NGOs without aid: Beyond the global soup kitchen

Abstract

The past two decades have seen some of the most rapid changes in the world environment in recent human history. A key engine of change is a globalisation process led by capital flows of unprecedented magnitude, unevenly spread around the globe, which are increasingly dwarfing the role of ever diminishing concessional aid. Ironically, an NGO future with vastly decreased aid can herald a healthy transformation. It should facilitate a move away from the current resource transfer paradigm, reducing the asymmetrical and often unaccountable power that is currently conferred on Northern NGOs in their relationships with their Southern counterparts. Thereby, it should engender more genuine partnerships between such organisations, altering the substantive roles of both Northern and Southern NGOs and the relationships between them. Moving beyond relations premised on aid should enhance the possibilities of building a much stronger global movement for social justice and poverty eradication.