What role do NGOs play in reducing poverty in developing countries - Essay Example

? What role do NGOs play in Reducing Poverty in Developing Countries? Inserts His/Her Inserts Grade Inserts Tutor’s Name (20, July, 2011) Introduction Non Governmental Organizations have a long history in improving the lives of the poor and the suffering. In 19th century they played a major role in fighting for rights of women and ran anti slavery movements (Davies, Thomas R. 2008). After the formulation of United Nations in 1945 the term Non Governmental Organization came into existence. These organizations have many roles which include promoting rights of a specific faction of society, promoting basic services like education and health, fighting laws and rules that are against poor or a particular group and helping government fighting diseases. But the most basic role of Non Governmental Organization is poverty alleviation. NGOs can play a major role in reducing poverty by helping people at the micro level. Such organizations have access to people that are in need of help and by helping these people NGOs can reduce poverty at grass root level. Especially in the developing countries NGOs have played a direct role in improving health and economic conditions of the people. Issues like lack of health and education are actually a product of poverty therefore the aim of most NGOs in developing countries is to reduce poverty. In this essay we will highlight the role NGOs play in reducing poverty in developing countries. Non Governmental Organizations reduce poverty by promoting rights of poor, providing education and shelter for poor, providing micro financing services and improving health facilities. Fighting for Rights of Poor The most basic way through which NGOs help reduce poverty is by fighting for rights of poor. The main problem in the developing countries is that people are not aware of their rights due to lack of communication technology. NGOs help people realize about their rights as this is the first step in poverty alleviation. Non Governmental Organizations also play a role in voicing concerns of the people to the relevant authorities. They force governmental institutions to take action with regards to the problems faced by the poor. This is another role they play is easing the suffering of the poor. Sometimes governments are taking steps for example increase in taxes that are in directly harmful to the interest of poor people. NGOs also play a role in fighting such steps of the government and in this way they protect the rights of the people. NGOs fight for the right to food, shelter, education etc in developing countries (Curtis, Marley, & Bakewell, 2005). They also fight against child labour and rights of women. By doing so NGOs create awareness and at the same time improve lives of the poor. The fight for basic rights can therefore be considered as an important role of NGO in reducing poverty of developing countries. Providing Shelter for the Needy The right to shelter is one of the most basic rights of human beings. No one can live a proper life without some sort of shelter. Developing countries face serious problems when it comes to providing housing for their citizens. Many people in the developing world are forced to live on streets because they do not have a home. Non Governmental Organizations help poor people find a shelter in developing countries. It is important to provide shelter because it is one of the basic needs of the people. Providing shelter is one of the steps of poverty reduction in developing countries. Non Governmental Organization provides shelter to children, women and old people. Children who left their homes or are forced to leave their homes are treated by NGOs. Non Governmental Organizations are of many types as mentioned before. Some focus on children only and other provide shelter to people in general. NGOs in developing countries focus on providing secure shelter to female victims of sex trafficking (Tzvetkova, M. 2002). A direct effect of poverty is that people get desperate to find jobs in order to feed their families. Women who are in need of jobs are targeted by sex traffickers. Women are offered jobs abroad and are then transported to other countries as sex slaves. NGOs in developing countries protect women who have been victims of sex trafficking and provide safety to these victims. This is another role of Non Governmental organizations in developing countries. Old people are also not well off in developing countries therefore NGOs play a role in providing shelter to old aged people of developing countries (Heslop & Gorman, 2002). Because of poverty households are not able to take care of old members of the family. By helping old people who are suffering from poverty Non Governmental Organizations help reduce poverty in developing countries. Providing Education Education is probably the most important thing for a developing country which is suffering from high level of poverty. It is only through education that a country can pull itself out of pits of poverty. Children are not educated because of poverty and in turn they have no idea how to do away with the problems their family is facing. This is a vicious cycle and it will continue in developing countries until education is not made ubiquitous. Education is the only thing that can emancipate the poor from strong hold of poverty. NGOs play a great role in providing education in developing countries. This is a cause that is supported by everyone and people denote money for education purposes easily. In all developing countries we can see lack of quality education. NGOs usually help children of slums by providing them with basic education (Agarwal, G. 2011). NGOs who are aiming to propagate education also provide books and other equipment to local schools. In rural areas of developing countries there is a lack of schooling and NGOs therefore target rural areas because they are backward. This helps rural people because they become aware of the most basic education regarding the world around them. It has also been found that if Non Governmental Organizations work in close contact with governmental institutions then they can be more successful (Mazibuko, F. 2000). This is mainly because NGOs do not have infrastructure that a government has. It is important to solve the issue of lack of education and NGOs cannot do this by themselves. This is why government support is necessary for NGOs that are working for promoting education in developing world. The role of NGOs in developing world is great because they can help the government identify areas where improvement is needed. They work on the grass root level so they are more aware of the problems people are facing. Providing Health Facilities Health is another important right of a human being. Everyone should have access to health care centres but in developing countries health facilities are lacking. It is hard to imagine that still people are dying in developing countries due to Cholera (Burns, T. 2010). This disease is easily curable in the developed world but in the developing countries it is still taking a number of lives. This can give us a picture as to what is the situation of developing countries with regards to health care. Poverty and poor health go hand in hand. When people do not have money to eat properly how can we expect that they will use healthy ways of living. This is why it is a direct consequence of poverty. NGOs are trying very hard to provide support to government hospitals in the developing countries. They also take doctors in rural areas of the developing world and they set up their camps there. This approach is helping quite a lot of people as they are getting access to medical facilities which were previously not available. In this way NGOs are working to alleviate suffering and poverty in the developing world. Everyone has a right to live a healthy life and poverty restrains a person from getting medical facilities. By providing poor health facilities NGOs are helping the poor live longer and healthier lives. NGOs are also proving helpful in developing countries because they are able to attract funding from different countries (Akukwe, C. 1998). This is an important reason of success of NGOs all over the world. Almost all of the developing countries are facing issues of corruption therefore people are not willing to trust on governments. Governments are also not equipped to solve health care problems and lack the skill to do so. In such cases NGOs play a vital role because they have educated personnel’s who can build better health care system. This is why NGOs attract funding. Micro Financing and NGOs Micro financing is an important concept in modern economics that has revolutionized the developed world economic system. Micro financing involves lending small amounts to very poor people without collateral or guarantee. The aim is to promote economic well being by helping poor stand on their feet and start their own business. Many people in the developing countries have made their lives better by starting small businesses. The idea is growing at a great pace and many NGOs are also coming up with micro financing programs that are aimed at economic emancipation of the poor. Micro financing is successful in countries where banking infrastructure is developed because micro financing institutions then do not require basic structure and can work with the collaboration of the banks (Satish, P. 2005). NGOs are therefore working close with banks and are helping poor people start their own entrepreneurial ventures. NGOs are starting small micro financing institutions and this is helping the poverty stricken people greatly. People who are poor generally work very hard and they only need an opportunity. NGOs are providing them with the opportunity through micro financing and it is helping poor people achieve their aims and ambitions. Developing countries are using micro financing as a way to kick start their rural economies. Governments are also investing heavily in micro financing institutions and this shows the success of the system. NGOs have also identified that it is important to target the root cause of the problem and therefore they are working through micro finance banks and institutions to help the poor. Another success factor is that Micro finance institutions are using innovative collaterals for the loan they give and this ensures the return of the loan (Hartungi, R. 2007). NGOs are playing a role in providing guarantees on the behalf of the borrower to the bank. NGOs also monitor the activities of the borrower therefore development happens at the grass root level. This is how NGOs are playing a role in poverty alleviation. Bridging of the Gap between Governmental Services and People In developing countries there exist a gap between government services and people. Health, education and other facilities are being offered by governments but they do not reach to the people that need them the most. This is another area where NGOs play a role. They form a bridge between governmental services and people. They sometimes work in close collaboration with governments in order to make sure that services are accessible to people. This is how they play role in reducing poverty. They act as a resource for governments and thus increase the reach of the government. Health and education programs that are initiated by government of developing countries are not known to the people of those countries. NGOs make people aware and try to increase the participation of the people in such programs. They run awareness campaigns throughout the country and this is how they play a role in reducing poverty. They are also helping the government in their efforts. Conclusion Non Governmental Organizations play a major role in reducing poverty in the developing countries. NGOs are able to attract funding because they are credible and they spend this funding on health and education programs in the developing world. NGOs fight for the rights of poor and provide them with shelter, education and health facilities. NGOs are also working with the collaboration of governments in order to provide better services to people. Micro financing is another way through which NGOs are helping developing economies at the most basic level. The role of NGOs in poverty alleviation cannot be ignored as they are truly making a difference. Bibliography Agarwal, G. 2011. NGO in India Providing Quality Education to Children. Accessed on July 20, 2011 from http://wiki-engine.com/NGO-in-India-Providing-Quality-Education-to-Children.htm Akukwe, C. 1998. The Growing Influence of Non Governmental Organizations (NGOs) in International Health: Challenges and Opportunities, Perspectives in Public Health, 118(2): 107-115 Burns, T. 2010. Cholera in Haiti – Collateral Damage Deaths Due To Inaction, Renewable Energy World. Accessed on July 20, 2011 from http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/blog/post/2010/12/cholera-in-haiti-collateral-damage-deaths-due-to-inaction Curtis, Marleyn, & Bakewell. 2005. The Implications for Northern NGOs of Adopting Rights-Based Approaches, INTRAC Occasional Papers Series No: 41. Accessed on July 20, 2011 from http://www.intrac.org/data/files/resources/322/OPS-41-Implications-for-Northern-NGOs-of-Adopting-Rights-Based-Approaches.pdf Davies, R. 2008. The Rise and fall of Transnational Society: The Evolution of International Non-Governmental Organizations Since 1839, Centre for International Politics. Accessed on July 20, 2011 from http://www.staff.city.ac.uk/tom.davies/CUWPTP003.pdf Hartungi, R. 2007. Understanding the success factors of micro-finance institution in a developing country, International Journal of Social Economics, 34(6): 388 – 401 Heslop & Gorman. 2002. Chronic Poverty and Older People in the Developing World, Chronic Poverty Research Centre Working Paper No. 10. Mazibuko, D. M. 2000.The Role of Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO’s) in Educational Advancement in Developing Countries: The South African Experience, Journal of International Cooperation in Education, 3(1) Satish, P. 2005. Mainstreaming of Indian Microfinance, Economic and Political Weekly, 40(17): 1731-1739 Tzvetkova, M. 2002. NGO Responses to Trafficking in Women, Gender and Development 10(1): 60-68 Read More