Hiding Behind the Mirage: How Ngos Are More Destructive Than Thought

Hiding behind the Mirage: How NGOs Are More Destructive Than Thought

Ever since President Truman created the Third World by proclaiming that some countries were more developed than others there have been world-wide organizations, both a part and separate from governments, which have looked to help those countries come out of the past. Although many developing countries and their citizens are wary of other governments looking to help them out, non-government organizations (NGOs) have often been able to fly under the radar and continue aiding Third World countries, at times with similar motives as their respective governments. There have been many examples over the past 60 years of the mistreatment and exploitation of development aid, which have not only been enshrined in the systems themselves, but also the modes of implementation. It should, therefore, be just as important to consider and be vigilant of the role NGOs, in particular Northern ones, play in the development of the Third World as those of Western governments.

The roles NGOs play are numerous, simply because each one represents different values, backgrounds, goals and expectations. While religious forms of non-governmental organizations have existed for many centuries, as can be witnessed by the missionaries and Christian schools set up in the European colonies , in the last 60 or so years, many other types have also been added to the list, such as human rights, research, economic development, disaster relief, and most recently environmentally based issues. In addition, NGOs have recently been classified as Northern NGOs (NNGOs), based in the "Global North" or developed world, or Southern NGOs (SNGOs), hailing from the "Global South", or those countries still trying to catch up . Because of the origins of these separate groups, NNGOs are often assumed to have more devastating effects on the whole than SNGOs, simply because the latter arise from the developing populations and are aware of the most effective means of development . While both types of NGOs have historically had different impacts when aiding countries, in many cases, they have also worked together on collaborative projects. This paper will, for the most part, concentrate on how and why certain NNGOs have and continue to have negative impacts on the regions that they claim to aspire to aid, though some conclusions can be inclusive of all types of NGOs.

In recent years, innumerable NGOs have arisen, all with differing intentions, goals and courses of action. However, they tend to agree on certain objectives which they figure distinguish their potential from those of government instituted projects. Paul Streeten outlined six in particular: reaching all poor people, whether in rural or remote areas; encouraging the participation of the poor; creating innovative and flexible processes; the efficient use of resources; promotion of sustainable development; and, possibly creating representation in civil societies . More simply, they are thought to be able to bring about radical but necessary changes in the world for those groups who are in need, from those that are capable of providing said aid without selfish motives . Obviously this statement is not always true, on one hand because there will almost always be expected positive implications for even the most altruistic of groups, but more alarmingly because it is assumed that the changes are a necessity for the development and success of a country. It then becomes vital to search for the reasons behind the latter reason and the impacts it has on the creation, implementation and the short- and long-term effects of (N)NGOs.

Because of the nature of NGOs, one group trying to help another in their attempts at progression, it's easy to assume that there is some sort of power relation between the groups, whether it is between a colonizer and its colonized, the First and Third Worlds, or NNGOs and SNGOs. Numerous examples of power relation have been seen, such as the assumption that Third World development should take a similar path as the First World since their "economies are assumed to be just like ours - only in an earlier stage of development" , the paternalistic treatment of Third World countries by NNGOs , the political pressure exerted on governments in developing countries to abide by certain rules, especially in the case of the IMF , and the understood knowledge advantage of those with a Western education, even if it may not be pertinent to the situation's needs . This last advantage is easily the clearest example of the destructive behavior of NNGOs which has been witnessed since colonialists began collecting data over their new lands and people.

There are many ways in which education can play a part in creating more inequality in the world through the implementation of NGO aid programs. The original form of education to create chains of knowledge and development occurred in the missionary schools established by the colonizers. Within these institutions, children were expected to become a part of the European culture despite the fact that the education given had little if any relevance to the types of skills needed to continue their traditional way of life . This primary education not only established the concept of Europeans as the highest ranking region of humans, but also created problems for the less developed in maintaining the same sort of lifestyle as before, often leading to the deterioration of the land and region through inappropriate agricultural and social techniques . In this century though, education has taken a different role in the creation of echelons of power in the world. While it is common-place for the children of the rich to receive top-notch Western educations , those who do not have the necessary financial means to put themselves through such expensive institutions may either receive local educations, which continue, for the most part, to be ineffective for many reasons , or can apply for scholarships through NGOs . These scholarships end up having many different implications for the students, which are encompassed in the types of opportunities and hopes of the donating NNGOs. One main goal is to provide the student with Western ideas, concepts and ideals, since they are receiving their education abroad . From this, if the students returned to their country of origin, they would then be able to spread what they had been taught to the locals and create positive views of the types of changes the Western countries find appropriate. And since it is usually the better educated that rise to positions of power in countries and regions, it was assumed that they would not only try to create the "necessary" conditions, deemed by the West, that are required for further development, but also to be more supportive of the West and their undertakings