I heard a statistic the other day that there were over 33,000 registered NGO’s and INGO’s in Nepal – some active and some not, but still…a very large number of folks committed, in theory, to some kind of social change. 

After the past 5 months of listening, observing, understanding, and trying to make sense of it all, I must admit that I am stumped.  I am utterly confused about what the purpose of all these agencies truly is. And let me speak, somewhat more in turn here for a minute, within the boundaries of my work. 

I have read and digested countless statistics about access and quality of education in Nepal…bleak, bleak, and bleaker.  We still have about 30% of children not enrolled in school – and of course this number does not include the number of enrolled children who are technically “on the roster” but who just don’t come to school because they are working in brick factories, have a disability that prevents them from attending school, are HIV positive, or face discrimination in the classroom because of all the above OR because of their caste, gender, or the fact that they speak their own indigenous language.

Within that 30%, the proportion of children from these excluded groups is grossly over represented compared to population numbers (and even the population numbers are skewed as the last census was done in 2001…).

So, who should be held accountable?  Is it the government, who has been focused on waging a civil war for the past 10 years?  The donor agencies who try to solve every problem with money?  The community members, who have neither time nor energy to demand for much as they struggle to feed families and stay alive?  Or the thousands of NGOs and INGOs who seem to tackle every problem in isolation…never considering for a moment that perhaps a better approach would be to pool energy and resources and collaborate.

Nepal is a country of where inaction is so common that people have been paralysed by the influx and proliferation of development agencies.  The more NGOs and INGOs we can pack into this teeny country, the less responsibility we can demand from those who are truly responsible and the more chaotic, splintered and less cohesive are the voices of those who really matter.  

I realize that there are limitations to centralization of services and government intervention but I feel compelled to argue that I actually think we have entered into a state of dependency here.  Everyone has their own organizational or individual mission statements that inhibit the genuine work of helping people…and that is not even speaking of how this inhibits the possibility of any form of collaboration.  The only way to manage the collaboration is to work through a government system where they can collect, collate, and coordinate development efforts.

Instead what we have now is what I imagine must graphically look something like the work of a leaf blower: a few scattered piles that are tossed to the air at the first hint of a breeze, not for a moment likely to stay on course and land together at the same destination. 

It has become a development industry…a business in which people can secure a job as long as some blind-folded donor agency is willing to hand over the cash.  We know that talk is cheap here – it doesn’t matter what is promised or by whom – it is the action that is still missing. 

And yet, I can rant and rave about where I see development work faltering, but I cannot, for a moment, imagine how families and children who depend on development work for support would be impacted if it all ended.

We need leadership, vision, and action from government.  It can be certain that if the government direction is strong, ethical, and humane the INGOs, NGOs, and donors will be compelled to follow…