I want to start by commenting on the title of this article. Whither NGOs or Wither NGOs? One means NGOs will decline and disappear, the other asks what is the future direction of NGOs? In these articles I wish to cover both topics

Obviously I am not an unbiased observer of NGOs. I have worked for two international NGOs, Oxfam and Save the Children, for the last 18 years in various capacities. I have been involved in more NGO coalitions and interagency activities than I could count over the years, which has involved hundreds of different NGOs. I spent two years on the Board of the umbrella group for Canadian NGOs, the Canadian Council for International Cooperation, and today I sit on the executive of the Code of Conduct Committee for NGOs in Ethiopia. So I can hardly say that I am unbiased about NGOs.

There is an old saying, that the problem with having long experience in any profession is that you know the downside so thoroughly. My experience with NGOs is no exception. I have been exposed to many mistakes, bad practices, and worse from NGOs, and I could tell you some stories that would no doubt shock you. So my bias is tempered with experience and a willingness to be critical and self-critical about NGOs and my own involvement.

However, these long years of experience on five continents has left me, if anything, a more ardent supporter of the principle of NGOs than ever. For every horror story, I have several stories of courage, determination and success. There are a lot of things which are better in the world because of the efforts of NGOs.

Initially I think we have to find a definition of NGOs which we all understand. I am often surprised by the mistaken definitions which I run across here in Ethiopia. In most parts of the world aid NGOs are quite obscure organizations, but in Ethiopia NGOs often have an exaggerated profile. In the media and in conversations I find that the term NGO has come to be an umbrella term for all aid organizations, including the UN and government aid agencies.

In fact, most Government Aid Agencies, such as USAID, European Union, Japan Aid, are much larger than all the NGOs put together. UN agencies are also generally huge compared to NGOs - the value of the food delivered by the World Food Programme this year alone in Ethiopia is larger than the budgets of all the NGOs in the country put together. We often see headlines such as "Ethiopia, UNDP sign 47 mln. USD grant accord" which so many people think of as NGO money, but it's not.

This is an important distinction, as the loose use of the term NGO to refer to the overall aid community means that NGOs get more credit, or more criticism, than they deserve.

One of the issues that arises from this is the question - if NGOs have put so much assistance into Ethiopia, then why haven't the problems of poverty been alleviated?? There have been several articles in local newspapers over the past months raising this question.

This begs two further questions - has there been sufficient assistance to Ethiopia overall to seriously address long-term development needs? And secondly - how much assistance has actually come through NGOs?

During the 1990s the amount of development assistance gradually increased as stability returned after the overthrow of the Derg government. However, overall levels of assistance, especially non-emergency assistance, were very low in Ethiopia. In 1999, the total amount of non-emergency assistance to Ethiopia from all sources was about US$660 million - around $11 per person. This was amongst the lowest rates of assistance per capita to any African country. Tanzania received about $40 per person, and even relatively rich South Africa received more per capita than Ethiopia. The countries which receive the highest amount of aid in the world are Egypt and, of course Israel, which is quite a rich country and receives the most aid. This is of course outrageous.

These decisions on rates of development assistance were made by donors, against the hard lobbying of NGOs. International NGOs such as Save the Children lobbied hard for increased assistance to Ethiopia. The total amount of NGO assistance to the country, which is normally 5-10% of the total aid to an African country, was almost 20% in Ethiopia, reflecting the higher priority NGOs accorded to Ethiopia than Donors. However, the total amount of assistance from NGOs in 1999, an estimated $120 million, was still less than $2 per person in Ethiopia, not enough to make a significant difference on macro-economic measures.

Ironically, NGOs have come under criticism for focussing too much on emergencies and not enough on long-term development, as in this example I have from The Reporter newspaper. I can assure everyone that NGOs have been struggling for long-term development support, but have not received the level of donor support needed to seriously tackle the problem.

What is it that NGOs are here for? Recently Shell Corporation sent some people to Ethiopia to pilot a support programme for aid projects here. They invited a number of NGOs to a meeting and asked us if we wanted to be involved and what the role of NGOs could be that was different from business. This led to a discussion, which in turn resulted in me being asked to write up something on the value added of NGOs. Here is the list I came up with:

Moral vision

Credibility

Inclusion of benefit to the poor or marginalized, including women, disabled, etc.

Child friendly activities

Analysis of poverty and poverty reduction

On the ground experience in:

<![if !supportLists]>- <![endif]>food security

<![if !supportLists]>- <![endif]>food assistance and purchase

<![if !supportLists]>- <![endif]>inputs packages for farmers

<![if !supportLists]>- <![endif]>alternative production

<![if !supportLists]>- <![endif]>environmentally friendly crop loss control

<![if !supportLists]>- <![endif]>environment protection

<![if !supportLists]>- <![endif]>livelihood analysis and diversification

<![if !supportLists]>- <![endif]>nutritional assessment and impact monitoring

<![if !supportLists]>- <![endif]>food information systems

<![if !supportLists]>- <![endif]>income generation

<![if !supportLists]>- <![endif]>basic services provision

<![if !supportLists]>- <![endif]>water provision

<![if !supportLists]>- <![endif]>irrigation

<![if !supportLists]>- <![endif]>women focussed and gender sensitive programmes

<![if !supportLists]>- <![endif]>livestock and veterinary support

<![if !supportLists]>- <![endif]>marketing

<![if !supportLists]>- <![endif]>market tracking and analysis

much more

Relationships with government officials and local NGOs at Federal, Regional, Woreda and local levels

Experience with business in Ethiopia

Cultural sensitivity

Common sense

Integrity

Another definition of the mission of NGOs was compiled in lengthy discussions in the development of the Code of Conduct for NGOs in Ethiopia. This definition is:

"Our general mission as NGOs operating in Ethiopia is to improve and advance the public good, the quality of life of those who are disadvantaged and vulnerable and the proper management of the environment for future generations. To realise this mission, NGOs shall seek to empower and build community capacity, and provide services for sustainable development. They shall also work in partnership with each other, the Government, donors, community partners and the public."

The Code of Conduct further elaborates in detail on standards of conduct which NGO signatories are expected to live up to. If there is a complaint about an NGO, the Code of Conduct Observance committee, of which I am a member, reviews the complaint and if the NGO is found to be in breach of the Code of Conduct they are removed as a signatory.

These standards of conduct, which also summarizes the principles which NGO strive to live up to, include People-centred, Fairness and Equity, Moral and Ethical Integrity, Transparency and Accountability, Good Governance, Independence, Communication and Collaboration, Gender Equity, Environmental Consciousness, Sustainability, and Impact

In order to be able to fulfill this role, NGOs must do a large number of things. They must have good management, good staff, funding, good working relations with the government, a favourable working environment and all the other things that make an enterprise work. Let us assume these things. If there are specific incidents of NGOs involved in wrongdoing then there are mechanisms for redress, through the Code of Conduct Committee, the Ministry of Justice NGO registration and de-registration process, and the courts.

More importantly and relevantly, NGOs must have an ability to be self-critical and improve. Development in my view is more of an art than a science. If we had a blueprint for development that would work in any area or in Ethiopia as a whole, then presumably all we would have to do is apply the blueprint, create development, and then apart from anything else, I could go home.

Development is not that simple. There are no automatic blueprints. There is much worthwhile experience and there are successful models from different places, but for the most part development is a process of trial and error. The strength that NGOs can bring to the development process is an ability and willingness to be innovative and be willing to learn from successes and mistakes. By trying out several or several hundred different approaches to various challenges in development, NGOs can test and determine with partners - communities and government - the best approaches to tackle development.

(Next week see Part II of the series: NGOs and the State.)

Ed.'s Note: John Graham is the Programme Director of Save the Children (UK) in Ethiopia, and author of the book "Ethiopia: Off the Beaten Trail"