From poverty to power - Oxfam-Québec

5 THE INTERNATIONAL SYSTEM AIDThe growth in INGO advocacy has helped to challenge theWashington Consensus policies of liberalisation and deregulationespoused by the World Bank and major aid donors since the 1980s.However, INGOs have proved more adept at criticising existing policiesand practices than articulating a convincing and comprehensive alternativeparadigm. One reason for this may be that NGOs’ promotion ofactive citizenship, which has undoubtedly helped push issues of rightsand participation up the political agenda, has not been matched by aclear view of the role of the state in development or of how best tocreate (rather than merely distribute) wealth.As they have grown, INGOs have been subject to scrutiny andcriticism. Although some critiques are motivated by political differences,many of them pinpoint issues that deserve urgent attention, and havegiven rise to profound (not to say interminable) soul-searching.Efficiency: The same critique of government aid made earlier canapply to INGOs. Their aid at times suffers from delays, underfunding,lack of co-ordination, or inappropriateness, and imposes excessivedemands on local partners. While in part a result of the increasingdependence of INGOs on government funding (which imposes itsown delays and demands), these faults also result from the breadthof the development agenda. They can best be remedied by greatertransparency and more effective mechanisms of accountability.Respect for the role of the state: Some INGOs provide basic servicessuch as health care and education in developing countries, particularlyin situations where the state is unable to deliver them. Such efforts cannever achieve the required scale or scope, and may compete with thebuilding of an effective state. Even in Bangladesh, which has some ofthe largest and most influential NGOs anywhere in the world, totalcombined NGO services reach only about 18 per cent of the population.160 In the long run, the aim must be to strengthen governmentsystems to ensure that poor people have access to essential services.Short-termism and service delivery: The cult of ‘results-based management’imposed by government funders can bias the activity of INGOsand their local partners towards short-term, measurable results andaway from efforts to promote longer-term change and respect forrights. It is easier to measure how many clinics or school places havebeen created than the extent to which attitudes to women’s rights have373