Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are engaged in multi-dimensional efforts that have been acknowledged globally in a number of development sectors, i.e. education, health, poverty, environment etc. We mean the NGOs are defined here as provided the social services through different donor-funded projects. However, we argue that this development path of NGOs can continue in the future with a major contribution of a country in achieving sustainable development goals (SDGs). Even, the future role of NGOs is now confused with many of us in the developing country when a country like Bangladesh has achieved a status of middle income country. The development professionals and the donors in Bangladesh have already started to think that the NGOs’ key development concept is near to end in Bangladesh, or found at similar trend in other countries of the world who we have already driven at faster income generation facilities in a significant portion of the development sectors. Therefore, the scenarios of development pattern in many NGOs of Bangladesh have recently been changed, or planning to change themselves with their operational mood in near future. It is certainly happening that we have achieved a lot in our development paths through NGOs’ operations, but we have to deserve much more from the NGOs in their future operations, especially in the era of SDGs when our future achievements have now been a more challenged, more dynamic and more ambitious than the past. Over the present development status of Bangladesh, NGOs’ activities should be more strategic and practical for their campaigning in some new areas of development that could be a key driver in achieving SDGs, particularly working in favor of some common indicators for inter-governmental negotiations, partnerships, pollution prevention, protecting human rights or, any other country specific demands. Upholding NGOs role for sustainable development
Over the present development status of Bangladesh, NGOs activities should be more strategic and practical for their campaigning in some new areas of development that could be a key driver in achieving SDGs
Polin Kumar Saha
Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are engaged in multi-dimensional efforts that have been acknowledged globally in a number of development sectors, i.e. education, health, poverty, environment etc. We mean the NGOs are defined here as provided the social services through different donor-funded projects. However, we argue that this development path of NGOs can continue in the future with a major contribution of a country in achieving sustainable development goals (SDGs). Even, the future role of NGOs is now confused with many of us in the developing country when a country like Bangladesh has achieved a status of middle income country. The development professionals and the donors in Bangladesh have already started to think that the NGOs key development concept is near to end in Bangladesh, or found at similar trend in other countries of the world who we have already driven at faster income generation facilities in a significant portion of the development sectors. Therefore, the scenarios of development pattern in many NGOs of Bangladesh have recently been changed, or planning to change themselves with their operational mood in near future. It is certainly happening that we have achieved a lot in our development paths through NGOs operations, but we have to deserve much more from the NGOs in their future operations, especially in the era of SDGs when our future achievements have now been a more challenged, more dynamic and more ambitious than the past. Over the present development status of Bangladesh, NGOs activities should be more strategic and practical for their campaigning in some new areas of development that could be a key driver in achieving SDGs, particularly working in favor of some common indicators for inter-governmental negotiations, partnerships, pollution prevention, protecting human rights or, any other country specific demands.
However, towards achieving our sustainable development goals, we may think about the transformation of the NGOs role in some following manner:
1. Expecting the future development indicators where NGOs may work for, first of all we think, NGOs should be focused on their power and capacity in forming some new partnerships and collaboration, specifically on intra-governments and inter-governmental or public-private processes. The state organizations and NGOs can move forward together from different regulatory actions and public functions while NGOs can begin to fix their highlights on powerful corporations of course in terms of building of individual institutional resources, capacity and influence.
2. The foreign aid can be negotiated by innovating such areas for future development where we are not reaching up to the international standards. In this case, we can higher various measurement indicators from the listed international rankings considering an assessment about Bangladeshs progress in the respective field, i.e. indicators for happy countries, best livable countries, corruption free countries, healthy cities etc. Apart from this, working for particular SDG related indicators certainly helps to seek for some new funding or investment to the country. In contrast, government priorities for development may be considered in the fund seeking process since the government has a great influential power over the societal change. For example, the digitalization process of Bangladesh government may create different working opportunities in the field of information and communications technology; so NGOs should have attention to focus on those issues including other environmental and social externalities for the future activity. Here we should remember the business activities of NGOs that must be integrated in those attempts, since we have learned some key messages from the concerned SDGs which guide us for thinking in that direction achieving our present needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.
3. The next, multinational brands have now been extremely vulnerable to pressure from donors and activists that eager to challenge of a companys labor rights, environmental or human rights, social security, gender sensitivity etc. So, NGO businesses should turn to be specialized in world standard visible branded services. Not only this, NGOs goods must overcome external pressure with the help of NGOs capacity in developing their own tools and techniques and downstream an irritated attitude of customers and stakeholders. In additional responses, development professionals should care about a value in favor of a broader stakeholder approach, which not only ensures an increased share value, but thinks about how this value to be sustained.
4. NGOs have better infrastructures and strategic paths to reach at grassroots level for empowering poor towards achieving sustainable development. From our previous experiences, we can show many visible demonstrations of this shift. But a modification of development paths is presently a new challenging phenomenon in the area of many social and environmental affairs. So, the new role of NGOs should be an integrated approach taking responsibility on many externalities and reporting on the outcome of NGO activities on a range of stakeholder groups.
5. One question may be raised in future NGOs operations how NGOs can be a business focused in achieving SDGs? For shifting in the businesses, the NGO community can be a ubiquitous in terms of innovating public services to their members. Therefore, research-driven policy should be taken in the future looking forward to an engagement of different stakeholders in the decision-making process. More communications and dialogues are an essential part at this critical event. However, the NGOs-business relationships are shown as a willingness of different NGOs to work alongside business, with a concern of corporate social responsibility and explain how old style of partnership transforms a new form of philanthropy.
However, the transformation of our diverse NGOs is now shared with a long term financial objectives rather than holding up their non-profit status only. Long term financial goal is able to dedicate themselves to work with the issues which take place across longer time periods, such as climate change, pollution prevention, non-communicable disease prevention or at some SDGs where our position is so far from the acceptable progress of other countries, or just at very preliminary stages of our existing progress on overall countrys achievements. The new and long term strategic actions might be newly formed of development paths in some major areas like ensuring sustainable cities, sustainable consumption, industrial innovation, water harvesting, clean energy, decent work place, inequalities, quality of life, peaceful life requirements, or many other crosscutting issues relating those major areas. Some references of public surveys claim that NGOs have higher public trust than other organizations, which is of course an opportunity to construct them as a more useful platform in the future to attain a new mission for sustainability - but not always satisfactory - proxy for the concerns of stakeholders and society.
Finally, we again emphasize on new partnerships and collaboration of NGOs to be a remarkable contributor in achieving countrys SDGs, but not all NGOs should stand on this partnership with the private sector. This is why, some should make a distance from others to sustain by publicizing, evaluating, monitoring, and criticizing in cases where collaborations fail to take their impacts leading the wider community.
The writer is Senior Research Associate and Sustainability professional at BRAC Research and Evaluation Division
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