SHANTAL MUNRO-KNIGHT: NGOs have vital role

I will declare openly this week that for the first time I am completely biased in my writing.

I have spent the large majority of my life doing development work, as a volunteer in the first instance and then working full-time. I am deeply passionate about the non-governmental sector, not only about the issues but about the organisations themselves. Because I understand the tremendous personal and financial sacrifice it takes to work in the sector, I am fiercely loyal and take great umbrage if anyone levels unfair criticism or is disrespectful to the sector.  

In particular, I am increasingly concerned that the non-governmental organization (NGO) sector in Barbados is in danger of becoming a mere shell of itself due to a lack of funding and recognition of its work and contribution. 

NGOs are made up of a wide cross section of organisations, service clubs, volunteers and associations all doing tremendously important work and contributing invaluably to addressing social problems. 

Think about organisations like the 4H club, the Hope Foundation, the Kiwanis, Pinelands Creative Workshop, The Barbados Vagrants and Homeless Society, the Barbados Family Planning Association and so many others.  

While some of the organisations might receive a small subvention from Government, many of them do their work out of sheer willpower and a drive for social change.

In many cases they have to seek funding to do their work from corporate sponsors or development partners. However, in the context of scare resources there has been a continual decline in funding coming to the sector from international donors, Government and corporate sponsors. On the international front, organisations in Barbados are finding it increasingly difficult to attract global funding. Barbados is perceived as either too rich to warrant funding (they should try actually living here for just a week) or they suggest that our social problems are comparatively not as acute as other countries.

In other words, we are not poor enough and we do not have enough pictures of children with flies on their faces. 

The national situation is more nuanced. I do not believe that there is sufficient appreciation for the work of the NGO sector in Barbados and how much we contribute to social development. While we will give some token recognition to volunteers and other community leaders we fail to fully understand the magnitude of work done by NGOs on several fronts that are helping to tackle very critical and real social issues.

Volunteers

We see government and big players like the UN agencies and the other development funders, but we forget that behind them are a whole set of organisations and volunteers who are working every day.

However, when it comes to prioritisation of resources, we are the very last on the totem pool for everyone. For governments, once there is a resource crunch the first budget cuts are subventions. For the corporate sector, priority goes to fetes and other public events that can give them bang for their buck. And for other development partners, they begin to narrow their focus and give money to only a selected few.

Additionally, while some people and organisations will give to causes, it is somehow felt that no money should actually go to the organisations to cover the expenses.

In other words, how you actually get the work done – in terms of human resources and other core costs – is up to you, but the money should just go specifically to the cause. Many organisations are therefore struggling to pay staff and serve their communities and constituencies. While I will not call names, I know of an organisation which kept its doors open every day and its programmes running but whose staff remained unpaid for several months. 

I do appreciate those corporate agencies and development partners who have continued to give. I challenge them, however, to take a closer look at what and how they are giving and whether the model is the best. Perhaps the critical reflection for us all is to imagine a Barbados without NGOs.  

Shantal Munro-Knight is a development specialist and executive coordinator at the Caribbean Policy Development Centre. Email shantalmunro@gmail.com