle strategies than directconfrontation are required."8

In states where NGO involvement inpolicy is relatively new, strategies andmodels need to be developed to fit thecultural and political context. Someprinciples and tools that have evolved

in other settings may be useful, butpriority should be given to articulatingand building policy influence strategiesbased on local experience andanalysis. Learning about Bratton's"more subtle strategies" is particularlyimportant in contexts where historiesof antagonism between NGOs andgovernments predispose them toadversarial interactions or wherepolitical contexts are not appropriatefor the types of policy influence heldout as models from industrializeddemocracies.

3. The roles of external donors

External donors potentially playcritical roles in NGO participation inthe policy process, because resourcesto support policy influence may bevery difficult to find. Nationalgovernments are often ambivalentabout encouraging participation in thepolicy process by NGOs and citizengroups: They may recognize theimportance of citizen participation butthey may also be reluctant toencourage NGO challenges togovernment policies and actions.

Most NGOs engage in policyadvocacy on behalf of less powerfulgroups in society-children, women,prisoners, indigenous people, the poor.These groups do not have theeconomic resources to fund NGOaction on their behalf, so other allieswith resources are needed. Indeveloping country contexts, theseallies often come from outside.

The experience of the human rightsmovements in Latin America illustratesthe crucial contribution of outsidesupporters. In an analysis of the hu-man rights movement in Chile, HugoFruhling notes:

ING0s) have almost no alternative toseeking foreign support. The wealthy

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sectors of society are generally sup-portive of authoritarian regimes."9

This observation applies to manysocial, economic and political issuesbeyond human rights. In general thebeneficiaries of the status quo are notinclined to invest resources in changesthat will benefit the grassroots groups.

Yet over-reliance on outside supportcan weaken NGOs' ability to influencepolicy. The state may dismiss exter-nally-supported NGOs as not repre-sentative of local interests or becomeconcerned about foreign interference innational matters. Perhaps more impor-tant, NGOs that rely on external re-sources may not develop the popularsupport that creates local pressure forchange or the national legitimacy thatcan protect them from arbitrary po-litical action.°

In addition to building a strong lo-cal support base, NGOs need to clarifythe long term consequences of currentfunding patterns and policies for civilsociety. Do donor policies supportbroad-based pluralism? Do they en-courage or discourage systemic link-ages between NGOs and other sectors?How do they affect the sustainabilityand grassroots accountability of NGOsthemselves? How does donor behaviorinfluence the state's view and policiestoward NG0s---- especially in the areaof policy influence? What are interna-tional donors doing to assist the evo-lution of local philanthropy? Answersto these kinds of questions can helpNGOs and donors create frameworksfor donor support that foster long-termgrassroots influence on policy as wellimmediate NGO effectiveness.

A Learning Agenda

We believe that exploration of theseissues is important it NGOs are going

to be effective in exerting more policyinfluence. The questions raised arerelevant to others concerned withNGOs, including international donors,development thinkers, government de-cision makers, and other political ac-tors. In our view, several avenues forfurther learning are particularly impor-tant:

I. Policy influence strategies for NGOs

A better understanding is needed ofthe variety of effective means of policyinfluence-- cooperative as well as con-frontational that have been em-ployed by NGOs in different political,social and economic contexts aroundthe world. This knowledge could pro-vide a basis for a) more effective ca-pacity-building for other NGOs, b)more effective cooperation amongNGOs interested in influencing na-tional and international policies, andc) better use of donor resources tosupport participation of NGOs in thepolicy process.

2. NGO contributions to civil society

Understanding how NGOs enablegrassroots participation and buildinstitutional bases for civil society isespecially important as the roles ofstates and markets are changing sorapidly. Under what circumstances doNGOs foster community organization,empowerment., and participation? Howdo NGO federations and coalitions linkthe grassroots to regional and nationalinstitutions? How do NGO advocacyand public policy organizations relateto the populations for whom theywork? Answers to such questionswould be valuable to many differentactors.

3. Donor policies and programs thatbuild civil society

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Donor support for NGOs in someactivities has been growing rapidly,but there is relatively little systematicassessment of the impacts of thoseprograms from the perspective of civilsociety. Are some donor approachesmore successful economically, sociallyand politically than others? Do someapproaches sacrifice one set of goalsfor others? What relationships betweendonors and NGOs, the market, andthe state are needed in rapidly chang-ing political and economic contexts?Answers to these questions might helpdonors and NGOs as well as govern-ments make better choices among al-ternative uses of resources.

A Continuing Dilemma

This paper poses three issues thatNGOs need to consider as they movetoward more active roles in policy for-mulation. These issues point to thedilemma of effectively bridging thegaps between the social elite (policymakers and donors) and the grass-roots as NGOs engage in policy influ-ence.

Maintaining accountability to itsgrassroots constituency while simulta-neously building competencies andcredibility with decision-makers is per-haps the overriding challenge facingNGOs that would influence policy. Bythe very nature of the work, NGOsexperience conflict as they try tobridge this gap. The dilemma and ten-sions associated with it cannot beavoided because they are inherent Inthe nature of democratic society. Butthey can be managed, once recog-nized as a natural dynamic in the lifeof a grassroots-based policy changeeffort.

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END NOTES

For examples of NGOs acting asbridging organizations that havecatalytic impacts, including theMexico City and Zimbabwe cases,see L. David Brown, "Bridging Or-ganizations and Sustainable Devel-opment," Human Relations, Vol.44, No. 8, 1991, pp. 807-831.Cases of collaboration by NGOs,governments, grassroots groups,and international donors to solvecomplex development problems aredescribed in L. D. Brown and R.Tandon, Multiparty Collaborationfor Development in Asia, Boston,MA: IDR/PRIA/Synergos WorkingPaper, 1991.

2. Similar strategies have been identi-fied in the context of NGO efforts toinfluence policies in industrializedcountries. See for example, L. W.Huberts, "The Influence of SocialMovements on Government Policy",in B. Klandermans (ed.) Interna-tional Social Movement Research,Vol. 2, Greenwich, CT: JAI Press,1989 p. 419.

3. Alan Wolfe, "Three Paths to Devel-opment: Market; State and CivilSociety." Presented at the first In-ternational Meeting of NGOs andSystem Agencies, "Development, In-ternational Cooperation and theNG0s," March 6-9, 1991, Rio deJaneiro, Brazil. pp 29-30.

4. ibid. p. 3.

5. Daniel Yankelovich. Coming toPublic Judgment. Syracuse, NY:Syracuse University Press, 1991;pp. 1-11.

6. J. Craig Jenkins. "Nonprofit Organi-zations and Policy Advocacy," inWalter W. Powell, Ed., TheNonprofit Sector: A Research

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Handbook: New Haven: Yale Uni-versity Press, 1987 pp. 311-312.

7. For a report of this conference, seeRajesh Tandon, NGO-GovernmentRelations: Breath of Life or Kissof Death? New Delhi: Society forParticipatory Research in Asia,1989.

8. Michael Bratton, "Beyond the State:Civil Society and Associational Lifein Africa," World Politics, 41:3,1989, pp. 419.

9. Hugo Fruhling. "Nonprofit Organiza-tions as Opposition to AuthoritarianRule: The Case of Human RightsOrganizations in Chile," in EstelleJames, Ed., The Nonprofit Sectorin International Perspective, NY:Oxford University Press, 1989, pp.358-376. see p. 372

10. Michael Bratton, "Non-govern-mental Organizations in Africa: Canthey Influpnce Public Policy?" Devel-opment and Change, Vol. 1(1990),87-18.

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This paper forms the preamble to a longer project proposal presented to theTraining Programme on Development Management conducted by PRIA, NewDelhi, for South Asian NG0s.

Author Dr. T. D. Daniel, a medical practitioner by profession, is a SectorSpecialist with Actionaid, Bangalore, India.

T. D. DANIEL

ADVOCACY FOR INFLUENCING POLICY

Gandhi said "Recall the face of thepoorest and the most helpless manwhom you may have seen and askyourself if the step you contemplate isgoing to be of any use to him." Thesewords are very true in the case ofVDOs who are invo.ved in micro ac-tion for the development of the targetcommunity or involved in translatingthe experiences of the micro action toinfluence policy changes both at themicro and at macro levels.

What is . advocacy?

Advocacy has been defined as "Ac-tions designed to persuade and influ-ence those 'who hold governmental,political and economic power to formu-late and implement public policy in amanner that benefits, strengthens andimproves the lives of those with leastpower and resources. Advocacy shouldchange societies, institutions andnower relationships."

Advocacy in India has muchhistorical roots and is not somethingnew, but in more recent years theexamples of effective impact of thework of voluntary organizations hadbeen used for framing importantpolicies in our country. For examplethe 1977 health care policy of theGovernment of India was largelyfashioned after the work of manyvoluntary organizations in the field ofhealth care. The emphasis onpreventive and promotive health carethat was brought into the policy hadits base in the work of a large numberof voluntary organizations. So as aconsequence of voluntary action, manya times indirectly there have beensignificant policy formulations.

The definition of advocacy shouldbe "broader than lobbying and shouldbe defined as a process as opposed toan event. So the question of advocacyis largely in the context of formulation,

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influencing, altering, modifying, imple-menting, discarding, resisting, encour-aging and whatever to do with publicpolicy" (Rajesh Tandon). There may bedifferent ways of influencing publicpolicy; it may include involvement ofpeople themselves in influencingpolicy, use of media, academic re-search etc., but without focus on pub-lic policy the meaning of the wordadvocacy will get diluted.

Many think that influencing publicpolicy is not the work of the NO0s.Actually it is on the basis of the cu-mulative experiences of working at thegrass roots that we can come up withinteresting, insightful, relevant, appro-priate suggestions for the content ofthe public policy itself. It is the workat the grass roots that became thebasis of generating ideas which mayprovide the substance of a particularpublic policy. It is not true that influ-encing public policy can only happenif we have worked at the grass roots.There are many examples of influenc-ing public policy very much in favourof the poor even in our country bythose who had never worked at thegrass root. Therefore the challenge is"how to link the grass root experiencewith the task of influencing, framing,formulating and interpreting appropri-ate pro poor public policy in ourcountry" (Rajesh Tandon). For examplein the 1960s, those who were engagedin primary health care were not doingit for influencing public policy butthey thought that they were importantfor them. But when circumstancesmaterialized in a manner and their ex-periences were known, it became animportant basis for new policies onhealth care. In recent years much ofthe NGO response has been largely inrejecting or reacting the public policyformulations, it has been successful attimes in stopping implementation of

the policy because it seemed antipoor. But in influencing public policy,we have to take the task of formulat-ing or providing positive contents towhat the policy should look.

Another impoi tant aspect could bethe importance of recognizing the na-tional and global dimension in publicpolicy formulation. During the postworld war 2 the concept of develop-ment, aid, development planning etc.are inherited from North. A lot of thegovernment policies were influenced byglobal forces and agendas. In late1970s many world conferences influ-enced our own public policies. A goodexample is the Alma-Ata conference ofprimary health care. All this empha-sizes the need to take a global viewin public policy and influencing evenif we operate at a micro level policymatters.

Scaling up the development impactof NGOs

The impact of NGOs on the lives ofpoor people is highly localized andoften transitory. In contrast to NGOprograms which tend to be good butlimited in scope, governmental devel-opmental efforts are often large inscale but limited in their impact. Oneof the most important factors' under-lying the situation is the failure of theNGOs to make the right linkages be-tween their work at micro level andthe wider systems and structures ofwhich they form a small part. Someof the successful experiments cannotbe replicated because the governmentstructures lack the ability or willing-ness to adopt new ideas. Hence effec-tive NGO projects remain "islands ofsuccess" in an all too hostile ocean.In other words small scale NGOprojects by themselves will never beenough to secure lasting improvements

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in the lives of poor people. Hence itis not the question of quality of goodwork of an NGO but how does theNGO maximize the impact. Simplehuman concei for other people asindividuals and in very practical waysis one of the hall marks of NGO work.There is a danger that these qualitieswill go .out of fashion because ofmounting concerns for strategy andimpact.

Role of NGOs in policy influence

The interest in policy influencearises from the NGO experience dur-ing a time when there is a more scru-tiny of the State's ability to provideservices efficiently and equitably whendemocracy is in the upswing, andwhen the problems facing the poorand marginalized seem particularlyintractable.

Some NGOs have played innovativeroles creating new programs or devel-opment concepts that have been sub-sequently adopted by governmentagencies.

Other NGOs have taken on the roleof Watchdog, monitoring governmentformulation and implementation ofpolicies to safeguard the interest ofthe grassroots groups.

Other NGOs have acted as catalyticbridges in promoting cross sectoralcooperation on intractable problems.

Broad strategies adopted by NGOsin policy influence.

Collaboration: NGOs collaboratewith the state to disseminate a suc-cessful local innovation or to improvestate services.

Education: NGOs provide informa-tion, analysis and formulation of policyalternatives.

Persuasion: NGOs use informationand analysis to press for policy alter-natives.

Litigation: NGOs take up the issuesand challenge through courts.

NGOs engaging in policy issuesusing a variety of roles and strategiesaround the world.

Challenges for NGOs in policy influ-ence

As NGOs take on policy influencethey face many challenges. Hence theNGOs need greater capacity to :

analyze existing policies and offersound alternatives,build alliances with other NGOsand movements,

tap the talents and interests of re-sources such as academia and themedia,

gain acceSs and influence with poli-ticians and government officials,align their advocacy work with ex-pectations and needs of the grassroot constituents.

Few of the capacities are automati-cally developed in the course of thegrassroots activities that are most fa-miliar to most of the NGOs. OftenNGOs will build these capacitiesthrough "learning by doing" but willhelp a great deal if they also canshare their experiences with otherNGOs that have already learned ratherthan repeat mistakes of the past.

NGOs also face a complex challengein balancing various strategies. Toomuch emphasis on collaboration canlead to state co-optation of NGOs thaterodes their relations with grassrootsconstituencies. Too much emphasis oncontestation and challenge produce

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government backlash and reduces thepolitical space and opportunities forinfluence. NGOs need to be able toboth challenge and cooperate withgovernment agencies and to makestrategic choices among various op-tions that are sensitive to national andlocal circumstances.

NGOs usual activities, skills andlimitations

NGOs usually deliver services likeprimary health care programs, educa-tion programs, income generation andon-farm activities, training etc. Theyalso enhance the skill and the capac-ity of the grassroots organizations andempower people. They also organisecommunities for lobbying governmentresources or to take up a specific is-sue in the community. All these aredone through "projects" at the microvillage level.

In order to achieve the above men-tioned activities they develop the skillsin mobilizing local and external re-sources, skills in working out the lo-gistics in organizing people and capac-ity in conscientization. But the limita-tions of the NGO's functioning are thatthey could only produce limited impactin a limited defined geographical area.They also make a limited impact so-cially. They also have limited impactin sustainability of change. They areare also very vulnerable to existingpower structures like the existing gov-ernment system which might block theactivities of the NGOs or they mightundermine the efforts of the NGO andalso might coopt with the NGOs work.

Broad concerns of NGOs in advo-cacy

The recognition of Civil Society, theMarket and the State as interacting

determinants of development requiresthe simultaneous articulation of devel-opment goals in social, economic andpolitical terms. Analysis of socialmoiiement and social change suggestthat affecting policy is only one ben-efit of participation in the policy proc-ess. By encouraging organizations andassociations that represent diverseinterests, social movements can elabo-rate the institutional base of the CivilSociety. As NGOs take on policy is-sues, it is important that they alsounderstand how policy-influence activi-ties can conflict with their goal ofpromoting democratization and em-powerment at the grassroots. If NGOstake on professional policy roles with-out building popular participation inthe process, they may unintentionallybecome part of a system that ignoresgrass roots input in spite of their ini-tial values and commitments.

It is seen that often the largerforces that contribute to poverty alle-viation and environmental degradationand the dynamics of struggle betweenthe powerful and the powerless are toosimilar. Priority should be given toarticulating and building policy influ-ence strategies bafied on local experi-ence and analysis. External donorspotentially play critical roles in NGOparticipation in the policy process,because resources to support policyinfluence may be very difficult to find.NGOs have almost no alternative toseeking foreign support. The wealthysectors of society are generally sup-portive of authoritative regimes. Yetover reliance of outside support canweaken NGOs ability to influencepolicy. The State may dismiss exter-nally supported NGOs as not repre-sentative of local interests. MoreoverNGOs reliance on external resourcesmay not develop the popular supportthat creates local pressure for clzange.

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Another important question wouldbe how does donor behavior influencethe State's view and policies towardsNGOs, especially in the area of policyinfluence.

NGOs playing advocacy role shouldnot loose sight of the grassroots,namely the community and the peo-ple for whom it is working for, andshould not loose its identity. The or-ganization should not get dominatedby advocates rather than field work-ers and be dominated by campaignsand seminars etc. at the expense ofthe ongoing work. Usually the NGOsdo not have strategies in dealing withthe backlash.

Who makes policies

In order that the NGOs take upadvocacy to influence public policy, wehave to look upstream as to find outwho makes the policies. Policies aremade nationally and internationally.

Nationally, the politicians, civil serv-ants, businessmen, Aid donors, reli-gious bodies and through lobbies bycertain interest groups and issuebased groups contribute to the policy.

Internationally, policies are made bybilateral and multilateral aid organiza-tions, Development Banks, trade inter-ests and capital markets.

How are policies made

When policy decisions are made,they are usually made to someonesbenefit. Policies are made by existingpower holders who want to remain inpower. Many times policies are madeby powerful cultural groups and pow-erful economic groups.

Hence the policies formulated in-variably do not produce intended re-sults due to bad designing and byinstitutional incompetence. Policychanges take place as corrections ofprevious policies which may give op-portunities for leverage.

Why NGOs have comparative advan-tages for advocacy work

NGOs have potential in gaining ac-cess to accurate information aboutaffects of policies on the poor. Henceit can boldly challenge the assumedeffects of the policy. Moreover NGOsare legitimate bodies who can speakon behalf of the poor and it is in avantage position to organise coalitionsand partnerships.

This paper attempts to and reflect on a survey of the Australian Com-monwealth Government programs which include some element of public(or 'community') education.

Dr. Alstair D. Crombie, a faculty member of the Centre for ContinuingEducation of the Australian National University, is currently working asthe Executive Director of the Australian Association of Adult and Continu-ing Education.

ALSTAIR D. CROMBIE

PUBLIC EDUCATION AND THE COMMONWEALTHGOVERNMENT

'Public education' refers to educativeactivities designed to promote aware-ness, understanding, or skills of citi-zens in relation to important issues onthe public policy agenda. Some well-known examples of such issues todayare Aboeginal reconciliation, blue-green algae, the Australian constitu-tion and our future governance, vio-lence against women, superannuationand other aspects of financing retire-ment, road safety, and euthanasia.

The purpose of this essay is to in-terpret and reflect on the accompany-ing survey of current CommonwealthGovernment programs which includesome element of public (or 'commu-nity') education. The survey includedexpenditures on labour market pro-grams and English language and lit-eracy, which are also of interest toadult educators, but which should bedistinguished from public education inthe above sense. This modest, inves-tigative research study was motivated

by the inter-related conjectures thatpublic education is becoming an in-creasingly significant activity of govern-ment, and that relatively little isknown about its scope and character.It is also motivated by a belief thatsystematic attention of this sort maylead towards improvement in the qual-ity and the outcomes of public educa-tion activities.

One question it raises is the feasi-bility and desirability, of an annual'Public Education Budget' report aregular review of the Commonwealth'spublic education activities, includingperhaps some critical analysis of proc-esses and performance.

The 1994 Budget Survey

Twelve portfolios are included. Ascan be seen, the information includedwas obtained from a variety ofsources. It was not in general possi-ble with the resources available to

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parate the actual costs of public,2ducation activities from the total run-ning costs of the responsible agency.Expenditure figures are therefore in-dicative only. In general one coulddescribe this survey as a pilot. It hasrevealed a good deal about publiceducation activities of govecrunent and,just as importantly, about how onecan gather such information.

This is in fact the second such ef-fort. The first such investigation in1988 - was also taken under the di-rection of Richard Johnson, with theassistance of Jacqueline Wilkinson,DEET. Some findings of this initialsurvey were reported at conferences,including the annual conference of theAustralian Association of Adult Educa-tion (November 1988). The findingswere of considerable interest to thisAssociation, and to the author in par-ticular. By collating and making ex-plicit the scope of Commonwealth in-volvement and expenditure on publiceducation, it suggested the need for a'perceptual reversal'.

Adult educators have long thoughtof themselves and their field as mar-ginal, unrecognised, unappreciated,and under-funded. Such judgementsare of course not without basis. Theyhave been under-pinned however, bythe presumption that governmentfunding 'for adult education will belabelled 'adult education', and be dis-bursed through the education depart-ment to adult education providers.However, if one can 'see' thatLandcare, for example which isfunded through the Department ofPrimary Industries and Energy - is, toa very significant degree an educa-tional program, and that this is onlyone of a large number of such pro-grams, then one is led towards anappreciation that adult education ofone kind or another accounts for a

massive volume of funding, and per-vades the public policy agenda. Theperceptual challenge is dual; we adulteducators have not seen Landcare(and other such programs) as adulteducation, and neither, by and large,have those working on Landcare.

This somewhat blinkered vision of.the adult education movement haseven extended to labour market pro-grams and English language and lit-eracy provision. The former area ofcourse accounts for by far the largestamount of expenditure on adult edu-cation. Working Nation commits thegovernment to an additional $6.5 bil-lion over the next four years; themajority of this will support trainingfor unemployed adults, and be admin-istered by the Department of Employ-ment Education and Training. TheAdult Migrant Education Program isanother large expenditure area, dis-bursed in this case through the Im-migration and Ethnic Affairs portfolio.

It is nOw becoming clearer andmore widely appreciated that programsof public education are a very com-mon response of government. Thereare grounds for believing that suchactivity is expanding. While it is im-portant, I believe, that adult educatorsdeepen their understanding of the in-creasing role and scope of public edu-cation, this is also true for those whoconceive, design and manage suchprograms. Despite the enormous totalvolume of such activity, and quiteextensive overlaps in aims and meth-odologies, there is little evidence ofcoordination or collaborative efforts.Anecdotal evidence from adult educa-tion providers at the community levelpoints more consistently in the oppo-site direction.

Another question which this surveyraises therefore is the feasibility and

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desirability of introducing some type ofcross-government processes or activityto facilitate the exchange of experiencewith public education activity, andperhaps, the pursuit of 'best practice'standards for such activity, includingevaluations.

The Scope of Governmental PublicEducation

The accompanying survey collatesinformation from twelve departmentsthose which could reasonably be ex-pected to be responsible for the bulkof governmental public education ex-penditures. Those not included areDefence, Finance, Housing and Re-gional Development, Foreign Affairsand Trade, Finance, Social Security,Tourism, and Veterans Affairs. A moredetailed look at these portfolio areaswould undoubtedly identify some ad-ditional elements of public education.Veterans Affairs, for example, conductshealth promotion activities for its con-stituency of some 680,000 veterans,and has produced a veterans 'Qualityof Life Program' for this purpose. TheTreasurer has announced that $7million has been allocated to publiceducation on superannuation, to beadministered through his portfolio bythe Australian Tax Office and theInsurance and Superannuation Com-mission. This is to say that the dataassembled here will understate thetotal picture.

The data that we can comment onreveal an impressive scope and diver-sity. Because of the way in which thebudget figures are now produced, it isnot possible to cost the various pro-grams with any accuracy. In anumber of cases this would involveestimating the proportion of expendi-tures of an agency such as the Of-fice of Multicultural Affairs, or the

Australian Electoral Commission - thatcould be attributed to public educationactivity. In other cases public educa-tion programs are assigned a globalbudget allocation for expenditure overa period of several years, and onewould have to go to individual agen-cies to seek information of what wasexpended in a particular year. In somecases one needs to distinguish care-fully between public education activityand public relations activity; Govern-ments also spend a good deal on pro-moting and marketing their chosenpolicies and programs. Bearing inmind these complexities, it seemsprobable that Commonwealth expendi-ture on public education is in therange $100 - $200 million.

Within this total there are somelarge clusters, and a large number ofrather small programs. Some of thelargest clusters are found in relationto familiar 'access and equity' targetgroups - Aborigines and. Torres StraitIslanders, women, people of non-Eng-lish speaking background, people withdisabilities, and the unemployed.Much of the public education effort isdirected at overcoming various formsof prejudice, intolerance, and stere-otyping, which constrain or limit thelife opportunities of those affected.

The Minister for Human Servicesand Health has recently announcedthat there will be a public educationprogram in relation to people withmental illnesses, for example, whichwill aim to reduce community igno-rance and anxiety about such people.The Office of Multicultural Affairs isresponsible for a number of programsaimed at increasing community aware-ness and understanding of our cul-tural diversity. ATSIC and the Aborigi-nal Reconciliation Branch of the PrimeMinisters Department fund programs

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aimed at increasing knowledge andunderstanding of Aboriginal Austral-ians.

There are substantial programs di-rected at issues which particularlyaffect women, and wider issues ofgender awareness and relations. Sev-eral of these are administered throughthe Office for the Status of Women -programs on violence against women,NESB women's health, judicial educa-tion, and Working Families - Sharingthe Load'. Others are administeredthrough the Health portfolio, and in-clude programs on breast and cervi-cal cancers, family planning, andwomen's health.

Not surprising, rural Australia isanother focus for public educationactivity, a good deal of it under therubric of the Rural Adjustment andServices program; Rural Counselling,Country link, the Rural Access Programeach have a public education dimen-sion. Some of these programs clearlyrelate to the contemporary pressureson agriculture and rural communities,economic and meteorological.

In some ways the two largest 'clas-sic' areas of public education activityare health and the environment. Apartfrom the very significant resourcesallocated to addressing communityawareness and understanding of par-ticular diseases or health conditions-Aids, breast cancer, drug abuse, andso on, there has been a gradual shiftin favour of preventive health meas-ures under such program names ashealth promotion or health advance-ment. A prime motive for governmentin this area is containment, andhopefully reduction, of future costs ofhealth care as a result of a betterinformed public, more willing to takeresponsibility for managing and seek-ing to improve their own health andfitness. This is especially true perhaps

in the area of occupational health andsafety, where the costs fall on indus-try, as well as individuals and thepublic health system. The NationalOccupational Health and Safety Com-mission spends a good deal of itsbudget on various types of educationand training.

Public education on environmentalissues also has both remedial andpreventive aspects. As with health,there is a growing realisation thatwithout widespread public awareness,involvement, and finally changed be-haviours, little progress can be made.The Landcare program, fundedthrough Primary Industry and Energy,is an Australian success story in pub-lic education, and has spawned asmall family of parallel programs, suchas Dunecare. The Commonwealth En-vironmental Protection Agency hasundertaken explicit public educationactivities in relation to cleaner produc-tion, water quality, and lead in petrolwhile the Department of the Environ-ment is responsible for public educa-tion activities flowing from the RioEarth Summit, such as LocalAgenda 21.

The work of the Murray DarlingBasin Commission exemplifies the pri-ority of public education where solu-tions have to be found to serious longterm environmental degradation prob-lems. Each of the fourteen TechnicalAdvisory groups contributing to theCommission's Algae ManagementStrategy included public education asa priority for action. The Commissionhas recently partnered with the Aus-tralian Association of Adult and Com-munity Education in a three year'study circle' program aimed at in-creasing awareness and understandingof water quality issues and the actionsthat individual and communities cantake.

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There is a further clustering ofpublic education activities in the areaof social justice, where the HumanRights an Equal Opportunity Commis-sion is a lead agency. It has respon-sibilities in the areas of race, sex, anddisability discrimination, and privacy,and one of its objectives is 'to reducediscrimination by increasing the un-derstanding, acceptance, and observ-ance of human rights and equal op-portunity in all sectors of Australiansociety' Other public education activi-ties in the areas of gender awareness,multiculturalism, and aboriginal recon-ciliation, and electoral education mightalso be grouped under the social jus-tice heading.

Public education is a prominentpart of the work of the AustralianElectoral Commission, which hasamongst its goals 'to achieve increasedpublic understanding of and participa-tion it) the electoral proCess'.

The Attorney General's portfolio,which includes a number of independ-ent statutory agencies, carries outpublic education in a range of areas.It includes the work of the Insolvencyand Trustees Service (information andeducation on personal insolvency), theBureau of Consumer Affairs (increas-ing consumer's and supplier's aware-ness of their rights, responsibilitiesand obligations), the Human Rightsand Equal Opportunity Commission(reducing discrimination by increasingthe understating, acceptance and ob-servance of human rights an equalopportunity in all sectors of Austral-ian society), the Law Reform Commis-sion, and the Family Law Council. TheOffice of Legal Aid and Family Serv-ices funded programs of marriagecounselling, marriage education, fam-ily education, adolescent mediationand family therapy, and family skillstraining to a total of some $19 million

in 1992-93. Public education activityin this domain reflects the fact thatthe law is often best regarded as alast resort, and works best when thoseaffected have some understanding ofthe legal process.

Public Education - Questions andIssues

1 What does the volume and range ofgovernment expenditure on publiceducation tell us about modern gov-ernment? Although we do not havethe data to confirm it, there is awidely shared perception that gov-ernment's role in public educationis expanding. Is this a corollary ofthe drive for 'smaller government'a recognition that as government'swithdraw 'back to basics', they leavebehind a new need for publicknowledge and understanding? Therecent commitment by the Ministerfor Human Services and Health toan $8 million 'community aware-ness campaign' in relation to men-tal illness could be an example - aflow-on from de-institutionalisation.Governments have also been with-drawing from provision of ,agricul-tural extension services, or convert-ing such services to a fee-for-serv-ice basis. Is an increase in publiceducation programs directed at ru-ral communities one of the conse-quences?

Alternatively, an increase in fundingfor public education may be a reflec-tion of the Lngovernability' of ad-vanced techn 'logical societies; thereare those who argue that with manyaspects of the current global'problematique' we have passed thelimits of government, and that only amobilised civil society can resolve thecomplex messes we noiv confront insuch areas as environmental degrada-tion, violence, health and lifestyle.

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Any serious analysis of questionssuch as these would have to beginwith more research, and in particularthe collection of relevant data over alonger period of time, in order to es-tablish whether or not a significanttrend exists.

2. There is a second, more cynicalinterpretation of the `public educa-tion' phenomenon. It is argued fromtime to time that such 'campaign'are a knee-jerk political response topolicy 'hot spots'; a way of beingperceived as 'doing something',while effectively buying time whilemedia interest and political senSitiv-ity abates. During 1993 for exam-ple, violence against women - argu-ably a deep seated, culturally in-grained dimension of Australiansociety - became an 'issue in goodcurrency', and one of the responseswas to fund community awarenessand education processes. A recentpublic commentator on the govern-ment's commitment to change atti-tudes towards mental illness warnsthat "four year band aid educationprograms were inadequate as thecommunity's ignorance stemmedfrom deeply ingrained, almost sac-rosanct ideas of mental illness".(Ref. The Australian.' Nov. 5-6)

Relatively small amounts of moneydistributed amongst the lead agenciesin the relevant community of concern,for community awareness or publiceducation activities, may effectively co-opt them to the side of a caring andresponsive government.

This raises further questions aboutthe way in which issues get onto thepublic policy agenda in the first place,and the role that governments and themedia play in creating and managingthis agenda. In the realm of the envi-ronment for example, we seem forever

prone to react to the immediatelypressing problem, and find it muchmore difflcult to conceive the kind oftime scale and scope of educative ef-fort appropriate to significant reversalof undesirable trends.

3. This issue of motive - short termpolitical buffering, or damage con-trol, versus long term commitmentto change through education - islikely to be reflected in methodolo-gies chosen, and in the kinds ofagencies that are contracted tocarry out the work. Short termopinion management is best put inthe hands of advertising and mar-keting experts, advised by the ap-propriate political 'spin doctors'.Methodologies will most likely cen-tre on use of the mass media, par-ticularly television. Strategic com-mitment to social or behaviouralchange through education on theother hand will tend to draw oneducational and community devel-opment concepts and theorieswhich address the challenge ofmoving from awareness, to informa-tion and action:

It is a reasonable interpretation thatthe government's 'public education'activity has been dominated by thementality and methodologies of mar-keting, rather than education, andthat advertising agencies, rather thaneducationalists, have designed thestrategies. This reflects in part, nodoubt, the reality of the political timecycle, which constantly constrainsgovernments towards what in educa-tional terms are short time horizonsfor reporting achievements. An educa-tor's opinion of the appropriate scopeand time frame required for efforts tosignificantly increase public knowledgeand understanding of the case foraboriginal reconciliation, or a new sys-tem of governance, may be politically

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less appealing than the estimates ofan advertiser.

How much pf the current publiceducation effort is short term, reactive,and educationally superficial? If this isa problem, what could be done toimprove the probability that futuregovernment expenditure on publiceducation was educationally sound,and not just politically effective?

4. A further closely related issue con-cerns the distinction between pub-lic relations work and educationbetween the communication and'selling' of government decisions,policies, strategies, and the cultiva-tion of an informed but criticalcitizenry, better equipped to makedecisions about the complex issuesthat confront them. Sceptics wouldargue that government initiatedpublic education is almost bound tobe in some measure self-serving, topromote the government's percep-tion of an issue, and its preferencesfor responding to it.

This kind of judgement has to datevexed the commonwealth's stated wishto enhance the political literacy of thepopulation, to enable a truly informedand rational debate to occur of thevital issue of our future governance.An academic-led 'Civics Expert Group'is currently preparing a strategic planfor this purpose, which will have toinclude some recommendations on theway in which such education can bekept at anas length from government.

Given that all education about thesocial world is in a basic sense valueladen, it need not be a concern thatgovernments have decided that forexample, a reduction in smoking willbe good for community health, or con-sumption of less fat and salt will di-minish the prevalence of heart disease.

Given such judgements, there are stillimportant choices of process for bring-ing about the desired changes in atti-tude, belief and behaviour. The edu-cational paths would tend to rely moreon 'cognitively open' approaches,which provide relevant information topeople in settings that conduce tocritical reflection and informed deci-sion.

What are the appropriate- limits ongovernmental strategies for 'selling' itspolicy and program solutions, and howcould such activity be demarcatedfrom authentic public education activ-ity, in which success would not nec-essarily be measured in terms of thenumbers agreeing with the govern-ment's view?

5. An important practical issue is thefeasibility, and the desirability, ofseeking to enhance 'whole ofgovernment' awareness orcoordination of the total publiceducation effort.

Given for example, the preoccupa-tion in the priority domain of skillsformation with bench-making and in-ternational best practice, one couldmake a case for similar attention toquality and quality improvement in thearea of public education. One mightthen begin a search for world bestpractice standards in Scandinavia,where democracy has long been self-consciously underpinned by a strongcommitment to adult education onpublic affairs. Olaf Palme once fa-mously remarked to the effect that'Sweden is largely a study circle de-mocracy.'

In addition to improvement of prac-tice, and perhaps a prior considera-tion, is the question of whether any-one needs to know what the size ofgovernment public education activity

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is, what are its trends, major types,and so forth? There are probablymany activities of this sort, which findexpression across a range of govern-ment agencies, but which are judgednot to merit the administrative effortof central attention, let alone coordi-nation. The trend in public adminis-tration has been in the direction ofreducing rather than elaborating suchformal coordinative functions andprocesses.

The Office of Government InfOrma-tion and Advertising (OGIA) plays thisrole in relation to publie informationprocesses. The Office 'provides consul-tancy assistance to government de-partments and agencies on advertisingand other methods of public commu-nication. This includes market re-search, public relations, strategic plan-ning, marketing and advising on thecontent and appropriateness of printedmaterial for public use'. It is the'whole-of-government' equivalent of thedepartmental public information/pub-lic relations units maintained by eachdepartment to publicise its programs.There is at present no such attentionto public education processes'.

Two obvious reasons for introducingsome measure of central coordinationhere might be to nurture improvedpractice through exchange and criticalreflection on past experience-to profitfrom past experience and to seeksynergies productive ways in whichplanned public education activities cansupport or feed on one another. Cen-tral coordination of some sort wouldalso assist the development of system-atic collaboration with academics andother professionals with expertise andinvolvement in public education.

6. Finally, there is an issue of particu-lar interest to the Australian Asso-ciation of Adult and Community

Education. Adult and CommunityEducation (ACE) is increasingly rec-ognised and supported by govern-ments as the 'fourth sector' design,delivery and evaluation of learningopportunities for adults. Many ofthem are already substantially in-volved in public education activity,on their own initiative. Collectivelythis ACE sector has a capacity topartner with government in activepublic education programs on suchissues as superannuation, mentalillness, waste management, and soon. The AAACE, which is the gov-ernment supported national peakbody for adult and community edu-cation, has already taken a lead inthe development and disseminationof adult discussion group, or 'studycircle' material on landcare (Depart-ment of Primary Industries andEnergy), aboriginal reconciliation(Aboriginal Reconciliation Council),and. blue green algae (Murray Dar-ling Basin Commission).

This fourth sector of education is anation-wide distribution system man-aged by people with skills and expe-rience in adult learning processes, whowork closely with their local commu-nities and are committed to the ide-als and values of 'active citizenship'.Governments at all three levels arr.increasingly recognising and support-ing ACE providers, especially in rela-tion to their capacity to deliver certaintypes of vocational training for adults.They also have a significantly undevel-oped potential for contributing to pub-lic education.

Possible Future Actions

This essay is intended to stimulatesome critical reflection on the phe-nomenon of government sponsoredpublic education: Why are govern-ments involved in such activity? How

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do they go about it? What are thetopics or subjects of such activity? Isit an expanding realm of governmen-tal activity? Is it adequately evaluated?Is there an appropriate concern forquality and performance improvement?Whilst there are 'practitioners, anumber of consultants, scholars,policy analysts, and so forth interestedin such questions, I am not aware ofany systematic or substantial work inthis area. I would like to suggest threepossible paths for future activity:

1 That the 1994 budget survey berepeated in 1995, using the lessonsfrom the 1994 experience. This mayenable a much more precise esti-mate to be made of the scope of

public education activity, and pro-vide a more substantial body ofdata for addressing some of theabove questions.

2. That there be a research projectfocussing on the theoretical, concep-tual and methodological frameworksin use in public education activities,directed at elucidating the condi-tions for effectiveness in meetingthe stated aims of such programs.

3. That there be an invitational 'roundtable' meeting in 1995 of practition-ers, politicians, scholars and educa-tors to explore public education asa distinctive area of educationalpractice, and develop recommenda-tions for practice improvement.

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This report presents some of the reflections of the author resulting fromher participation at the recent World Summit on Social Development, Co-penhagen, Denmark.

Ms Maria Lourdes Almazan-Khan is the ASPBAE Program Coordinatorfor South East Asia, and is based in New Delhi.

MARIA LOURDES ALMAZAN-KHAN

WORLD SUMMIT ON SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT :A POSTSCRIPT

The United Nations World Summiton Social Development, held on March6-12, 1994 in Copenahagen markedthe culmination of wide-ranging inter-national deliberations on the festeringglobal problems of poverty, unemploy-ment and social (dis) integration, ini-tiated by a UN General AssemblyResolution on December 1992. It wasthe largest gathering of heads of state(116 attended) with a sizable partici-pation of NGOs (over a thousand reg-istered) and government officials. TheSummit was a timely attempt to drawworld attention to the issues ofmarginalisation, inequity, displace-ment, violence, ethnic and civil strifein a period when the ethos of growthand the promotion of open, free-mar-ket forces in global economic organi-sation had attained renewed predomi-nance.

The Summit had a special signifi-cance to ASPBAE and groups involvedin education given the crucial role

education plays in poverty reductionand elimination, employment genera-tion and social integration. There isample evidence indicating that themajority poor have been consistentlydenied access to basic social servicesincluding education. Investments di-rected at these groups have remainedlow and very inadequate. The WorldBank estimates that in low-incomecountries, more than 40% of thosewho enter primary school fail to fin-ish (World Development Report 1990).In spite of this, government allocationsto education even in these areas haveusually been disproportionately skex:vedtowards investments in higher educa-tion - thus favouring the elites inthese societies. Education as in SouthAsia, is very much urban and male-biased. Even when available, the qual-ity of education accessible to the pooris dismal. Often irrelevant, anddisempowering, this education has hadvery limited impact in reducing thevulnerabilities of the marginalised and

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the excluded. Ensuring that educationfor the poor was on the agenda of theWorld Summit and its preparatoryactivities motivated ASPBAE's activeintervention in this event.

To many NGOs who participated inthe Social Summit, involvement waspromised on: 1) the possibility to in-fluence policy-makers (even in a lim-ited way) towards effecting incremen-tal reforms in future policies and pro-grammes; 2) maximising the opportu-nity presented by these internationalevents to highlight alternative develop-ment thinking in the mainstream ofnational and international debate; (3)the potential of this event in forgingstrategic alliances and linkages be-tween and among various institutionsof civil society involved in social devel-opment.

Through its membership in the Peo-ple's Alliance on Social Development(PASD), ASPBAE assisted in facilitat-ing dialogues, workshops, consulta-tions within the region to provide op-portunities for various NGOs, people'sorganisations (trade unions, peasantassociations, women's groups etc),consumer groups, members of the me-dia and other institutions of civil so-ciety, to articulate their analysis andpositions on the core themes of theSummit and put forward a set of al-ternative frameworks and policies re-flective of their different contexts, as-pirations and visions of development.ASPBAE and the other members ofthe People's Alliance disseminated in-formation on the Summit and NGOactivities related to its peparatory workat national, regional and internationallevels. The People's Alliance partici-pated in all the regional and interna-tional Prep Comm meetings of theSummit and was very active in lobby-ing work specially through the Groupof 77 countries. It coordinated its ef-

forts with the other NGO networksinvolved in lobbying and advocacyduring the Social Summit like theWomen's Caucus, the DevelopmentCaucus, the International Council forVolunteer Associations (ICVA) and theInternational Council for Social Work(ICSW). In relating with these net-works, the Alliance provided a distinctcontribution by forwarding positionsand platforms defined through regionalconsultations and dialogues in thelargest regions of the South (Asia-Pa-cific, Africa and Latin America), thusproviding a strong voice from South-ern NGOs in the deliberations. ThePeople's Alliance was signatory to theCopenhagen Alternative Declaration,the common statement drafted duringthe Social Summit by over 600 NGOsincluding the major NGO networks ac-tive in advocacy during the entire pre-paratory processes.

During the NGO Forum in Copen-hagen, the People's Alliance conveneddaily workshops to discuss the mainareas of debate and discussion in theformal sessions, notably debt, struc-tural adjustments, women and socialdevelopments and employment. Itsponsored a dialogue between NGOsand G77 representatives to table NGOconcerns regarding the direction of theemerging agreements and resolutionsduring the committee negotiations. Inthese activities, ASPBAE, along withthe other regional association membersof the International Council of AdultEducation (ICAE) from Africa, LatinAmerica and North America, sharedexperiences of the popular educationmovements in their regions in ad-dressing the questions of poverty andother social concerns. A special issueof the ASPBAE Courier "Putting Lit-eracy on the Agenda of the SocialSummit" was distributed during theNGO Forum in Copenhagen.

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The Dannish Association of AdultEducation a national member of ICAEhosted the People's Alliance meetingsin their office in Copenhagen. Theyalso provided logistical support to thenetwork during their stay.

At the end of the week-long event,the final agreements of the Summit leftmuch to be desired. The Summit del-egates failed to agree on clear targetsand benchmarks for agreements andcommitments made. Majority of thedeveloped countries steadfastly refusedadditional allocations to augment theexisting resources for social develop-ment and catalyse the implementationof the Programme of Action. There wasno consensus on the UNDP 20/20 for-mula. (This proposes the allocation of20% of ODA and 20% of the nationalbudgets to social development - theeffect of which would have been thegeneration of the necessary resourcesto forward the commitments made inCopenhagen. Initial estimates indicatethat $30-40 billion per annum over thedecade is required solely for the uni-versalisation of basic social services).There was no progress in the negotia-tions for debt relief.

These raise very serious doubtsabout the sincerity of governments andthe UN in abiding by their commit-ments and in implementing the Pro-gramme of Action. Further, as theNGO Alternative Declaration states, ...."the overreliance that the documentplaces on unaccountable, open, free-market forces as a basis for organis-ing national and international econo-mies aggravates, rather than alleviatesthe current global social crisis. Thisfalse premise threatens the realisationof the stated goals of the Social Sum-mit."

Many tend to believe that the poor,at whose behest this Summit wascalled, may ultimately have very littleto gain from this event.

While understandable, such pessi-mism should not obviate the 1).,.ue ofsOme advances made by the WorldSummit-these constitute leveragesNGOs may utilise to further opportu-nities for the poor and further expandthe spaces for reform and change.

The political commitment of theheads of state to global poverty eradi-cation and full employment goals isdefinitely a step forward. For the firsttime in UN history, the negative con-sequences of Structural AdjustmentProgrammes (SAPs) were recognised,and a commitment made to ensurethat SAPs should include social devel-opment goals. ,States were also calledupon to reduce military spendings andto prioritise social development.

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The Declaration included a commit-ment to promote and attain universaland equitable access to quality educa-tion and health. The Programme ofAction (Chapter III on the "Expansionof Productive Employment and theReduction of Unemployment" recog-nised the critical role of education andtraining in addressing the problems ofunemployment and under-employmentand called on governments to estab-lish well-defined educational prioritiesand effective investments in educationand training.

The recognition of civil society's rolein advancing social development fig-ured prominently in the final text ofAgreements.

How NGOs and civil society buildfrom this recognition and advance thepositive gains achieved during the So-cial Summit is a challenge of the com-ing period. The People's Alliance andits convening member organisationshave made a commitment to carryingthese processes forward.

The Alliance intends to participatein efforts towards monitoring the im-

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plementation of the Social Summitagreements. With its membershiplargely located in countries of theSouth where the fruition of these com-mitments and programmes are mostrequired, the Peoples Alliance can con-tribute meaningfully in this effort.. TheAlliance is exploring the possibility ofcollaborating with the UNDP which iskeen on initiating the formulation ofmonitoring indices for the Social Sum-mit Agreements.

The People's Alliance intends tocontinue providing arenas for study,discussion and debate on social devel-opment issues towards the formulationof alternative, people-centered develop-ment policies and programmes, arisingfrom and reflective of the rich experi-ence of NGOs and civil society in ad-vancing social development. Towardsthis end,' the Alliance hopes to con-vene a People's Summit on SocialDevelopment by 1997.

ASPBAE and its regional partners inICAE are in a vantage position to

participate in monitoring the SocialSummit Agreements as they relateparticularly to the promotion of edu-cation and basic social services spe-cially for the poor. They can monitorgovernment commitment to social de-velopment as expressed in budgetaryallocations to social spending. Experi-ence has however shown that in-creases in budgets to education are noguarantee that the poor will have ac-cess to quality education. ASPBAEshould enjoin their member organiza-tions to continue pressing their re-spective governments to define educa-tion policies and programmes consist-ent with the goals of poverty eradica-tion and full employment. Culling fromtheir practice, they should activelycontribute to the policy debate and thesearch for appropriate strategies toensure that education is accessible toall children and adults, enabling ofpeople in their total development,empowering specially of the poor andthe most vulnerable.

This paper reproduced here with the courtesy of UNICEF., New York,USA, was widely distributed at the preparatory meetings of the WorldSummit on Social Development, with a view to enhancing the capacitiesof NGOs in lobbying and advocacy, deriving from Unicefs wide experi-ence of similar international conferences.

UNICEF

LESSONS LEARNED: MAKING SUMMITS WORK

The question of implementation, ofgiving declarations and resolutionssome grip and purchase in the realworld, is the most important, the mostdifficult, and the least discussed of allissues in the development debate.

This is also the question with whichthe World Summit for Social Develop-ment (WSSD) will be most urgentlyconfronted. The need, therefore, is toidentify and to build on strategies thathave proven to work. Models can beprevious summits, most particularlythe World Summit for Children in1990. The commitments entered intoare being translated into reality on thebasis of the following principal strate-gies.

the breaking-down of broad goalsand objectives into 'doable' andmeasurable positions;

* the securing and sustaining of thegreatest possible political commit-

ment at the highest possible politi-cal level and the simultaneousmobilization of media and publicsupport;

* the mobilization of a much widerrange of social resources than isconventionally associated with socialdevelopment efforts - including edu-cational systems, mass media,schools, religious groups, the busi-ness community, and the non-gov-ernmental organizations; the demys-tification of knowledge and technol-ogy in order to empower individu-als and families; and the reductionof procedures and techniques torelatively simple and reliable formu-las allowing large-scale operationsand the widespread use of largenumbers of paraprofessionals;

the deployment of the expertise andresources of the United Nations andits agencies, and of bilateral assist-ance programmes, in close support

4 a

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of agreed goals. This should includethe close monitoring of progress,followed up when necessary by in-creased support.

Identifying the doable

The selection of goals is crucial tothis process. Such goals are oftennecessary to translate potential intoresults: they can make the abstractinto the tangible; they can bring asense of common purpose to the widevariety of organizations and intereststhat must be involved in any large.-scale human enterprise; they can sus-tain and lend urgency to efforts thatare necessarily long term; they canserve as a banner for attracting me-dia attention and public support.Goals break general overall aims into"doable" propositions.

The essential lesson is that over-all aims must first be closely exam-ined to see where the potentialbreakthroughs can be made. Knowl-edge, technologies, and the experiencethat has been gained from 40 years ofconscious development efforts must bescrutinized in order to identify thelow-cost techniques whether inhealth care or education or other ar-eas - that have been proven to workand are waiting to be put into prac-tice on the same scale as the prob-lems. Thereafter, it is a case of break-ing down overall aims until the doableproposition is identified, which oftenitself be broken down further.

A goal is not a goal unless it hasa date attached and unless progresstowards it can be measured - whichrequires among other things closemonitoring and periodic reviews ofprogress on the basis of up-to-dateand reasonably accurate social statis-tics.

A major strand in today's consen-sus on development issues is thateconomic growth alone is no guaran-tee of human progress, especially forthe poorest, and that the universali-zation of the basic benefits of progressshould be both directly promoted anddirectly measured. Without better sta-tistics, this part of the consensus sim-ply cannot be implemented. The Co-penhagen Summit should thereforeattempt to institute new means ofgenerating accurate and timely sta-tistics on .all aspects of both socialdevelopment and social disparity.These social statistics must then be-come part of the warp and weft ofmedia coverage, of political debate,and of public concern.

Political commitment

Once specific goals have been inter-nationally agreed, high-level politicalcommitment must be mobilized. Oncesecured, political commitments mustbe sustained (and resecured wheneverthere is a change in government orleadership). The realities of political lifemean that the important is constantlyunder threat from the immediate. So-cial goals therefore have a tendency tosink without a trace as soon as po-litical waters become choppy andmust be dragged back to the surfaceat every opportunity.

Wherever possible, the process ofbuilding on formal political commit-ments should begin with the drawing-up of specific national plans for theachievement of agreed goals.

The limits to what can be achievedby political mobilization of this kind asclear as the potential benefits: it is notan approach that, on its own, can beexpected to bring about fundamentaleconomic change. Yet as part of an

39

overall strategy it has proved its im-portance. Most analyses of develop-ment issues in recent years have ledeventually to the point that the politi-cal will is lacking to do what couldbe done. In the future, instead ofbemoaning the lack of political will, wemust do more to build it.

Social resources

The strategy of social mobilization isanother strategy which could also helpto implement whatever goals emergefrom the Copenhagen Summit.

This potential arises from the trans-formation in social capacity across thedeveloping world. That capacity - toorganize, to administer, to reach outto support and inform an entire popu-lation has been transformed by the2 billion radios and the 900 milliontelevision sets that today bring broad-casts, satellite transmissions, andvideo into most communities; by therise of literacy to almost 70% and ofprimary school enrollment to almost80%, and by the 9,000 daily newspa-pers that are now being published inthe developing world; by the growth ofgovernment services; by the more than5 million doctors and nurses. It hasbeen transformed by the growth ofbanking and postal services, of elec-tricity, gas and water utilities, of mar-keting channels, of the trade unionand cooperative movements, of em-ployers' associations and professionalsocieties. And most of all, it has beentransformed by the growth of thou-sands of voluntary agencies, non-gov-ernmental organizations, women's or-ganizations, religious societies, con-sumer groups, youth movements, andthe million of local neighbourhood as-sociations, etc.

Today, this potential of social mo-bilization can be used to promote and

support education and training, fam-ily planning and child care, environ-mental protection and energy effi-ciency, and agricultural innovation. Itcan help to create an informed de-mand for basic services, and it canhelp to make available knowledge andtechnologies for lightening the work-loads of women and girls. Social ca-pacity has to he consciously mobilizedfor social development.

The role of the United Nations

In 50 years of working for develop-ment, and collaborating with govern-ments and aid agencies in over 150developing countries, the United Na-tions family of organizations has builtup an enormous fund of experienceand expertise in almost every area ofsocial development. This capacity, too,must now be more fully exploited forthe implementation of today's develop-ment consensus.

In large measure, that developmentconsensus is grounded in the workdone by United Nations and its agen-cies in the 1970s. The first UN Con-ference on Human Environment in1972, the World Population Conferenceand the World Food Conference in1974, the UN Conference on HumanSettlements in 1976, and, perhapsmost significantly, the World Employ-ment Conference of 1976, were majorforces in coming to grips with newand complex issues, assessing thetrends, and drawing the conclusionsthat have influenced the world's think-ing about these issues over the last20 years.

But it is true to say that few ofthe recommendations, goals andtargets emerging from these majorconferences of the 1970s weretranslated into widespread pro-grammes of action. Any progress that

40

there might have been was .effectivelyderailed in the 1980s by the debt cri-sis, by structural adjustment pro-grammes, by the swing towards analmost exclusive reliance on free-mar-ket economic systems, and by a ma-jor shift in power towards the BrettonWoods institutions. Much of the workand many of the insights of the 1970swere there by forgotten.

The swing towards market economicsystems was necessary. But whereasit is obvious that free-market economic

stems are more capable of generat-ing economic growth, it is far fromobvious that they are capable of cre-ating just, civilized, and sustainablehuman societies. And in the recentcommitment to free-market economicpolicies in many nations, of the devel-oping world, supported by the WorldBank and the International MonetaryFund, insufficient account has beentaken of the effects on the poor, onthe vulnerable, or on the environment.

The social and human conse-quences of this omission are now be-ginning to be felt. One result is arevival of interest in social develop-ment, and this is clearly reflected inthe calling of the Copenhagen Summit.

The potential of the United Nationsfamily must now be exploited if thesocial development goals emergingfrom Copenhagen are to be translatedinto action.

Broader challenges

On the broad front of economic andsocial development in addition to thethree broad objectives for discussionin Copenhagen (the reduction of theproportion of people living in absolutepoverty; the creation of the necessaryjobs and sustainable livelihoods; thesignificant reduction in disparities

among various income classes, sexes,ethnic groups, geographical regions,and nations) UNDP has also put for-ward specific goals for consideration.Its suggestions are:

* That the governments of developingcountries should allocate at least20% of their expenditures to meet-ing priority human needs for ad-equate nutrition, clean water, safesanitation, basic health care, pri-mary education, and family plan-ning information and services, andthat the industrialized nationsshould restructure existing aid pro-grammes in order to also allocateminimum of 20% to these samebasic priorities (this "20/20" initia-tive is now an agreed position ofUNDP, UNICEF and UNFPA.)

* That these increases in expendi-tures on basic social development.should be structured into agree-ments between donor and develop-ing countries designed to meet ba-sic human needs within a definedtime and that progress in imple-menting these agreements shouldbe internationally monitored.

* That both developing and industri-alized nations should agree to atargeted annual reduction rate formilitary spending (UNDP suggests a3% per year reduction, which wouldyield approximately $ 460 billion inthe second half of this decade).

The Forth World Conference onWomen, to be held in Beijing in Sep-tember 1995, could also attempt tobreak down the overall aim of progressfor women into specific goals. Again,the experience gained in recent yearsshould make it possible to advancedoable propositions in such .fields asequal opportunity legislation, women'sreproductive health, equality of educa-

41

tional opportunity, and the widespreadpromotion of the kind of low-cost tech-nologies that could be an importantfirst step in liberating the time andthe energies of many hundreds ofmillions of rural women in the devel-oping world.

The effectiveness of any and all ofthese goals will depend upon their

being broken down, and if necessarybroken down again and again, untilthe doable propositions are identified.If this can be done, then the Copen-hagen Summit will have built thebasis for a renewed international de-velopment effort in the second half ofthe 1990s.

This paper first appeared in the Sri Lanka Daily News of May 12,1995, and is partially reproduced here with the courtesy of this nationalnewspaper.

The author Mr. N. Jasentuliyana is deputy to the Director-General,United Nations Office in Vienna:

N. JASENTHUL1YANA

THE UNITED NATIONS AND NON-GOVERNMENTALORGANIZATIONS

The 50th anniversary of the UnitedNations coincides with a time in his-tory that calls for serious rethinking ofthe ways in which the organisationdeals with development, peace andsecurity. It is therefore, a time notonly for reflection on the achievementsand lessons of the past, but also forcharting a course for the next century.

There is much to celebrate. Whenthe Charter of the United Nationscame into force on October 24, 1945,it heralded the birth of the UnitedNations as an organisation created tomaintain world peace and security andto work for social progress. Althoughits failures and frustrations have re-ceived widespread attention, its suc-cesses in economic and social devel-opment and peace-keeping have clearlymade a difference in the second halfof the twentieth century.

A forum for all nations, the UnitedNations represents the highest aspira-

tions of all people for a world free ofwar, poverty, repression and suffering.

To carry out its mandate, theUnited Nations must have basic re-sources at its disposal. It requires notonly the political and financial back-ing of member states, but also needsthe support and understanding of itslarger constituencies - the generalpublic, non-governmental organizationsand the business community. The50th anniversary commemorationseeks to deepen this understandingand commitment, inspire a new gen-eration of United Nations supporters,and pave the way for the next 50years.

Non-governmental organizations(NG0s) are part of the broader UnitedNations community. This might nothave always been true in the pastbecause the United Nations was con-sidered to be a forum for scvereignstates alone. Within the space of few

43

short years, however, this attitude haschanged. Non-governmental organiza-tions are now considered full partici-pants in international life and are anessential element in the work of theUnited Nations Organization.

This change has been greatly accel-erated by the pace at which the worlditself has changed over the past fiveyears. The complete upheaval andtransformation of the internationalsystem which dictated internationalrelations for 40 years has allowed usto view economic, social and culturalphenomena without the ideologicalblinkers of the past. Today, there canbe no doubt that the many problemsfacing the world are all inextricablylinked and that we must build aframework which takes into accountnot only political issues, but economicbehaviour and social and cultural as-pirations.

In this process, non-governmentalorganizations are a basic form ofpopular representation. Their participa-tion in international organizations is,in a way, a guarantee of the politicallegitimacy of those international or-ganizations.

In 'An Agenda for Peace', the Sec-retary-General explicitly recognisedthat the goals we all share, the main-tenance and promotion of internationalpeace and security cannot be accom-plished solely through the actions ofthe United Nations and memberstates. Indeed, as the Secretary-Gen-eral has stated on several occasions,"Peace is too irnpertant to be entrustedto State atone." Therefore, he noted,that NGO's must be involved in allphases of peace-building efforts, andin doing so will camplement the workof the United Nations. It must benoted, however, that while the hu-manitarian and social work done by

NGOs in the context of United Nationspeace-keeping and peace-making ac-tivities are often conducted under per-ilous and difficult conditions, theseactivities cannot be conducted withoutproper regard for the political com-plexities involved in a particular opera-tion. Proper consideration must alsobe given to the view that despite thevaluable contributions that NGOsmake toward international peace, theinfluence of NGOs is disproportionatelyweighted to those based in the indus-trialised countries because those or-ganizations are able to tap greater fi-nancial resources to conduct theiractivities.

Therefore, as efforts are made toexpand the work of NGOs into theUnited Nations system, we must all beaware of this disparity and work hardto ensure that in doing so we do notfurther widen the gap between richand poor, between North and South.

These elements must also be takeninto account in the field of interna-tional development, in which NGOscontinue to play an active and essen-tial role.

In his recently published 'Agendafor Development'. The Secretary-Gen-eral recognized NGOs as one of theimportant actors in the area of devel-opment. The report noted that NGOsundertake projects valued at morethan $ 7 billion annually. Long activein the search for peace, NGOs haveoften been at the scene of conficts atan early stage making a crucial con-tribution to the immediate relief ofstricken populations and laying foun-dations for the reconstruction of war-torn societies. With flexible structures,the ability to mobilize private funds,and highly motivated staff, NGOs pos-sess a vast potential to effect develop-ment.

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Over the past decade, the growth ofNGOs in numbers and influence hasbeen phenomenal. They are creatingnew global networks and proving to bea vital component in the great inter-national conferences of this decade.The time has arrived to bring NGOsand United Nations activites into anincreasingly productive relationship ofconsultation and cooperation.

In doing so, we must keep in mindthe different roles that NGOs play inthe work of the United Nations. Inmany cases the work of NGOs takesplace in very specific, very trying cir-cumstances and deal with high-profileissues, such as disaster relief and thecare of refugees. These cases oftenreceive the most attention from themedia and hence the general public isquite aware of the work of NGOs,such as the International Red Crossand Oxfam.

Equally important, however, is thework of the multitude of other NGOs,such as the international network ofLions Clubs, whose work is of a lowerprofile but which is conducted world-wide and on a continuous basis. Thisquiet, often behind the scenes work,contributes to community-building atthe local level and as such representsa vital, though sometimes, intangible,contribution to international develop-ment and security.

In 'An Agenda for Development' theSecretary-General declared develop-ment as the most important task fac-ing humanity today. Yet, as the UnitedNation celebrates its 50th anniversary,there is a danger of losing sight ofsuch an essential task. Beset by thegrowth of conflicts, and the necessityto maintain the peace in the tensepost-cold war environment, we riskgetting lost in the urgency of peace-

keeping, at the expense of the longerterm development effort.

In the last few years the UnitedNations has started a process of re-examination and redefinition of devel-opment which takes into account theprogress of the past half century andwhich is aimed at restoring to devel-opment questions the urgency theydeserve.

Through a cycle of world confer-ences the United Nations is trying toshape a consensus around certainessential development values. Thisprocess began at the World Summitfor Children in New York in 1990where the world's attention, was drawnto the problems, needs and rights ofits most vulnerable citizens. In Rio deJaneiro in 1992 the United Nationsgathered the world community to dis-cuss the links between environmentand development. In Vienna in 1993the United Nations brought togetherworld leaders to debate the propositionthat without full respect of humanrights there can be no lasting devel-opment. Indeed at that conference theright to development was reaffirmed asa basic human right.

In Cairo in 1994 the United Na-tions Conference on Population andDevelopment re-established the popu-lation dimension as a central aspect ofdevelopment. Population growth canbe an asset to development but un-checked growth in population can alsorepresent a special challenge to thedevelopment effort.

In Copehnagen the World Summitfor Social Development was concluded.At this summit problems such aspoverty, unemployment and social dis-location were examined by the repre-sentatives of the world community.

Renewed commitments were made to-wards the eradication of poverty, im-aginative approaches to issues of un-employment were presented and cou-rageous initiatives to end social dislo-cation were discussed.

In September 1995 in Beijing theinternational community will gather todiscuss the integration of women intothe global development effort. Withoutthe active participation of women therecan be no development. A greater rolefor women is both an indicator ofdevelopment and a precondition forthe development process to take place.

Finally in 1996 in Istanbul theWorld Conference of Human Settle-ment, Habitat II is to be convened.The importance of this conferencedealing with the many issues of devel-opment in an urban environment issuch that it has been rightly labelled"The City Summit."

It is heartening to note that therehas been significant NGO participationat each of these conferences and inparticular at the 1992 Conference onEnvironment and Development whereover 1,400 NGOs were accredited tothe conference and many more partici-pated in the parallel global forum.More than 2,500 NGOs attended theSocial Summit in Copenhagen andlarger numbers are likely to attend theBeijing and Istanbul conferences.These numbers illustrate the pointthat NG9s have become an increas-ingly essential element in the work ofthe United Nations and that theirgrowth has mirrored the changingnature of the organisation and theinternational situation in which it op-erates.

The participation and input ofNGOs and grassroot organisationsensure that the programme of action

45

adopted at these conferences arebased on a close reading of the needsof populations everywhere. Develop-ment though requiring internationalcooperation is the responsibility ofmember states and can only succeedif it respond to the need of people andarticulates these needs into a coher-ent policy framework. Because theseneeds are in many cases most clearlyexpressed through NGOs, the partici-pation of such organisations in UnitedNations conferences and other work ofthe organisation is clearly a cruciallink in the process.

Together with academia the profes-sions and the private sector NGOs area cornerstone of what the commissionon Global Governance commonly re-ferred to as the Carlsson Commissionhas referred to as Civil Society.

One of the recommendations con-tained in the Commission's recentlyreleased report was the establishmentof a Forum of Civil Society comprisedprimarily of NGOs which would meeteach year prior to the beginning of theGeneral Assembly and which wouldaddress among other things theagenda items to be considered by theAssembly. The forum would serve asa vehicle for providing direct inputinto the deliberations of the GeneralAssembly and thus would be quite dif-ferent from the annual NGO confer-ence organised by the United NationsDepartment of Public Information.

Establishment of the Forum andintegrating its work into the work ofthe United Nations will of course re-quire a great deal of cooperation andconsultation between the United Na-tions, NGOs and other members ofCivil Society and member states. Thisproposal must be considered in thecontext of the broader recommenda-tions of the Carlsson Commission for

46

reform of the United Nations systemand the on-going efforts of the organi-sation to adapt to its new role in achanging world. While this process willnot be an easy one and will certainlybe evolutionary rather than revolution-ary, the Lions International and othersimilar global organisations will havea significant role to play....

As the international communitytackles increasingly complex issuespartnership is a theme that has oftenbeen stressed by the Secretary -Gen-eral. And for the United nations oneof the most important partnerships is

the one it has forged with the NGOcommunity.

NGOs have been instrumental inshaping the message of the UnitedNations to the international commu-nity-indeed in shaping the organisationitself - since the days of the CharterConference in San Francisco. As wecelebrate the 50th anniversary of theorganisation, NGOs continue to pro-vide vital links between the UnitedNations and its worldwide constituen-cies placing issues on the globalagenda and sharpening the focus ofthe United Nations.

This paper jointly written by Rajesh Tandon and Argus Pumomo stronglyargues for the creation of an Asian Regional Forum on Alternative Devel-opment Institutions.

Dr. Rajesh Tandon is the President of ASPBAE and Executive Directorof PRIA, New Delhi.

Mr. Argus (Pungki) Purnomo, former CEO of WAHLI, the largest NGOcoalition on environment in Indonesia, went on to build POLANGI, a newNGO focused on Policy Research and Advocacy on Environment and Sus-tainable Development.

RAJESH TANDON

ARGUS PURNOMO

ASIAN REGIONAL FORUM OFALTERNATWE INSTITUTIONS

Over the past two decades, severalinitiatives of various forms haveemerged in many Asian countries.Most of these initiatives have beenbased on the organized efforts of thepoor and the oppressed themselves.Several other initiatives have taken theform of what have come to be knownas non-governmental organizations orvoluntary developmental organizationsin the countries. These initiatives haveblossomed and acquired a place ofprominence and attention in the coun-tries regionally as well as globally. Yet,there appears to be certain gaps, inthe emergence of an Asian, integratedand comprehensive perspective of al-ternative development in the Asiancontext. This paradox can be under-stood in the sense of absence for anappropriate mechanism at the regionallevel. The need for such a mechanismcan be understood from various ways:

1. Asia has witnessed, over the lastfifteen years, an interesting and

powerful emergence of sectoral andthematic networks and organiza-tions. Today such networks existin the areas of environment andsustainable development, appropri-ate technology, indigenous people,women, literacy and adult educa-tion, community health, culture etc.These regional networks and asso-ciations, have brought togethergrass-root initiatives and NGO'sconcerned with the theme and sec-tor to begin to articulate an Asianposition and perspective on thattheme. The sectoral or thematicnetworks or associations have rarelyinteracted together to evolve a com-mon and comprehensive under-standing of problems of develop-ment and their long-term solutionsin the Asian context.

2. In the absence of a regional forumto bring together experiences fromdiverse themes and sectors, synthe-sis and evolution of an Asian posi-

tion and perspective on problems ofdevelopment and frameworks foralternative and sustainable develop-ment from the perspective of thepoor and the oppressed has notoccurred. It has not occurred largelybecause the sectoral and thematicnetworks and associations havebeen busy articulating and organiz-ing their thematic and sectoral is-sues, positions and perspectives.Therefore it was perhaps prematurefor such an integrated and synthe-sized Asian forum to emerge. Nowmay well be the historical time forsuch an evolution.

3. Many a time the work of peoples'organizations and voluntary develop-ment groups tends to be reactive.Many a time they are fighting theproblems the poor and the deprivedface. Most of the energies go inmaintaining the levels of survivaland in critiquing the dominantmodels of development, strategiesand programmes, implemented bynational and international institu-tions. Very little opportunities andmechanisms exist to articulate ourown ideas and concepts, our ownanalysis and our own perspective,on what is our vision of a desirablesociety and therefore, a desirableand appropriate framework of devel-opment in our societies. So whetherit is a question of "Education forAll" or the question of "Green Fund"proposed by the World Bank mostof the time our response has beenreactive as opposed to proactive.Creation of an Asian forum shouldhelp in building up a process bywhich our visiori, our dreams, ourperspectives begin to get articulated,synthesized and presented as alter-native frameworks and strategies ofdevelopment in the Asian context.

48

4. Increasingly, many peoples' organi-zations and NGO's are findingthemselves in a paradox. Increasedattention nationally and internation-ally is happening along with seriousencroachments on the politicalspace for peoples' organizations andNGO's to operate in the countryand the regional context. This ne-cessitates a response, which issupra national and many a timeregional, so that we could learnfrom the experiences of others, and-provide the solidarity that isneeded, in continuously strugglingto maintain and expand politicalspace for peoples organizations andNGO's in our societies. This is pos-sible only when a mechanism or aplatform looks at peoples organiza-tions and NGO's in our societies asexpressions of civil society androoted in the civil society of ourvarious countries in the region'.

Platform

Therefore, there is a need to initi-ate a process by which an Asian re-gional platform is created which willserve the following purposes:

1. The platform will become a networkfor exchange of information on is-sues, which are currently falling in-between the thematic and sectoralissues, but which require, continu-ous and ongoing attention frompeoples organizations and NGO's inthe region. For example, issues re-lated to debt, relationship betweenGovernment and NGO's, GATT andtrade issues, emerging conse-quences of a unipolar world withthe absence of the political East,developments in Eastern Europe,military interventions in Iraq andthe consequences of the war, etC.require a mechanism for ongoing

49

exchange of information and possi-bilities for joint and collaborativeaction at the rgional level. Eventhough many of us were concernedat the war in the Gulf and it's af-termath, we wanted to do some-thing to show our solidarity, to actin ways consistent with our valuesand perspectives, we found thatthere was an absence of a mecha-nism or a platform, which wouldMake it possible for us to act andrespond to the situation arisingfrom the Gulf war. An Asian Re-gional Platform. could serve suchpurposes.

2. The platform could also become amechanism of building coalitionsand alliances, across sectors andthemes, to pursue integrated viewsand issues. It could also becomethe basis for facilitating a regionalresponse on issues which are re-gional in nature - this may includethe policies and role of Japan inAsia on the one hand, and militarydictatorships, on the other.Strengthening democracy and build-ing institutions to ensure participa-tory democracy in our societies andthe region, could well require largescale alliances and coalitions goingbeyond the boundaries of the na-tion-states and it is here that sucha platform could assist in becominga mechanism of such ongoing alli-ances and coalitions.

3. Such a platform could create thepossibility for building up, articulat-ing and presenting a regional per-spective and voice on the problem-atic of development in the Asianregion. Many of our experiences,analysis and understanding remainfragmented and sectoralized, orbound by the peculiarities of ournation-states. With increasing inter-

nationalization of development poli-cies. interventions and financhig, ithas become all the more importantthat we evolve a regional perspec-tive and voice on alternative devel-opment frameworks, strategies andapproaches. A platform of this kindcould create a possibility for us tothink from our own experience, tosynthesize and artictlate that per-spective and to use it to engageother regional and international in-stitutions and forces.

Obviously a platform of such a kindwould take a while to work; obviouslysuch a process of evolution must begradual, consultative and interactive.Clearly many more purposes will getadded, some will get dropped andmany will get refined. How such aplatform will operate, what mecha-nisms for internal democracy andfunctioning it will create will all needto evolve gradually and in practice.The purpose of the platform is not toact at the local level or to do advo-cacy on behalf of a theme or sectorbut to support existing regional net-works and various national effortsengaged in advocacy and grassrootsaction. Thus the platform is not in-tended to supersede or derecognizeexisting national and regional initia-tives and efforts but to strengthenthem in and evolutionary, supportiveand integrated way. The platform neednot become a physical infrastructurebut a platform of people, experiencesand ideas throughout the Asian re-gion. Existing institutional infrastruc-ture and capacities could well be uti-lized to pursue various programmesand strategies that get generated. Butessentially the platform should be seenas a platform of people, of experiencesand ideas, struggling at the local lev-,els to articulate an alternative visionfor their own societies in the region.

Book Review

"Demanding Accountability" TheGlobal Campaign & Vienna Tribunalfor Women's Human Rights

By Charlotte Bunch and Niamh ReillyPublished by : Center for Women'sGlobal LeadershipUnited Nations Development Fund forWomen (UNIFEM)New York, USA. ,

Anybody who had the opportunityof being in Vienna for the World Con-ference on Human Rights could nothave missed the Women Caucus andthe connected work to assert the"Womens Rights are Human Rights".

The book consists of four parts. TheRoad to Vienna; The Tribunal WomenDemand Accountability; Vienna suc-cess and future challenges; Campaigndocuments and Resources. Recognisingthe elimination of "violence againstwomen in public and private life as anhuman rights obligation in the ViennaDeclaration and supporting the neces-sity of treating the equal status andhuman rights of women as a priorityfor governments and for the UnitedNations is a historical event in hu-man rights and women's organizingactivities. This victory was not an ac-

50

cident. The spade work done by thewomen organizations and some indi-viduals around the world has beennarrated here.

The most important event was the"Global Thbunal" held in Vienna atthe World Conference. The Tribunalwas seen as an eve). . 'that would drawupon the previous local and regionalhearings and mark the culmination ofseveral years of campaigning for therecognition of womens human rights.This book very beautifully lays downthe preparatory works, the workingand structure of the Thbunal and theend result. The book in sequence givesthe NGO activities in Vienna and alsogive excerpts from the Vienna Decla-ration and Programme of Action.

For the billions of women all overthe world who did not have the oppor-tunity for being at Vienna, this bookgives an idea of what our sisters haveachieved and gives the necessary en-couragement to translate the interna-tional language of human rights forthe local usage and fight genderbased human right abuses.

Pathma N. SivaramSri Lanka.

EQON P. WINTER

POLISHING DAMAGED GOODSour species in crisis

THERE IS, OF COURSE, NO BRIGHT SIDE TOEXINCTION. LIKE DEATH, IT IS RELENTLESSAND ALL-INCLUSIVE, NOT RESPECTING GENDER,AGE, WISDOM, OR WEALTH.

*420'Hundreds of millions of species have already become extinct but we ignore thegrowing possibility ofour own premature extinction. Preoccupied with our every dayaffairs, we shut our eyes to the severity of the threats, although our daily headlines reflectthe approaching chaos we are sliding into and computer simulations assessing the majorthreats to our existence give us a scant 40 years unless we change course! To no avail:-- many women continue having more than two babies (some one a year);

chemical poisoning has not slowed the manufacturing of poisons;-- cancer-causing holes in the ozone layer have not stopped destruction of rain forests;wars and mass persecutions continue across the globe;-- epidemics like AIDS remain incurable;-- intnational investments are promoted while social needs go begging;-- the reality of our common destiny has not reduced our bigotry;

The damaged goods could still be salvaged and our existence safeguarded bysetting up global agencies wit% funds and authority to protect us from the most seriousthreats to our existence. But: governments do not voluntarily let go of power; theinfluende of nongovernmental organizations is diluted by their insiders' private agendas;and the rich are paralyzed because they cannot stand the idea of the levelling effects ofextinction.Who among our species' 5.6 billion are ieast compromised and, therefore, bestqualified to help us get out of this trap?

1. the very young who have the most tobse from early extinction They must lobbygovernments and the rich so that funds and authority will be delegated to global agencies;2. the very old who have the least to gain from self-promotion They must becomeombudspersons in organizations that are vital to Our survival.To make these actions count, the young and the old will have to build local, national, andworld-wide movementsof individuals determined to live out their lives or help theirdescendants stay alive.

It all comes down to whether we love life enough to fight for it.

Printed in Sri Lanka by Mahendra Senanayakcat Sridevi Printers (Pvt.) Ltd; 21 Pepillyana Road. Dehlwala.

Printed in Sri Lanka at Sridevt Printers (Pvt.) Ltd., Nedimala. Dehlwala. Tele: +94 1 716709

5BEST COPY AVAILABLE