bout de papier, Vol. 7, No. 3 (1990), p. 44
Bridges of Hope? Canadian Voluntary
Agencies and the Third World by Tim
Brodhead, Brent Herbert-Copley and Anne-
Marie Lambert, North-South Institute, 1988.
173 pp., $14.00.
The book “Bridges of Hope?” represents one of the most comprehensive and in-depth analysis to date of the nature, complexities, and challenges facing the Canadian NGO community. Without doubt, this book is a “must” for anyone attempting to understand Canadian voluntary agencies, or for any who would be involved (whether directly or indirectly) in their vast array of mandates and programs.
Brodhead, Copley and Lambert have examined the distinctive features of the NGO’s role in international development cooperation and identified some of the common strengths and weaknesses of these groups. They have, as well, assessed the effectiveness of these efforts in helping to meet development needs and in mobilizing and channelling public support for international development.
While the style reflects a clinically analytical approach, many of the recommendations and conclusions are challenging.
Perhaps the most profound insight which “Bridges of Hope?” offers into the potential of NGO strength is found in the closing paragraphs, where it is stated:
The uniqueness of the NGOs rests [less] in their capacity to fund isolated projects than in their potential for turning the current — and failing — model of development upside down (which is to say, right side up): transferring its focus from the exclusive right of governments to set priorities and allocate resources, to that of the rights of people, individually and collectively, to determine and act on their visions for the future, in short, to democratize development.
It is sometimes difficult for governments to distinguish between the interests of the state and those of the regime in office: by offering the advantages of pluralism, decentralization and responsiveness, NGOs can have a corrective function, not substituting for governments but helping to ensure their accountability.”
I found it most encouraging that not only the humanitarian, but also the social and political impact of the collective NGO community has been recognized. In a world where so much of the solution to the world’s suffering rests in the political will of leaders to identify and change the inherent and complex systemmic weaknesses of stagnant, regressive and sometimes oppressive social structures, this recognition creates an awesome responsibility — but also a cradle for hope.
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Originally published in bout de papier, Vol. 7, No. 3 (1990), p. 44. Read the rest of this issue →
