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By John Samuel
The Nobel Peace Prize for Mohammed Yunus of the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh affirms the transformative potential of people's entrepreneurship and voluntary initiatives -- beyond the State and market - to alleviate poverty and advance human rights and social development
The Nobel Peace Prize for Professor Mohammed Yunus of Bangladesh is the affirmation of an idea; an idea whose time has come. An idea that has demonstrated that people's initiatives, propelled by passionate vision and the courage of conviction, can be inspiring and innovative, with greater transformative potential. An idea that has proved that people's entrepreneurship and voluntary initiatives, beyond the conventional boundaries of State and market, can help herald peace by challenging poverty, inequality and injustice.
 The Nobel Peace Prize for the environmentalist Wangari Maathai of Kenya in 2004 and for Mohammed Yunus this year affirm the role of non-State actors in alleviating poverty, providing services, advancing human rights, environmental protection and attaining peace and social development.
What are often termed Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) or Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) are the institutional expression of individual as well as collective efforts for practical and innovative solutions to societal problems and issues. While there is a long history of charity, voluntary action and philanthropy, the institutionalisation of social action, with a clear vision, mission and operations, is relatively new.
Bangladesh has been at the forefront of such innovative experiments and efforts. The initiatives of BRAC, Grameen, Proshika and hundreds of such organisations have played a significant role in helping Bangladesh achieve substantive social and human development in less than 30 years. Extremely well-organised institutions such as BRAC, Grameen and Proshika combine in many ways the characteristics of civil society initiatives and corporate innovations that make strategic use of the market. Non-governmental organisations have become the second-largest source of employment in Bangladesh. Grameen, BRAC and many other organisations have also developed a self-reliant financial model, generating revenues within the country by strategically investing the international funding and aid they have received over many years.
Grameen and BRAC have influenced development thinking and efforts across the world, though the validity of such big corporate models for effective poverty eradication has been contested by many activists. BRAC has become one of the largest NGOs in the world, spreading to different parts of Asia and Africa and providing employment to almost 100,000 people.
Grameen has proved that poor women are credit-worthy, and the Bank has become the most well-known brand for microcredit in the world. Though there have been a number of questions and debates about the effectiveness of microcredit as a means of empowering poor women or serving the needs of the absolute poor, there is no denying that Grameen has initiated a development model that has helped relatively poor women increase their incomes incrementally.
Many of us have questioned the politics of microcredit and the tendency of neoliberal market forces to use microcredit as a tool to penetrate rural areas and the lives of the poor. However, many organisations such as SEWA (Self-Employed Women's Association) and thousands of self-help groups in India and other parts of the world have used microfinance as an effective tool to boost the income levels and market capability of relatively poor women. Whether such efforts will lead to the effective eradication of poverty or the empowerment of women still remains a valid question.
The voluntary sector and NGOs is very diverse in character, mission, roles and politics. There have been a number of debates about the role of so-called foreign funding, primarily propelled by the scepticism of the orthodox and extreme left. Because of the increasing social relevance, influence and viability of these organisations, there is an onslaught and misinformation campaign by religious fundamentalists, powerful vested interests and neo-conservative forces.
The ambivalence and ambiguities of the entire sector arise from diverse ideological perspectives and operational modes. They often reflect the contradictions, dilemmas, power structures, interests, ideals and aspirations within a given society.
Though many NGOs are supported by international funds, the perception that there are always strings attached to foreign funding is incorrect. A substantial number of international and national organisations raise their funds from millions of ordinary people across the world and symbolise the global solidarity for peace, justice and ending poverty. They have become an important source of employment-generation. The wide spectrum of such initiatives includes very small community-based organisations in remote villages, well-organised institutions at the national and international level, and even global initiatives like the World Social Forum. They reach out to billions of people -- poor, excluded and marginalised across the world.
The significance of voluntary organisations and NGOs has increased largely due to the relative failure of the State, mainstream political forces and market to address issues of inequality, injustice and poverty. The State is increasingly abdicating its social responsibility and redistributive role. Political parties have become electoral networks to capture State power, rather than vibrant people's organisations to ensure accountable, just and democratic governance.
Increasing economic growth in the world is accompanied by increasing inequality. Addressing issues of inequality and poverty is a prerequisite for sustainable peace. The voluntary institutional initiatives of inspired people such as Prof Yunus and millions of such efforts across the world contribute towards the dream of a world without poverty where everyone can live with dignity.
InfoChange News & Features, October 2006
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