Written by Dr. Kausar Talat   

NGOs – Non Government Organizations or
The No Good Organizations
An analysis of NGOs modus operandi and their influence
by
Dr. Kausar Talat
positivPakistan.org
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According to James Petra (1999), professor of Sociology at Binghamton University New York, NGOs are not "non-governmental" organizations as they receive funds from overseas governments, work as private sub-contractors of local governments and/or are subsidized by corporate funded private foundations that keep close working relations with the state. Frequently NGO’s openly collaborate with governmental agencies at home or overseas. These NGOs are not accountable to local people but to overseas donors who "review" and "oversee" their performance according to their own criteria and interests as the recent case of Ukraine and Turkey. So what is an NGO in reality? How do they operate and function? What do they control and how effective they are?
A noble concept started in the 19th century and finally recognized by UN in 1950’s has grown out of control. These self-appointed organizations are answerable to no constituency. Unelected or selected, ignorant of local and cultural realities, they confront those democratically chosen and those who voted them into office. Some even go as far as against the judiciary and armed forces of the country – institutions responsible for national integrity. NGOs such as International Crisis Group have openly interfered on behalf of the non-state characters in Macedonia while advising confrontation as in Pakistan. Such encroachment on state sovereignty allows NGOs to get involved from local corruption to domestic affairs and into foreign affairs of the host country. They serve as self-appointed witnesses, judges, jury and executioner all rolled into one the behavior of GEO media house in Pakistan. A sudden surge of NGOs involvement in Pakistan, especially from Britain, speaks to the negative effects that NGO's have had on areas of education within the country. Over the last decade after 9/11, NGO's in Pakistan have "fragmented the local education system, undermined local control of education programs, and contributed to growing social inequality and division in society. Most NGO's operating in Pakistan function as state agency within the state under the protection of their represented government
embassies. For example after denying for years, in the education sector both TCF – The Citizen Foundation and HDF have proudly acknowledged on their web-site, collaboration with British government to teach and promote English as language in a country with 20 hours of load shedding daily. As if English is the panacea of all problems in Pakistan. Most of these NGO’s with an uncoordinated agenda, creating parallel projects undermining local education system, and takes away the governments' ability to maintain agency over their own education sector. Readers must note here that from China, to Indonesia and Malaysia to Germany, Poland and Russia – all have made remarkable progress without making English as their educational medium. Pakistan is the only country that delivers its education in a foreign language.

Regardless of their cause or modus operandi, all NGOs are top heavy with entrenched, well paid with perks and benefits and elite status bureaucracies (Ask NGOs for audited reports and that what percentage is spent on their administration). The bulk of the income of most non-governmental organizations, even the largest ones, comes from – foreign governments and foundations associated with some western think tanks. In fact many NGOs serve as official contractors for foreign governments as did the Black Water during the massive earthquake in northern Pakistan. A construction company, using Backwater experts provided help to US agencies in mapping the terrain in Kashmir while acting as charity organization collaborating with Pakistani diaspora. NGOs normally serve as long arms of their sponsoring states – gathering intelligence, burnishing their image, and promoting their interest. There is a revolving door between the staff of NGOs and government bureaucracies the world over making it difficult to track the organizers.

Today there are millions of NGOs registered around the world, specifically in poor countries under the auspices of charity organizations, policy institutions and disguise as think tanks, educators, or under the cover of UNO, IMF, World Bank and so on. According to Dr. Sam Vaknin in his book “Magnificent Self Love” in critical and politically sensitive regions of the world, multiple NGOs are receiving over 3-5 billion US dollars in funding from international financial institutions, Euro-US-Japanese governmental agencies and local governments for various projects, from women empowerment to teach English. In Pakistan eighty-seven percent of the NGOs are involved in the education sector subsidized and supported by numerous foreign governments, specifically Scandinavian and British governments with their agencies assaulting Pakistan’s ideology and cultural base, challenging independence and integrity of the country and Islamic values in the name of progress and education. Current tussle between People and GEO media house in Pakistan started when at that time Inter-Services Intelligence Chief General Zaheerul Islam told bluntly British ambassador not to try changing the Pakistan ideology. British delegation was meeting the general on how to help Pakistan when they boasted funding to GEO. The NGOs world-wide have become the latest vehicle for upward mobility (also emphasized in O level curriculum of Pakistan) for the ambitious and already entrenched and well to do elite classes. NGOs are busy bodies, preachers, critics, do-gooders, and professional altruists, self-appointed, and not answerable to any constituency. These NGOs are the parasites who feed off natural and man-made disasters, mismanagement of the government, corruption, conflict, and strife (as in Pakistan and exclusively in Muslim countries) all contributed by their sponsors to impose their agenda. These NGO’s are the silent WMDs – Weapon of Mass Disruption - launched through social media for the sole purpose of disrupting a normal society or to increased chaos creating mass hysteria about every little negative happening as in case of GEO, JUNG and DAWN media houses in Pakistan. Irony is that these are the state media under the regulation of PEMRA a government monitoring authority confirming the strength of such NGOs. Mass protest in Turkey and Ukraine as shown and promoted on western media are other classical examples of the effectiveness of these WMD attacks on societies.

NGOs wherever they exist also appear to have a contradictory role in politics of the host country. On one hand they criticize dictatorships and human rights violations. While on the other hand they compete with radical socio-political and religious groups, attempting to hi-jack popular movements; for example ‘Arab spring’ in Egypt and downfall of President Morsi, reforms in Turkey, clothing workers in Bangladesh and other movements in the Middle East. NGOs normally flourish during three situations either in real or through manipulated events. First as a safe haven for dissident intellectuals pursuing the issue of human rights violations and organizing "survival strategies" for victims. These humanitarian NGOs however, are careful not to denounce the role of the western (US and European) complicity with the local perpetrators of human rights violations such as recent hanging of political leaders in Bangladesh and events in Ukraine but are very vocal in case of person guilty of espionage such as Dr. Shakeel Afridi in Pakistan. Second, the funding of the NGOs can be considered as kind of buying insurance by foreign governments so in case the incumbent reactionaries falter such as the case in Egypt where US sponsored NGOs activated social WMD using social media supported by artificial shortage of bread, water and petroleum – basic needs of common citizen . This was also the case with the "critical" NGOs that appeared during the Marcos regime in the Philippines, the Pinochet regime in Chile, the Park dictatorship in Korea, and most recently in Turkey against Tayyap Erdogan. The third circumstance in which number of NGOs emerge and multiplies is during economic crises provoked by free market capitalism under the dictate of IMF and World Banks such as in Pakistan where the situation is going to get worse in coming months along with power crisis. It is interesting to note here that in a country where 12-18 hours of load shedding is normal, where the industry shuts down because of lack of electricity thus increasing unemployment and poverty, Britain and other western countries are more concerned with the education and teaching English to the masses instead of assisting with power generation locally.

In financial or economic hardships, and during natural disasters, when the local industry comes to a halt due to lack of investment or energy crisis, the jobs disappears and purchasing power of the common man decline. In that case, as happening currently in south and south East Asia second job becomes a necessity disturbing the family structure. Who would be the second job holder? Of course the wife, and the daughter, or the mother within the family to mitigate family financial hardships. Not so surprisingly these NGOs suddenly than become job placement agencies and consultancy disguising as a safety net for the middle class. This safety net is further extended to potentially downwardly mobile intellectuals who are willing to carry on the collaborative policies of NGOs, their sponsors, and other international institutions as influencers in the society e.g. Dr. Shakeel Afridi who collaborated with CIA in alleged killing of Osama Bin Laden in Pakistan or the most recent incidence of attack on a journalist in Pakistan and in the aftermath, the behavior of the media (GEO TV, JANG and DAWN news etc.) accusing the Army and its institutions . The middle class society that used to not have much but also no one used to starve within either, suddenly faces disruption of the families, the basis of social fabric and harmony of the society (WMD effects). Similarly during the on-going “war on terror “(man-made disaster) millions are displaced in north west frontier of Pakistan losing their jobs spreading poverty to important swaths of the population, the very same NGOs becomes protagonist engaging in preventative actions focusing on "survival strategies" not general strikes; organizing soup kitchens not mass demonstrations against food hoarders, corrupt regimes or western policies that are the cause of all the disruption and damage to their society interfering their way of life as it is happening in Khyber Pakthun Khawa province.

Majority of NGOs are proponents of Western values – women’s lib, Gay and Lesbian rights, freedom of press and media, equality, etc. etc. Not every society finds this liberal menu palatable. The arrival of NGOs often provokes social polarization and cultural clashes. Traditionalists in Bangladesh and India, nationalists in Macedonia, religious zealots in Israel, Pakistan and Afghanistan clash with the security forces everywhere. The British government spent well over 30 million dollars annually into “Proshika”, a Bangladeshi NGO. It started as a women’s education outfit and ended up as a restive and aggressive women political lobby group with budget to rival many ministries in this impoverished Muslim and patriarchal country. The British foreign office finances a host of NGOs – including the
fiercely ‘independent’ Global Witness – in troubled spots such as Angola and other African countries. Most NGOs in place like Sudan, Somalia, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and in Africa have become the preferred venue for Western aid – both humanitarian and financial. According to Red Cross more money goes through NGOs than through World Bank. Their iron grip on food, medicine, education and unlimited funds in case of Pakistan rendered them an alternative government imposing their values and ideologies on poor masses. Even local businessmen, politicians, journalists and media houses (“Aman ki Asha” operated by Jung newspaper and GEO TV in Pakistan) form NGOs to plug into Western largesse. In the process, they award themselves with commercial advertising contracts, perks, and preferred access to Western goods and credits.

Therefore the writer appeal to the readers to think twice before putting hand in their pocket thinking that they are helping the poor of the world. One must think about the after effects of projects with respect to social norm, culture, religion and heritage of the country. Having said the author acknowledge that all fingers are not equal and so the same applies to NGO’s such as Green Peace, though politically motivated some time, Oxfam, and many others. However one must be cautious and careful when asked to donate for education, human rights and to alleviate poverty in the third world. In last 60 years so much money has been given by gracious people that if spent wisely and for the sole purpose of which it was collected, we would have erased illiteracy and poverty from this face of earth.

Let me redefine NGO’s in the modified words of Jessica Mathews of Foreign Affairs magazine (1997) – NGO are special interest groups that are designed and used as extensions of the normal foreign policy instrument of certain Western countries and groups of countries. Unselected, unelected self- appointed altruists, with no constituency and accountability answerable to no-one, financed and controlled by foreign entities with specific agenda. Russian President Vladimir Putin confirmed that at the 43rd Munich Conference on Security Policy in 2007, concluding that these NGOs "are formally independent but they are purposefully financed and therefore under control." So must be registered as Foreign Agent in the country of their operation.
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