Enabling the poor to generate their own wealth

EVENT  Conference on Indigenous Philanthropy
Date  16-17 October
Venue  Islamabad, Pakistan
Theme  Launching the new Pakistan Centre for Philanthropy

In a country where NGOs are little known and little trusted, the presence of the President of Pakistan, Chief Executive General Pervez Musharraf and the Aga Khan at the special conference to launch a new Pakistan Centre for Philanthropy (PCP) represented a clarion call to Pakistani society to support long-term development and help move the country away from dependency on foreign aid.

The PCP will face two linked tasks: to promote the concept of philanthropy as social investment as well as charity and religious expression and to foster an understanding of the role citizens' organizations/NGOs can play in development among all sectors of society.

Impressively, Pakistani individuals and companies have already contributed Rs 19.5 million (US$325,000) – enough to run the Centre for three years. 

Potential support for social development

Research supported by the Initiative on Indigenous Philanthropy (IIP) over the last two years shows that Pakistan is a generous nation, with aggregate giving and volunteering equivalent to 2.2 per cent of GDP and five times as much as foreign aid grants (Rs 70 billion ($1.6 million) in 1998; see Alliance, vol 5, no 2 for a more detailed account). Most of this goes to individuals in need and religious organizations, but the research suggests there would be considerable potential for channelling some of this money into long-term development if people knew more about NGOs and had more confidence in them. The success of the Citizens Foundation in obtaining indigenous support for its work, described by its founder, retired Lt Gen Sabeeh Qamar uz Zaman, provides a clear demonstration that this is possible where people know and trust an organization.

The research also suggests that corporate leaders are willing to play their part in social development, but again they have little knowledge of NGOs, which until now have relied principally on foreign aid.

Government endorsement

The campaign to promote the concept of philanthropy as social investment was given a vigorous kick-start by the conference. While President Muhammad Rafiq Tarar enjoined people 'to channel their charitable impulse to support programmes that pursue long-term sustainable development and empowerment of the underprivileged', General Musharraf stressed the government's intention of moving out of indebtedness into self-reliance, and promised full support for citizens' organizations that are trustworthy and accountable.

Religious imperative

Promoting a dialogue with religious groups will clearly be a key task for the PCP. On the second day of the conference, the Pakistan Observer reported a prominent right-wing religious leader as vowing 'to continue to struggle against the un-Islamic activities of NGOs'.

The Aga Khan, spiritual leader of the Ismaili Muslims, stressed the religious imperative to support social development. He spoke of  'Islam's clear and explicit injunction to share resources beyond one's reasonable commitments' and to do so in such a way as to 'enable individuals to recover and maintain their dignity as befitting man's status as Allah's greatest creation'. 'The best of charity, in Islamic terms,' he said, 'can go beyond material support alone. It can take the form of human or professional support such as the provision of education for those otherwise unable to obtain it … It is not limited to a one-time material gift but can be seen as a continuum of support in a time frame which can extend to years.' He also emphasized the duty of 'responsible stewardship' on the part of those who manage donated resources.

Need for accountability

Transparency and accountability are key issues if NGOs are to attract indigenous support for their activities. Some system of self-regulation seems almost certain to be the way forward here: the legacy of distrust of government is so strong that any government-led regulatory system is unlikely to work. Panellist Mrs Shahida Jamil, who as Minister of Law for Sindh is that province's regulator-in-chief, spoke of the 'very slack' culture of record-keeping among NGOs. She strongly endorsed the Philippine self-certification model (see p00), with government intervening only in cases of misconduct.

All agreed that there must be a policy dialogue involving all stakeholders before new regulatory or fiscal measures are adopted. This happened in South Africa before adoption of the new NGO Law and in the Philippines before the introduction of the self-certification system. A law passed without consensus on all sides is unlikely to be effective: as General Zaman pointed out, often it is not the law itself that is the problem but the custodians of the law.

What next?

The next task facing the Steering Committee is to decide on the PCP's board structure. First conceived as a grantmakers' forum, it has now been agreed that it will include both grantmakers and civil society organizations, a kind of 'chamber of commerce for philanthropy'. The composition may turn out to be one-third grantmakers, one-third CSOs and one-third eminent individuals from other sectors, whose presence on the board will give people confidence that the PCP will not be 'hijacked' by any one interest group.

Things are likely to get moving fairly quickly. It is vital that the impetus should not be lost. In addition, the people who have provided the up-front money for the PCP will not want to see it lying unused for long.

What will success look like in ten years? This was the question posed by Lincoln Chen of the Rockefeller Foundation in the closing session. Steering Committee member and Secretary General of Finance for the Government of Pakistan, Mueen Afzal, offered one possible indicator: 'An increase in giving from 2 per cent to 4.5 per cent of GDP, with systems in place to measure how well the money is being used.' 'An environment in which NGOs are secure and can work unthreatened' was another answer, provided by Khawar Mumtaz, Secretary of the Pakistan NGO Forum. Chen's own answer surely lies in the definition of philanthropy he offered: 'The whole concept of philanthropy is to enable the poor to generate their own wealth.'

The next issue of Alliance will include a special feature on the objectives of philanthropy promotion centres across the world.

For more information, see Global Civil Society: Dimensions of the nonprofit sector, a publication of the Johns Hopkins Comparative Nonprofit Sector Project (CNP). Price $34.95. To order fax +410 516 7818 or email cnp@jhu.edu. CNP data are available on the website at www.jhu.edu/~ccss