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Development NGO accountability (fwd)
Reply-To: Conference "chrm.general" <chrm-general@igc.apc.org>
From: grogan@RT66.com
p.igc.org
Hi Kenn: Yours is a fundamentally interesting idea, but I would
suggest that it be approached from another angle. Litigation, as
another correspondent pointed out far more articulately than I,
rarely produces any net benefit on the ground. Her alternative idea,
of monitoring development sites and using the monitoring results to
educate local citizens about the products of "development", would
have a better chance of making an impact on the ground. Likewise,
I wholeheartedly support the suggestion that you set out a 3-part goal
for you and your endeavor, because without the clarifying thinking
that goes into developing the goal, you could waste a lot of time.
Experience as a Peace Corps volunteer in rural northeast Brasil and
an ecological consultant in rural Chile, Venezuela, and Costa Rica,
convinced me that positive change only happens at the village level,
and most villages include people ready to make changes that
will improve their lives. So, if you can focus on how your endeavor
might improve the lives of villagers plagued by development agencies, then
maybe you'll find villages willing to adopt a monitoring scheme or
whatever alternative you choose to create. Stay away from
litigation. In general, lawyers in captial cities are not going to spend
their time improving the lives of villagers.
Sterling Grogan
grogan@rt66.com