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Obstacles to progress

Distortions

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The NGO Sector

“ Since the mid-1970s, the NGO sector in both developed and developing countries has
experienced exponential growth.... It is now estimated that over 15 percent of total
overseas development aid is channeled through NGOs. “

"World Bank_Working with NGOs" (1995) 365
The World Bank

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The NGO sector is now the eighth largest economy in the world worth over $1 trillion a
year globally.
“ It employs nearly 19 million paid workers, not to mention countless volunteers. NGOs
spend about $US15 billion on development each year, about the same as the World Bank.

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The NGO movement is a complex mishmash of alliances and rivalries; charities and

businesses; radicals and conservatives. Funding comes in from all quarters, and it goes
back out again in every conceivable direction.
The World Bank definition of NGOs is broad enough to include PSI as one of the world's

oldest. It also includes most churches. The WTO definition is broader still; broad enough
to include industry lobby groups such as the Association of Swiss Bankers and the

International Chamber of Commerce. The closer one looks, the more inclined one is to
wonder whether the expression "non-governmental organisation" has any significant

meaning at all.
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The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is now the world's biggest NGO, with an
endowment of $28.8 billion. Some NGOs are sophisticated media darlings; others are

waging tireless battles in anonymity at grass-roots level. Some, such as Amnesty
International, are membership-based, refusing to accept money from governments or
political parties. Others are huge profit-making organisations, which exist purely to lobby

on behalf of profit-driven interests “
"The Rise and Rise of NGOs." (May 2006) 366
Peter Hall-Jones, PSI

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