The Nongovernmental Organizations? (NGOs)

Some words about the nongovernmental organizations. They include all those frequently opinionated groups from the civil society (whatever that now means) that participate intensively in the debates about development and other issues, expressing their many different concerns, for example, on the protection of the environment. The NGOs can be a one-man show, I for instance, or extremely well-organized and well-funded groups. In general terms, you could classify them into three types: the seriously concerned and truly interested, the bona fide NGOs; the self-interested NGOs (there are plenty of money and business or consultancy opportunities in development); and, finally the groupies, those who just get a kick in life out of hanging around. 

The NGOs and similar entities like the WBG fight a lot, but in fact their fights are normally more like husband-and-wife quarrels, as they need each other just as much. I have an immense respect for many of them and for the role they can play in modern society as our volunteer corps of ombudsmen, which is exactly why I am frequently critical of some of them. Many NGOs in the developing countries are frequently totally subordinated to sophisticated NGOs from developed countries, and I find this very sad. Also, from the very start, I decided not to name any single individual NGO in this book … If that makes me somewhat of a coward, so be it! I might be in enough trouble as is.