Non-Governmental Organizations at UN Conference in Australia Discuss Ways to Upend

 

Intractable Challenges to Global Health, Redefine Relationships with Governments

 

(Received from a UN Information Officer.)

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA, 30 August — Broad agreement emerged this afternoon during a round table discussion at the Australia DPI/NGO Conference that non-governmental organizations were uniquely positioned to confront the intractable challenges to global health; but while they increasingly filled gaps around the world, they could not fill those alone.

In a format designed to stimulate discussion among panellists from Cameroon, Australia, Afghanistan and Cuba, Sue Ndwala, adviser at World Vision in Australia, acknowledged that non-governmental organizations, along with civil society groups, had for a long time been “looking in but not being part of Governments”.  But a large non-governmental organization like her own had a lot of resources and could help the smaller ones “activate their advocacy” and draw both Government and non-governmental players into a single mix. 

As a midwife with more than 20 years experience in the field, including in remote communities, Ms. Ndwala said she had seen more death and suffering than she ever wanted to see.  She had seen neonatal tetanus, and many babies had died in front of her, because there was very little she could do.  She could have come home sad, angry, and indifferent, or become an advocate.  Joining World Vision had opened a door to advocate at many levels, including with the Australian Government.  “NGOs can do so much, but with [Millennium Development Goal] 5 (maternal health), they cannot do that much without help,” she acknowledged, adding that “Governments needed to work with these women to save their lives”. 

Asked in the discussion how to hold the Governments — the “duty bearers” — responsible for their covenants and declarations, Ms. Ndwala acknowledged that an organization such as World Vision was fairly conservative in its work with Governments in order to sustain its partnership with them.  The issue was how to do that and still foster change.  There should be a balance when it came to pushing Governments.  The main thrust could be at the district or sub-district levels, with the result of that work used to persuade politicians at the national and international levels.  With enough coalitions of communities, a “report card” could be drafted of what the Government was providing and what it was not, in the hope of spurring change. 

In order to bring peace to Afghanistan, said Sakena Yacoobi, the Executive Director of the 1995 Afghan Institute of Learning (AIL), the concentration must be on women and children.  “Yes, we work side by side with the Government, but it is not easy with our Government.”  However, when she provides quality programmes, the Government needs those programmes and they replicate them.  Her organization’s teacher training manual was one such example.  “When you provide quality programming, then they will come after it; no matter how much they resent you, they will come after it,” she said. 

The discussion cast a wider net than global health alone, as panellists grappled with such questions from the audience as what made a non-governmental organization successful.  Ms. Yacoobi felt an organization must be honest and, above all, have respect for the community in which it worked.  In particular, when it promised something, it should deliver it.  International organizations, she added, promised many things, but often did not deliver.  When a national non-governmental organization worked at the grassroots level and was respected in the community, and delivered a service the people wanted, the bond grew very strong.

Co-founder of Advocates for African Food Security Ruth Bamela Engo said that non-governmental organizations were part of the twenty-first century movement underpinning a shift of thinking from the security of States to the security of human beings.  That shift led to the concept of human security.  As for the Millennium Development Goals, they represented the minimum common development requirement, “without which, you wonder whether you’re a human being”.  If, for example, one human being did not have potable water or was sleeping on the floor or dying at age 38, then the whole species was in danger. 

Non-governmental organizations, she said, had always thought of themselves as watchdogs, but they were also ensuring community leadership which, in turn, ensured sustainable processes.  A main challenge to achieving, and sustaining, the development Goals, was a lack of ownership of the process by communities.  Moreover, “ask someone what [Millennium Development Goals] are and they do not understand”.  They were still something talked about in conferences, and not on the streets.  Another challenge, of course, was bureaucracy in Governments.

Picking up on the issue of the relationship with Governments, she said the idea was “to be in or be out in the cold alone, with no support”, in countries or internationally.  Non-governmental organizations could do more if they worked together, but funding kept them apart.  Basically, they were separated according to who funded them.  But when groups of organizations came together, they could fight vulnerability on a national scale.  In Cameroon, a group of non-governmental organizations had come together, in the same building, to share the rent, buy things in bulk, share equipment, and even human resources.  That made them stronger.

Also on the panel, with a translator, was Dr. Aleida Guevara March.  She explained that she did not represent any particular non-governmental organization.  Rather, she represented the Cuban nation and people.  She boasted of dramatically improved infant mortality figures in Cuba, which she said had been achieved because communities had worked together.  The education of older persons was important, and in Cuba overall, it was felt that a sound education was fundamental to a good standard of living.  An important aspect of the Cuban health system was prevention; it was easier to prevent an illness than to cure it, which was why 13 vaccinations were offered to children and why pregnant mothers had many consultations. 

Health was a human right, she said, stressing that the life of a human being was “not negotiable”.  That was true for all citizens and it must be a priority for all States.  The future of humanity depended on the standard of health of a people.  Asked in the discussion about a project focusing on persons with disabilities, she said Cuba was working with a Latin American organization.  In terms of illiteracy, the problem was not a lack of intellectual capacity, but of poor sight.  So another programme had been started in her country for people who suffered from cataracts:  they were offered free surgery to be able to read and write. 

Dr. Padmini Murthy of the United States moderated the panel.

The Conference will meet again at 9:30 a.m. Tuesday, 31 August, to convene a second roundtable, entitled “Equity, Rights and Progress towards the MDGs”.

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For information media • not an official record