October 14, 2020

Of NGOs, Values and Importance

Virtually every organization claims to be value based. The challenge for NGOs is to ensure that the organization’s values are relevant and genuinely inform the life of the organization.

Folger, in Investopedia, a website for investors, consumers, financial professionals, describes Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO) as a non-profit, citizen-based group that functions independently of government. NGOs, sometimes called civil societies, are organized on community, national and international levels to serve specific social or political purposes, and are cooperative, rather than commercial, in nature (Folger 2018).

Effective individuals and organizations comply with certain laws that help them thrive and set them apart. These rules are the basic concepts that shape the working style of individuals and their organizations to a large degree. A principle can be characterized as a rule that helps people in understanding the background around us and then accordingly suggests the best way to work in the given condition. NGO’s operate within a principle guide and values. Their vision and mission statement spell them out.


What are NGO Values?

The Toronto Declaration of NGO Core values, during the 2007 World Congress of NGOs organized by the World Association of Non-Governmental Organizations (WANGO), sets out 12 NGO basic core values that underpin all NGOs.

Service beyond self, respect for human rights, maintaining a vision, responsibility, cooperation beyond borders, public mindedness, accountability, truthfulness, transparency, non-profit integrity, comprehensive viewpoint, and volunteerism are the core values.

Why are organizational values important?

Towerstone Leadership Centre writes that organizational values reside in stakeholders' hands, minds and hearts, or not at all. Organizational principles guide the way we affect, how we communicate with each other, and how we work together to produce results. Organizational principles are not explanations of the work we do or the tactics we use to accomplish our task, they are the invisible drivers of our behavior, based on our profoundly held convictions that guide decision-making. The common behaviors of all workers become the organizational culture - “the way we do things around here” - upholding the organization's pledge to stakeholders. 

This commitment lies at the heart of the branding of the company, the meaning of its branding, and workers must fulfil it. The real brand ambassadors are those workers who consistently uphold the brand commitment by promoting and living out organizational values. A significant measure of organizational wellness is the relative number of brand ambassadors in every organization.

As an example, Apple's brand ambassadors are those who adhere to the Apple ideals, as opposed to those who merely like the concept of being associated with Apple, or the advantages of working for Apple. The same applies to Harley-Davidson, Ikea and McDonald's. It is doubtful that anyone would succeed at an organization whose principles they do not adhere to.

They guide the management, staff, and stakeholders towards a common vision, and also towards probable future partnerships and funding commitments.

Bhutan has 39 registered Public Benefit Organizations, which are all NGOs. Australia has 58 in the list of accredited NGOs including base and full accreditation.

So, what is happening?

Nearly every NGO is founded on principles. The challenge for NGOs is to ensure that the principles of the organization are important and that the life of the organisation is truly informed. Oxfam Australia’s vision is to create ‘a just and sustainable world without the inequalities that keep people in poverty.’ Likewise, the NGO Exceed’s vision is ‘creating possibilities, exceeding expectations, futures without limits’, which is a far cry from the original vision of the organization. 

Therein lies the problem. Many times, the ideals that an NGO stands for are either rejected or molded to put in new ones. This solely happens due to many unforeseen circumstances and directions.

People and Values

Sometimes the people who work in the NGO will lead to deterioration of the values they stand for, especially when there is a direct contrast in the conduct of the workers. Case in point the NGO Oxfam scandal of 2018, where it was alleged its staff hired prostitutes while working in Haiti post 2010 earthquake (BBC 2018). This rattled its reputation, leading to the resignation of many top Oxfam employees including the-then director of operations.

In the aftermath of this controversy and as a consequence of the global funding crises, Oxfam will close in 18 countries cutting 1,500 staff (Beaumont 2020).

Change in Direction 

Sometimes the change in circumstances and roles lead to change in the vision of the NGO, which may not necessarily be negative. The prosthetics NGO named Cambodia Trust changed to Exceed in 2014, in line with its expansion from an NGO specific to Cambodia into a multinational organization spanning many countries of south east Asia (Henderson 2014). The change began when it diverted its resources and expanded into neighboring Philippines, Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Myanmar.

But the change in direction was just expansion. Its core value was never diminished.

Adapting to the Local Culture and Politics

Foreign NGOs typically operate in countries of the Third World, with most of the founding partners from the north of the world. There is, therefore, a contrast between the employees and the working environment, especially in relation to the nomenclature. Most international NGOs come from English-speaking Christian countries, while non-English - speaking Muslims, Buddhists or other religions are the normal countries in which they operate.

There is a need to adapt to the host culture and political situation. This is usually a tricky situation which requires substantial amount or research and adaptability. Sometimes arrangements need to be brokered for the NGO to work affectively for their cause. For the greater good, alliances and deals need to be leveraged with the local governments (Asad & Kay 2014). 

NGOs as a pseudo-government

Multi-national NGOs have budgets greater than other nations, and they have tremendous power and control with that money in running their operations in their country of action. Their system of government and staff often overshadow many nations.

This provides them with an advantage on the negotiation table, making them almost a pseudo-government.

NGO disrupting the local economy

There have been occasions where an NGO pouring money into the local economy has disrupted the local economy. Take the example of a local NGO named the Loden Foundation in Bhutan. This organization offers collateral and interest-free loans to local micro-entrepreneur’s start-ups as part of its mandates. It may not sum up to anything in the international arena, but for Bhutan, a country with a population of 0.7 million and a barely surviving financial lending institutions, Loden's loan destroys the financial institutions that rely on the interests from such enterprises.

The viability of local financial institutions is therefore threatened.

Corruptions

Corruption is the most horrible thing attached to development assistance and another major international issue and subject in the speeches of international conferences and policy forums. For non-governmental efforts, it should also be a target issue. A survey, Exporting Corruption-Privatization, Multinationals and Bribery, reports that Western corporations pay $80 billion a year in bribes, approximately the sum that the United Nations believes is required to eliminate global poverty.

NGOs have come under scrutiny for spending too great a proportion of funds on staff-salaries and management, thereby reducing the footprint of actual expenses on aid. Like the example of Australian Red Cross spending 10%of its bushfire donations on administration costs in Jan 2020. Though this may not be a corruption, it is a far cry from their commitment of 100% fund transfer to the victims as advertised during the donation drive.

Conclusion

Taking all the above examples of various NGOs, the core values that were earlier discusses are almost misrepresented. These are the tremendous and sincere challenges for NGOs to ensure that the principles of the organization are important and true. The existence and reputation of the NGO may even dependent on them. 

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Reference list

Asad, AL & Kay, T 2014, ‘Theorizing the Relationship between NGOs and the State in Medical Humanitarian Development Projects’, Social Science & Medicine, vol. 120, pp. 325–333.

BBC 2018, ‘Oxfam Haiti allegations: How the Scandal Unfolded’, BBC News, 21 February, viewed 19 September 2020, <https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-43112200>.

Beaumont, P 2020, ‘Oxfam to Close in 18 Countries and Cut 1,500 Staff amid Coronavirus Pressures’, The Guardian, 20 May, viewed 15 September 2020, <https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2020/may/20/oxfam-to-close-in-18-countries-and-cut-1500-staff-amid-coronavirus-pressures>.

CSOA n.d., List of PBOs, www.csoa.org.bt, viewed 15 September 2020, <https://www.csoa.org.bt/public/pbinfo/pbo>.

DFAT n.d., List of Australian Accredited non-government Organisations (NGOs) | DFAT, www.dfat.gov.au, viewed 17 September 2020, <https://www.dfat.gov.au/aid/who-we-work-with/ngos/Pages/list-of-australian-accredited-non-government-organisations>.

Exceed Worldwide 2014, Exceed Worldwide, Exceed, viewed 22 September 2020, <https://www.exceed-worldwide.org/>.

Folger, J 2018, What Is an NGO (Non-Governmental Organization)?, Investopedia, viewed 18 September 2020, <https://www.investopedia.com/ask/answers/13/what-is-non-government-organization.asp>.

Henderson, S 2014, 25 Years On, Prosthetics NGO Changes Direction, The Cambodia Daily, viewed 16 September 2020, <https://english.cambodiadaily.com/news/25-years-on-prosthetics-ngo-changes-direction-51761/>.

Loden Foundation 2015, Loden Foundation, Loden.org, viewed 17 September 2020, <https://loden.org/>.

Oxfam Australia 2019, You and Oxfam, Tackling Poverty Together, Oxfam Australia, viewed 18 September 2020, <https://www.oxfam.org.au/>.

The Guardian 2020, Australian Red Cross Defends Spending 10% of Bushfire Donations on Office Costs, the Guardian, viewed 19 September 2020, <https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/jan/24/australian-red-cross-defends-spending-10-of-bushfire-donations-on-office-costs>.

Towerstone Leadership Centre 2016, What Are Organisational Values and Why Are They important?, TowerStone Leadership Centre, viewed 18 September 2020, <https://www.towerstone-global.com/what-are-organisational-values-and-why-are-they-important/>.

WANGO 2007, World Congress of NGOs - Toronto Declaration of NGO Core Values, www.wango.org, viewed 18 September 2020, <https://www.wango.org/congress2007/declaration.aspx>.

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