Daily Times

The developing world has watched the prejudice of international organisations, including the United Nations, World Bank and the World Health Organisation.

This prejudice is obvious in their approach and selective applicability of grant disbursement, aid and technical advice. Prevalent is the scheme of pedantic non-government organisations (NGOs) ostensibly formed to achieve a social cause without realising a profit.

But many NGOs in Pakistan act more like commercial entities and lavishly spend a major portion of their foreign funding on publicity and awareness. In the end, the clueless targets of the awareness campaigns, whether it be gender equity, poverty alleviation, mother and child health and nutrition or rehabilitation, witness the closing ceremony with no trickledown effect.

Such NGOs are routinely funded through the mechanism of corporate social responsibility (CSR) in the developed world.It is a noble cause that only requires the allocation of an insignificant proportion of their profits to such projects. These organisations channel their funds to domestic NGOs embellished with illustrious persons who may be promoting views that are at odds with the traditions and beliefs of the host country. At times CSR activities, if displayed on a company’s website,are criticised for being an advertisement.Therefore, propriety demands that CSR is carried out through independent foundations.

The domestic CSR scene is slightly egalitarian despite significantly lower cash flows. Even where the government is diverting taxpayer money, the impression is created as if the organisers or trustees have devoted their personal assets and efforts to development and the organisation is philanthropic in nature.

Such projects operated through financial support of donors are blatantly depicted as being run through personal financial sacrifices of the NGO operators and, in the end, make genuine philanthropic organisations seem suspect.

Bill Gates’ wealth touched the astronomical figure of $100 billion in 1998, and in 2000, he along with his wife established the Melinda Gates Foundation with a capital contribution of $28 billion. The Foundation is mainly concerned with child mortality, public health, malnutrition and HIV, and is a model of charity and philanthropy worthy of replication. Bill Gates will be remembered for his commitment to giving away 95 per cent of his wealth to charity.

The people of Pakistan contribute heavily towards charity and retain the right to question the manner in which charitable organisations spend these donations. Transparency is a click away in this age of digitalisation.

Social action programmes are routinely initiated by the European Commission to promote their social objectives irrespective of caste, ethnicity, creed or gender. The declaration of the Community Charter in 1989 led the European Commission to implement a social action programme with legislative proposals based on the Charter. There remains a thin line of distinction between charity and social action as charity is for those who are unable to tend for themselves whereas social action support is to empower the underprivileged and weaker segments of society to improve their circumstances. The thin line is blurred when credit-taking is involved.

It has become profitable to project a dark face of the country to the West, perhaps to rope in donor funding for NGOs. The point to ponder is whether there is any hidden agenda at work here

The state in Pakistan operates, funds and manages institutions ranging from hospitals, special schools for the disabled, old age homes, schools and colleges, vocational and technical training institutes providing standardised, low or free of cost services and meets many community and social obligations yet does not receive accolades, except under a public-private partnership model.

When visitors from the developed world come to Pakistan, they are amazed at the contrast between the situation in Pakistan and what is portrayed through the western media. It has become profitable to project a dark face of the country to the West perhaps to rope in donor funding for NGOs.

The point to ponder is whether there is any hidden agenda at work here or is it simply ingratiating oneself to external donors for material benefits.

The writer is involved in research in the areas of finance and energy

Published in Daily Times, July 11^th 2018.