Do you think we need NGOs to support
development activities around the world?
A robust civil society is hugely important in terms of democratization and
hearing the voice of people. For civil society has a more inclusive
definition which is not just NGOs but also Media. The freedom of press in
India it's is major strength... and if you suppress the freedom of Media
you suppress development.
What are their Challenges?
NGOs are having the define their role in a new world order, especially
international NGOs. What is are role now? We cannot continue to deliver
services, for in doing so they undermine the role of the Government in
doing that. My own sense it that we are now moving more towards advocacy
and policies and that it the role we should be playing... we should be
arguing to governments like India that you should put more than just 1% of
the GDP into health.
What are their Challenges?
Is whether they have an authentic voice. NGOs are very good in claiming to
speak on behalf of people but they are not democratic institutions in
their own right.
I can say that, yes, we have some very robust programs on the ground, but
that is because I am saying it... if I had the same response from
Coca-Cola, BP, Shell or even the government, I will be very sceptical of
those figures and statistics. If we are going to hold other stakeholders
and other sectors into account then we ourselves have to be much more
transparent and honest about our own structure.
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Issue 3 |
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Issue 1 |
What is your perception of aid coming from an other culture an other country?
It's a challenge, isn't it. You have to be very sensitive on how much you
challenge and how much you assist countries to achieve MDGs. I think it is
how you approach... is about dialogue, about communication, it is
certainly not taking a dictatorial or accusatory attitude towards any
country or nature.
Do you think that local communities have say in how the aid is used?
That is one of the biggest challenge, I would say. We get it badly wrong
in occasion... because if you want to be inclusive and genuine then you
need to work at very grass root level and you need to do you over a very
long period of time because you want to include the voices of the most
disfranchised. To get that authentic voice takes trust, takes time, takes
investment... and very often agencies don't have that length of time to
achieve the scope of goals they want to. The challenge of listening and
being inclusive of community voices means that you have a much stronger
solution to their problem... and I genuinely believe that all communities
can actually find their own solution if you create the right space around
them, the enabling environment and create the resources to make change,
they can often come up with the right answers.
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16 - Do you think cultures should dialogue more for better understanding
or dialogue less to preserve their cultural identity?
I don't tend to define cultures as nation state. I look at it from the
language that is being talked between the private sector and civil society
or government. There is a stronger sense of cultures between organization
than between population. I have colleagues writers and journalists that believe that Indian values
are being eroded by modernity and access to information. They are not!
India has got the ability to absorbs culture and make it work for itself,
it doesn't try to adapt, it adapts and it does not change its value
system... and I think that is very healthy.
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Issue 5
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3 - Can Common People Influence Policies? Absolutely. This is where new media has really helped. When
I was in the
Philippines and watching people being mobilized by mobile phones... over a
million people could converge in metro manila within two hours. I think
the world is getting smaller because of the amount of information. So all
the social networking site can become social mobilization site. I think
generation WHY is less about just giving money... institution trust has
declined over the years and people are much more interested to know where
that money is going and they want to be actively involved in that.
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13 - Do you think you as an individual can make a difference to the
poorest in the world? Yes. The day I stop getting angry, the day I stop sitting on platforms,
the day I stop talking to camera like this... is the day I will give up an
go and go and sell coca-cola somewhere around the world. Everybody not
only can make a difference but has a right to make a difference and should
make a difference. All of us can do a little bit for the environment,
using water more carefully and that can all add up to make a change. Some
individuals are community immobilizers and I think that by grouping such
individuals together you can also bring about a greater difference
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15 - What is your opinion on the concept of World Citizenship?
I think it is just a concept. Yes, we are all global citizens but only we
sign up to that by the nature of the fact that we are human beings. Beyond
that the disparity of the excess of what one will have in a remote area of
Afghanistan or Mongolia compared to someone born in an urban London is
completely different. I think it is slightly simplistic to say that we all
have equal right and access. A global citizen is simply a human being who
exist in the globe, I don't think the definition expands much beyond
that.
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Issue 4 |
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4 - The kind of knowledge required to remove poverty
One of the biggest challenges that development economies have, like India,
is that they have a huge young population where more than 50% are less
than 15 years old. So, India has to now create jobs at a scale it has
never faced before and in order to do that is has to skill its workforce
up. India is at the moment famous for its intellectual experts but that is
just the tiny tip of the iceberg... so it is going to be about vocational
training, access to the internet, only 5% of Indians access the internet.
It is getting that access to knowledge and resources that is a huge
challenge.
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5 - Do you think knowledge and social harmony can be considered as
resources? The most important companies today, value themselves on intellectual
capital, you are as strong as your workforce. The same applies for nation
states, you are as strong as your population. So unless you educate your
population, unless you empower them and build intellectual capabilities
and capacities that is where you ultimate strength is.
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Issue 10 |
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7 - Do you know of any bad practices in developmental activities?
Where agencies often make a mistake is when they do targeted intervention.
So they decide that on the issue of HIV aids we will target female sex
workers on the root of transmission. You have given people knowledge now
but what do you do with that knowledge and information. So unless you
provide them with softer skills, the negotiation skills, you can't tell
your clients or your husband to put condoms... you have achieved nothing.
I think inclusive development, the most effective development is one you
work across all the sectors of society to make change. This is where
development agencies get it wrong. It is around working out what
information is relevant in order to make change.
The second area is around quality. There is no point in putting 500 wells
if 300 of them are salinated, or they are in the wrong area or women
cannot access them...you have achieved nothing! So one paper it looks like
you have done something but if you don't go back and you don't measure
quality and you only measure quantity, you can make some really bad
mistakes.
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8 - Behavioural change in people
You can impart knowledge to people, that is relatively easier. The real
thought challenge is behavioural change and you see this consistently.
People know that it makes sense to wear a safety belt and not to drink and
drive and yet you go out in the street of new Delhi and you see people
completely drunk wearing no seat belts. So it is actually getting people
responsible for their action and translating knowledge into behaviour and
practice. There is no magic formula for this, but the formula is very crude here.
Knowledge lasts roughly as long as a campaign, so if I run an advertising
campaign for six month people will remember it for six months. The trick
is to run it for longer and decide number slots. The problem is that
electronic media is hugely expensive and governments and agencies can't
always afford it... the challenge is about managing financial resources
and dissemination of information.
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12 - What factors make a developmental project successful?
The challenge is to get from a pilot scale to a large scale, to be able to
roll that out and replicate, and that is where development fails and
breaks down. The better practices I have seen is where you integrate a
main stream development practice with government or bringing in private
sector and looking at multi-sector partnerships. In this way you can look
at greater sustainability, greater applicability and more scale and these
are the three things with agencies like mine struggles with.
The real challenge is to get the learning we do through pilot projects to
a bigger scale... and that requires political will. Integration with
mainstreaming with government policies is terribly important. For far too
long civil society has not looked to work with the government.. its
critiqued it, it has tend to undermine it by providing services that
government would be providing but we have now seen a change in this.
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Issue 6 |
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9 - What are the factors establishing Coherence for Development?
It's about supply and demand. There is no point in putting together a
robust act or legislation to bring about change if you cannot implement
the act. You need to educate the population. If you look at the domestic violence bill against women, there is not
point in educating a population of what their rights are if those rights
are not supported and recognized by police station, by local magistrates,
you have almost achieved nothing. In fact, you have given knowledge out,
but you have raised exceptions to that without any realization of change
and that will create frustration. The challenge is to look at both sides of the value chain... so you have
to look at national and state policies but in order for them to be
effective you need to educate the public about their rights and the
access to their rights.
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Issue 8 |
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10 - What kind of communication facilitates Intercultural understanding?
One of the key challenge is the massive diverse cultures. How do
you communicate in a way that it is meaningful to an individual. If people
don't relate to what they see or hear then it is not meaningful to them.
So, in all forms of communication is about simplicity of message, you
communicate one message and you keep banging it, but also need to do it in
a way that is relevant and people can have an empathy towards. So even the
way you dress the way you speak is all crucial to whether you will absorb
that message.
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Issue 9 |
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11 - Do you think cause related marketing can ensure a flow of corporate
fund in the social sector? Where I'm more
interested in companies is around their supply chain. You can buy a bottle
of Coca-Cola in every corner of India. Now if I could use their supply
chain for public health messages. For an example, getting banks to put HIV safe sex messages on each of
their bank and pay slips... there is where I find companies and private
sectors can really make a difference. You are here getting an access which
organizations like mine or even governments can never reach. I am more
interested in using companies for dissemination rather than cause related
marketing.
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Issue 2 |