Well I am sad to have left good friends and interesting experiences in Ghana but Janna and I have been enjoying our return to Canada and our re-connection with friends and family. We had a surprise welcome at the airport from our daughter Regan (who had told us she couldn't be there) who came up with my mother in law Lisa. Wonderful to see them and the great signs that Regan made. :)

Are there different ways the non-profit sector could or should work?

This TEDx talk from Dan Pallotta has been garnering some interesting discussion and soul searching amongst those in the non-profit sector. Worth a watch, you may disagree but there is a lot of food for thought.

http://www.ted.com/talks/dan_pallotta_the_way_we_think_about_charity_is_dead_wrong.html

One Hundred Percent American

Following on my discussion of globalization and development in my last post I thought I would post this entertaining article written back in 1937 detailing even then how connected we are as a globe. If one looks at  federalist countries like Canada and the US we see examples of what were once separate political entities working together in a way that works. Maybe globalization can be done in a similar way, where development is the focus, and the elimination of inequity.

Enjoy the article

One Hundred Percent American

by noted anthropologist Ralph Linton
The American Century vol. 40, 1937

There can be no question about the average American's Americanism or his desire to preserve this precious heritage at all costs. Nevertheless, some insidious foreign ideas have already wormed their way into his civilization without his realizing what was going on. Thus, dawn finds the unsuspecting patriot garbed in pajamas, a garment of East Indian origin; and lying in a bed built on a pattern which originated in either Persia or Asia Minor. He is muffled to the ears in un-American materials: cotton, first domesticated in India; linen, domesticated in the Middle East; wool from an animal native to Asia Minor; or silk whose uses were first discovered by the Chinese.

On awakening he glances at the clock, a medieval European invention, rises in haste, and goes to the bathroom. Here, if he stops to think about it, he must feel himself in the presence of a great American institution; he will have heard stories of both the quality and frequency of foreign plumbing and will know that in no other country does the average man or woman perform their ablutions in the midst of such splendor. But the insidious foreign influences pursue him even here. Glass was invented by the ancient Egyptians, the use of glazed tiles for floors and walls in the Middle East, porcelain in China, and the art of enameling on metal by Mediterranean artisans of the Bronze Age. Even his bathtub and toilet are but slightly modified copies of Roman originals. The only purely American contribution to the ensemble is the steam radiator, against which our patriot very briefly and unintentionally places his posterior.

Returning to the bedroom, the unconscious victim of un-American practices removes his clothes from a chair, invented in the Near East, and proceeds to dress. He puts on close-fitting tailored garments whose form derives from the skin clothing of the ancient nomads of the Asiatic steppes and fastens them with buttons whose prototypes appeared in Europe at the close of the Stone Age. He puts on his feet stiff coverings made from hide prepared by a process invented in ancient Egypt and cut to a pattern which can be traced back to ancient Greece and makes sure they are properly polished, also a Greek idea. Lastly, he ties about his neck a strip of bright-colored cloth, which is a vestigial survival of the shoulder shawls worn by seventeenth-century Croats. He gives himself a final appraisal in the mirror, an old Mediterranean invention and goes downstairs to breakfast.

Here a whole new series of foreign things confront him. His food and drink are placed before him in pottery vessels, the popular name of which - china - is sufficient evidence of their origin. His fork is a medieval Italian invention and his spoon a copy of a Roman original. He will usually begin his meal with coffee, an Abyssinian plant first discovered by Arabs. The American is quite likely to need it to dispel the morning after affects of over-indulgence in fermented drinks, invented in the Near East; or distilled ones, invented by the alchemists of medieval Europe.

If our patriot is old-fashioned enough to adhere to the so-called American breakfast, his coffee will be accompanied by an orange, or orange juice, domesticated in the Mediterranean region, a cantaloupe domesticated in Persia, or grapes domesticated in Asia Minor. From this he will go on to waffles, a Scandinavian invention, with plenty of butter, originally a Near-Eastern cosmetic.

Breakfast over, he sprints for his train - the train, not the sprinting, being an English invention. At the station, he pauses for a moment to buy a newspaper, paying for it with coins invented in ancient Lydia. Once on the train he settles back to inhale the fumes of a cigarette invented in Mexico, or a cigar invented in Brazil. Meanwhile, he reads the news of the day, imprinted in characters invented by the ancient Semites by a process invented in Germany upon a material invented in China. As he scans the latest editorial pointing out the dire results to our institutions of accepting foreign ideas, he will not fail to thank a Hebrew God in an Indo-European language that he is one hundred percent (decimal system invented by the Greeks) American (from Americus Vespucci, Italian geographer).

Globalization is Not New, and if We Work at it, Maybe We Can Make a Better World

‘Globalization’ emerged as an increasingly discussed term in the 1990s. Despite this there continues to be a lack of clarity over the term. Any look through contemporary media and one will find numerous references, debates and diatribes for or against “globalization” yet despite this upon analysis it is a difficult term, and subject to nail down. Even a mildly diligent search finds a plethora of definitions, often sharing common elements, but often not. Maureen O’Neill, president of the Canadian federal government’s International Development Research Centre captures it succinctly when she says that "globalization is a phenomenon of paradoxes”, “it is a force of integration – whether in the WTO, or in the protocols of the internet, or in the worldwide audience for Hollywood movies”, “at the same time, it divides us: generation from generation, fundamentalists from modernists, secessionists from centralizers, rich from poor" (CBC, 2006, 11^th paragraph). What is necessary in order to be able to discuss the topic at all is too explore the various concepts and ideas. Is globalization an open ended trend or is it only a set of narrow economic and political activities? Is there a systemic character to it is it just a collection of diverse but separate items? These are the questions that will be explored in this blog.
A definition one finds from the Canadian government and used by Canadian media states that globalization "describes the increased mobility of goods, services, labour, technology and capital throughout the world"(CBC, 2006, 2^nd paragraph). Institutions of global governance such as the United Nations and the World Trade Organization define it as follows, “globalization is generally used to describe an increasing internationalization of markets for goods and services, the means of production, financial systems, competition, corporations, technology and industries. Amongst other things this gives rise to increased mobility of capital, faster propagation of technological innovations and an increasing interdependency and uniformity of national markets” (Eurostat, IMF, OECD, UN, UNCTAD, WTO, 2002, Annex II, Glossary). While these are workable definitions they only capture globalization through an economic lens, while there are many other sides that can be looked at, often depending on your academic discipline, philosophical worldview or political ideology.

In order for us to move forward on our exploration of globalization it is necessary to define what it is that we will be exploring. I contend that the economic focused definitions above are too narrow to capture the depth and breadth of the topic at hand and instead propose to work with Pieterse’s definition, “globalization is an objective, empirical process of increasing economic and political connectivity, a subjective process unfolding in consciousness as the collective awareness of growing global interconnectedness, and a host of specific globalizing projects that seek to shape global conditions” (Pieterse, 2009, p.16).

A key argument from globalization sceptics is that there is nothing unprecedented going on today compared to the past, whether it be Victorian era capital flows, or global trade routes. In the Middle Ages the famous Silk Road joined Europe to China, and all points between as can be scene on the Silk Road trade route map on the cover page. Later the European colonial empires created international good, capital and cultural flows so what is it that is different today? Two main elements are behind the difference that is seen today, one is the near global institution of similar free-market policies, and the other is the impact of technology on shrinking geography and time. Thomas Friedman contrasts this new globalization from what has occurred in the past by saying that today’s changes go "farther, faster, cheaper and deeper" (CBC, 2006, 14^th paragraph).

    (Silk Road Project, 2012).

  

For many economists, political scientists, and sociologists it is a process that has been occurring for about the last thirty years, while other disciplines, such as historians and anthropologists see a much longer trajectory (Pieterse, 2009, pp.15-16). The historians and anthropologists are correct that many of the elements of globalization such as international trade, migration, and cultural spread have a long pedigree. Homo erectus after arising in Africa spread throughout Eurasia as long ago as 1.8 million years ago, this was followed in more recent pre-historical and historical times by modern Homo sapiens population movements across and between continents. Global trade is also not new, having occurred for over a millennia all while religion, empires, and technologies have spread from one continent to another (Pieterse, 2009, p.26). This proves that the process of human (and pre-human) integration is an ancient one whether one calls this globalization or not. Robert Clark calls this a global imperative; at least since the days of Homo erectus and that “the essence of the human condition is a fundamental connectedness with parts of the universe across time and space” (Pieterse, 2009, p.27).

This view is much deeper than the Euro-centric view that sees human unification as product of modernity and globalization as an post World War II economic project. In many ways these ideas aren’t new to us, prophets, leaders and writers have conceived of utopias of human unity from the Book of Daniel in the Jewish Tanakh, Fiore’s third age, to Alexander the Great’s encompassing empire (Pieterse, 2009, pp.27-28).

This deep historical perspective is important as it places the changes occurring in a context that is part of, is an extension of human culture. Globalization is not something new, but it is part of a continuum that reaches back into the distant past. Yet being on a continuum does not mean that the slope of the line is constant. What we do see is that there is a difference with regard to the speed of the current change and the depth of the integration.

Having accepted that globalization exists, and is different than earlier phases does not mean though, that all who look at the problem sees it with one lens. While it is not possible to define and understand the current phase of the world in “non-global ways there are different ways to conceive of the changes. How one sees globalization depends on ones methodological approach. Globalization has become the “prism” where disputes are refracted. Questions of development, hegemony, capitalism, politics, inequality, and many others are bent towards the approach one brings to the debate (Pieterse, 2009, p.7). This same refraction holds true depending on the political view one brings to the puzzle.

Those firmly entrenched in the capitalist camp, neo-liberals, and those associated with the third way and the post-Washington consensus see globalization as a win-win.  The basic premise is that if only governments would adopt the correct policies then each country would exercise their comparative advantage, maximize their potential and every nation state would win all while global output is increased (Kiely, 2007, p.13). Others hold an opposite view of the potential for globalization, seeing it not as a win-win but rather as a zero-sum game (CBC, 2006, 6^th-7^th paragraph).

Unlike those for globalization who tend to be a variety of capitalist, there are a variety of positions opposed to globalization from schools of thought including neo-Marxism, anarchism, feminism etc. all with broad variations in their analysis. What is common is the view that globalization is a largely malign force presaging a return to imperialism. Based on neo-Marxist theories including underdevelopment, dependency and the world system they argue that at its heart globalization is a system set up by the powerful, to reward the powerful, where the growth in one area can only occur through the impoverishment of another (Kiely, 2007, pp.16-17).
There is a deeper and better-theorized space that can be found between these two strongly divergent positions though. That is the idea of globalization as a force of development, but as practiced an uneven development. This position argues that neither of wildly divergent positions above are well theorized, and it recognizes that there is some truth in both schools of thought. Importantly this view retains the questioning of hegemony, power and imperialism. The uneven development position accepts that there is a dynamism to capitalism but that this is an uneven dynamism that can have pockets of winners and pockets of losers but it rejects out of hand that what is occurring is a zero-sum game. What it is also key though is that it rejects that any such unevenness is a result solely of market imperfections (read government) but that these imperfections are a very factor of the capitalist system itself (Kiely, 2007, p.18).

So, despite the range of views, theories, political and academic lenses that can be brought to bear on the question of what is globalization? there are some conclusions that can now be safely made. First and foremost is that globalization is not solely a win-win or a zero-sum game but rather is a more complex system/process that leads to dynamic, yet uneven growth. This uneven growth is not due to market failures but to rules inherent in the neo-liberal system itself. Also important to remember is that while important globalization is about more than economics, but rather it is the latest, albeit accelerated phase of a process that reaches back 2 million years. Key is that what this is really about is the spread, mixing and ultimately the hybridization of culture, whether it is technology, economics, politics, pop culture or philosophy/religion.

It remains to be seen whether there are ways to smooth out the unevenness of current globalization in order to create a more equitable, less hegemonic world. If that is what we want, then there is a good chance that together we can make that happen.

References

CBC News. 2006. What is globalization? March 30, 2006. CBC News Online. Accessed November 12, 2012. http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/summitofamericas/globalization.html

Eurostat, IMF, OECD, UN, UNCTAD, and WTO. 2002. Manual on Statistics of International Trade in Services. United Nations.

Kiely, Ray. 2007. The New Political Economy of Development: Globalization, Imperialism, Hegemony. Palgrave MacMillan. Great Britain.

Levin Institute. 2012. What is Globalization? State University of New York. Accessed November 24, 2012. http://www.globalization101.org/what-is-globalization/

Pieterse, Jan Nederveen. 2009. Globalization and Culture: Global Melange. Rowman and Littlefield Publishers Inc. United States of America.

Silk Road Project. 2012. Silk Road Wall Map. Accessed on November 24, 2012. The Silk Road Project Inc. http://www.silkroadproject.org/Portals/0/images/lg_SilkRoadWallMap_color.jpg

Building from the Inside Out

Arriving in September 2012 for a 10 month Uniterra II assignment I was excited to be once again returning to the continent of Africa. My first WUSC experience was under Uniterra I when I travelled with my wife and daughter to spend a year in Malawi in south central Africa in 2008 for 13 months. That experience was rewarding and transformative for all of us and my wife and I vowed that we would return to do further development work in Africa.

Once again both my wife and I had secured separate Uniterra placements, but this time our daughter, now in her third year of university did not travel with us. Janna and I were excited to each find placements in Accra, Ghana, Janna found a placement with Child Rights International while my placement was with the Ghana National Education Campaign Coalition (GNECC).

GNECC had recently participated in two separate reviews of their capacity as an organisation and from that they had created a Step Change Plan in order to build themselves with a focus on long term sustainability. I was asked if I would be willing to tackle the actions planned for in their step change plan given my background in project management, and I agreed.

The first step needed was for me to get up to speed on who GNECC is, and where their strengths and weaknesses lie. GNECC was established in 1999 and is a network of education stakeholders with over 200 members including civil society organizations, professional groups, education and research institutions, and other individuals interested in promoting quality basic education. Their focus is basic education spanning from nursery to junior high school, with members countrywide. With over 10 years of research and advocacy experience, GNECC is a well-recognized and respected voice in the promotion of education for all in Ghana. Despite their successes though, there were still areas where GNECC had recognized that they could be strengthened in order to ensure their positive impact continues into the future. The three main areas to be tackled were GNECC’s “Vision, Mission and Strategy”, “Program Delivery and Impact” and “Resource Development” with on support and funding provided by STAR Ghana.

While there have been many, many activities taken to build GNECC some of the successes I have been involved in include strengthening the knowledge management skills of the coalition. This involved a two pronged approach, first training the staff in the importance of protecting, nurturing and backing up the knowledge they and the coalition creates. The second involved creating a cloud based storage system that can back up all the coalition’s documents and pictures online. This is a free system, and even if every computer was to be destroyed, GNECC will still be able to retrieve all its materials from any computer. This will increase GNECC’s effectiveness and better enable them  to tell their success stories to stakeholders, advocacy targets and current and potential donors. After presenting this online cloud storage system to our donor and sixteen other grant partners, such a buzz was created that GNECC will now be the trainer of trainers for other NGOs on how to set up their own cloud storage system.

In the above picture my colleague Fred Amo Otchere is introducing me at the beginning of our advocacy training.

To improve the coalition’s program delivery and impact I created a series of advocacy training materials and held a workshop over two half day sessions, that through interactive and collaborative sessions walked the participants through how to create their own advocacy plan on the issues that matter to them. The workshop was a huge success, and the participants left eager to use their new skills towards their own advocacy issues.

Lastly, in order to improve the financial resources of the coalition and to reduce dependence on donor funding I worked to bolster the collection of membership fees. These actions were in some ways simple, but from simple actions can come great results. The first step was to create an online registration system so that we could get an accurate database of who and how many members we had. From there we sold them on the value our members have enjoyed in being members of GNECC, (the carrot) with a reminder that under the Constitution that they created, without due payment, one cannot be a member (the stick). It is important for the coalition to broaden beyond donor funds, especially to pay for internal governance activities and to support goals and activities that matter to the membership and to become truly sustainable.

My experience with GNECC has been rich and rewarding. Being a volunteer cooperant is not without its challenges and frustrations, but with flexibility, a good attitude and perseverance real development work can be done. While I am returning to Canada, I will continue to promote the program from there, and who knows, maybe I will be back for Uniterra III.

The Better Life Index

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has developed a really interesting data visualization tool that allows you to rate by importance 11 factors that are often considered important to a person's quality of life. By playing with the different factors you can see how your values rate to the values measured in other countries in the OECD (which is restricted to developed countries). The OECD has embarked on an interesting attempt to come up with other measures beyond the classic economic ones such as GDP in order to inform better policy decisions that actually capture what matters most to people. Try the index out, it is simple and a great way to show data in a visual way.

BETTER LIFE INITIATIVE
The OECD Better Life Initiative allows a better understanding of what drives the well-being of people
and nations and what needs to be done to achieve greater progress for all. Drawing upon the
recommendations of the Commission on the Measurement of Economic Performance and Social
Progress (to which the OECD has been an important contributor), the OECD has identified 11
dimensions as being essential to well-being, from health and education to local environment, personal
security and overall satisfaction with life, as well as more traditional measures such as income. These 11
dimensions are explored and analysed in detail in the How’s Life report, the first attempt at an
international level to present the best set of comparable and comprehensive well-being indicators.
At the same time, the OECD has created the “Your Better Life Index” to support policy making to
improve the quality of life.

http://www.oecdbetterlifeindex.org

For my Ministry of Labour colleagues in Occupational Health and Safety inspection I thought I would share a story showing the deplorable state of Ghana's health and safety inspectorate. They have had continual budgetary challenges and they haven't had fuel or maintenance for their vehicles for years. Below is a story detailing their challenges, note that in the story it mentions Ghanaian money named cedis, 2 cedis is worth about $1 Canadian.

Factories Inspectorate Division in danger

By Ghana |Economic Tribune

26 November 2012

One of the main challenges bedeviling the smooth operations of the country's Factories Inspectorate Division (FID) has to do with poor government funding.

The FID, mandated to inspect factories, shops and offices with the aim of safeguarding the health, welfare and safety of persons employed within or around the premises and issue licenses for the operation of business in such premises, often compromises its duty due to a lack of adequate funding, leading to disasters such as the collapsed Melcom shopping mall.

Economic Tribune's investigations revealed that budgetary allocations for the FID for 2012 were a mere GHC1, 700, even though user fees paid by applicants to the department exceeded GHC12, 000.

Compounding the challenge of inadequate funding, it was not until July that funds from government, in the budgetary allocation for the year, were released thereby hampering the timely issuance of certificates for approved applications.

'We often use our own money for our inspection rounds and have to wait for long periods to be reimbursed because our budgetary allocations do not arrive early,' an officer disclosed to Economic Tribune, who asked not to be named because she does not speak for her organisation.

Some businesses operating in Accra disclosed that their application for the Factories, Shops and Offices Certificate often took months to obtain. A certificate is valid for a year and expires on December 31, 2012 each year notwithstanding when it was issued or renewed.

Ideally, it takes about 14 working days for the entire process of application to issuance of the certificate to be completed; however, this is subject to how soon queries and recommendations raised by the directorate are dealt with by the applicant. A certificate is required before a business commences, however, if business has already commenced, an applicant may still make an application for a certificate.

The application process itself is not complicated. The application form costs GHC 5.00 and processing fee is GHC 150.00 and an applicant has to complete the form, which can be obtained from the Regional office of the Factories, Offices and Shops Inspectorate and submit same with a building or structural plan of the premises which are then reviewed by the inspectorate.

When an application is made under a situation where the business had already commenced, the inspectorate inspects the property and if necessary makes recommendations for structural changes before business can continue.

When all necessary recommendations have been made the application is then forwarded to the head office for a certificate to be issued.

The Private Enterprises Foundation (PEF), earlier this year, with support from Business Sector Advocacy Challenge (BUSAC) Funds commissioned a study into cross-sectoral licensing and permits requirements as an advocacy action to help regulators become more efficient and proactive in the delivery of their services to business operators, so as to remove the negative impact on the operations of the business community.

The study identified a number of challenges and lapses including the fact that the FID has no online application system thus making its procedure cumbersome.

It also has inadequate offices across the country to undertake timely inspections at the local levels, which is compounded by inadequate personnel to conduct inspection of applicant's premises

There was also periodic loss of documentations due to improper record keeping, as well as, limited contacts between the inspectorate and other agencies, and virtually no public education or awareness creation.

The PEF study recommended that, importantly, the department should be allowed to keep a percentage of the user fees paid by applicants to enhance internal operations in order to provide better and expedited services to the business community but not pay 100 percent of the user fees into the consolidated fund. Secondly, review of fees should be done in consultation with stakeholders.

It also recommended a general use of technology to speed up service delivery and creation of a one stop shop portal; precisely, online application or e-application platform, the creation of data base for research and analysis, and the need for an electronic notification system of application status.

There also should be the creation of more offices in the regions and districts to conduct inspections at the local level, while the Agency must adopt a Career development programme to attract young professionals.

The PEF study also noted that the FID needs to embark on numerous public education, publicity, and training of applicants on the various application procedures so as to eliminate confusions and other reasons for compromising on adherence to safety standards, thereby exposing workers and other users of the premises to avoidable dangers.

Video of Courageous Ghanaian Journalist Who is Working to Expose Corruption and Crime

Having directly experienced corruption myself here in Ghana, and understanding the strides that Ghanaians are making to try to stamp out corruption I want to share a recent TEDx talk that discusses an enterprising Ghanaian journalist who has been leading the fight against corruption and crime.

Working in Ghana and across the African continent, Anas Aremeyaw Anas is an undercover journalist and private eye. In disguise, he finds his way into asylums, brothels and villages, where he methodically gathers evidence for hard-hitting stories -- then presents the evidence to authorities to see criminals prosecuted.

His work on human trafficking won him the US State Department Hero Award in 2008. In President Barack Obama's 2009 policy address in Ghana, he singled out Anas and commended him as "a courageous journalist who risked his life to report the truth.” His investigation in “Mad House” of a Ghanaian psychiatric ward led to a widespread awareness of mental health issues in Ghana and the passage of the 2012 Ghana Mental Health Act. His exposé of a trafficking ring in “Chinese Sex Mafia” led to three human traffickers receiving a 41-year jail sentence, while "Spell of the Albino," produced as part of Al-Jazeera's Africa Investigates series, led to widespread awareness of a sinister trade in body parts. “Enemies of the Nation,” which uncovered corruption at Ghana’s Tema Harbor, led to the recovery of $200 million in state funds.

"People ... need to see stories like this which show African people who will not condone corruption and injustice."  Julia Wangombe

 http://www.ted.com/talks/anas_aremeyaw_anas_how_i_named_shamed_and_jailed.html?utm_source=newsletter_daily&utm_campaign=daily&utm_medium=email&utm_content=image__2013-06-05

Pitfalls To Be Avoided in Non-Profit Sector Management

This list of advice for those working in or leading non-profits does not obviously apply to all non-profits but there are some real items that deserve consideration. This list was shared with me by a Malawian colleague during my year in Malawi in 2008-2009. It was developed by a South African consultant. No insult is meant to non-profit work, which I believe in wholeheartedly, it is just important to remember that there can be pitfalls and mistakes in this sector just as there can be in the public and private sectors as well.

TWENTY THREE (23) INEXCUSABLE SINS FOR NGO MANAGMENT!

By Frank Julie

1.   NO CLEAR SUSTAINABILITY STRATEGY:

No comprehensive sustainability strategy is in place to ensure the organization is able to reproduce itself and achieve its vision. Remember, the final test for any organization is for it to continue without you. And to continue without you it requires access to resources. Remember, sustainability does not only mean having enough funding. It is much more than that. It starts with the intangibles like vision, mission, strategies and values. And then it is important to have a plan to recruit new donors, maintaining existing ones and get them to give more, limit core expenses by developing cost containment strategies, maximize the contribution by staff, volunteers and the board and strengthen partnerships with NGO’s in your sector. Remember, you cannot sustain your organization by default. You must do it by design!

2.   NO SUCCESION PLANNING

No succession planning is in place. We never think of succession until it is too late. No person is fallible and we cannot control what will happen to anyone at any time. This is why a succession plan is vital. And if you don’t have the skills inside the organization, then go and look outside. But have a plan in place. You can either force staff members to take up a position or you can prepare them for it.

3.   NO RISK MANAGEMENT STRATEGY IN PLACE

No risk management strategy is in place to protect the organization against the potential loss of property, accidents, funding gaps, staff retention, etc. We usually wait for the crisis to first hit us before we think of putting a risk management strategy in place. Well, will you commit resources to an organization where nobody is aware of the risks involved in operating the organization? Surely not? Then why do you expect donors to do it?

4.   THE BOARD IS REGARDED AS A NECESSARY EVIL

There is no proper investment in board members. No inductions take place. There is no proper recruitment strategy. Many organizations don’t even have a board development budget! The board is seen as rubber stamp. It is what donors require. As soon as board members start to ask difficult questions then they become a liability. Then they are set up against the staff and critical information is kept away from them.

5.   STAFF IS BUSY BEING BUSY

In most organizations everybody is so busy being busy! There is either too little time or no time for proper planning and quality reflection to extract valuable lessons and learnings from the field. Staff members work for 8 hours a day or more on structured work and leave no time for responsive work. Then they must take work home. The result is continuous burn out and stress! Staff members come to work with no work plan, no clear objectives related to the strategic focus of the organization and no clear outcomes to be achieved. The result is duplication of work, confusion, chaos and tension reflected in personality conflicts. Then people get in each other’s way!  Instead of proper communication the noise levels start to increase!

6.   NO CLEAR OBJECTIVES

Some organizations either have no proper objectives or when they have it is too many. And sometimes the objectives are confused with aims. Remember, an aim is a general statement of intent or an ideal. It is something you wish for. An objective is a specific and measurable activity that you engage in to achieve this ideal. It is the rung on the ladder. The aim always comes first. Unless the objective is clear then your specific course of action will also be unclear. Because the way you act is the way you think! Or to put it differently, the way you attack a problem is the way you conceptualize it. This is why one can find staff members come after 6 months or more to report work left undone! They are paralyzed in their thinking and therefore paralyzed in their actions.  

7.   CONDONE POOR STAFF PERFORMANCE

Most leaders are not able to get rid of poor performing staff. Now this is a very serious challenge within many NGO’s. There is a good reason for this. NGO’s are value based organizations where we work to help people change lives and so we are very reluctant to let people go when they don’t perform. We feel sorry for people. Past attachments also influence these decisions. In fact, we will tolerate poor performing staff and sometimes it will go on and on. But letting the person go is not an always an option. We may even redeploy the person, change the job description which is a code word for trying to ignore the problem. This is dangerous. Condoning the incompetence of one person condemns the whole organization to mediocrity. It becomes a cancer that will eat away at the whole organization. Any person who is incompetent and cannot deliver according to predetermined expectations should be immediately removed for the sake of the organization and the person her/himself.

8.   NO PROPER POLICIES IN PLACE OR NO IMPLEMENTATION

There are no proper policies in place. And where policies exist they are not implemented or implemented properly according to a procedure. In the absence of policies it is a free for all. Leaders do as they want. Where policies exist they are manipulated to suit small elite within the organization. Every decision taken becomes ad-hoc or just to suit the moment. There is no consistency. It is in this climate that nepotism or favouratism will rear its ugly head!

9.   NO PROPER FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT

There is no proper financial management from the strategic plan and its strategic objectives to the annual financial plan, quarterly financial plan, monthly budget plan to the daily cash flow analysis. Forget about being transparent about these plans if they exist. Usually a small clique will control all information related to finances. We swear to transparency but well, when it comes to finances it goes a bit too far!

10.               REACTIVE APPROACH TO FUNDING GAPS

There is a reactive approach to funding gaps. There is no proactive response. Funding gaps is a reality for all NGO’s. We cannot control donor agendas and processes. We will always be vulnerable to funding gaps. But we can control our response to it. Start a reserve or sustainability fund. And don’t wait for the next funding crisis. Start today if you haven’t acted already. Remember, if you cannot pay salaries then you must blame yourself, not the funder!

11.               TOLERATING IRRELEVANT PROJECTS

There is no organised abandonment of projects that don’t work and don’t produce results. There is no creative destruction. Some staff members become sentimentally attached to pet projects. Sometimes we are afraid to state the obvious – that a project is not working and not producing results. We are afraid of offending others so we keep on pumping funding into projects that only disappoint. We invest scarce resources into the past! And this is not all. We will even start new projects that will consume more and more limited resources on top of the ones that don’t work.   Sometimes these projects are funded driven and not even driven by need. The worst case scenario is that these new projects are not even funded at all drawing resources away from other projects threatening the performance of the projects that work and produce results.

12.                FEAR FOR EXTERNAL EVALUATIONS

How many organizations are open to external evaluations? How many are prepared to put themselves on trial? We always find excuses to open ourselves up for scrutiny. We only want to hear what we want to hear. In the process we perpetuate internal deformities by not only allowing external evaluations. There is always not enough funding to do this, forget about requesting others to give us an opinion about our development practices. We fear the critical voice always becoming defensive and not open to critique. Remember, development is about being open and not closed!

13.                OVERUSE OF CONSULTANTS

The new trend amongst the well funded NGO’s is to call in a consultant for every little problem. Sometimes this degenerates into only jobs for pals and it fails to develop internal capacity in the organization and the hence the ability to deal with its own challenges in future. Sometimes it is just sheer laziness amongst some leaders. Remember, the solution to any problem lies inside the organization and not with consultants. The role of the consultant is to bring this awareness to the client and to create an environment conducive for solutions to emerge collectively and not imposed arbitrarily by so-called experts.

14.                NO OR LITTLE SHARING OF INFORMATION

There is no regular sharing of financial information and knowing how much the other person is earning is sacrilege! This is a typical corporate practice. Why should you be ashamed of what you earn if you know you deserve it? Why should it be a secret what you work for? You can only be ashamed if you know you don’t deserve what you are earning; if you know you are underperforming. Sometimes staff will not even know who their donors are and how much they are funding. Once again a small clique will monopolize this information, creating the space for corruption and mismanagement of funds.

15.                NO COMPREHENSIVE COMMUNICATION STRATEGY

You cannot create continuous interest in your organization without a clearly formulated communication and marketing strategy. I must still find a NGO who can convince me that they have one and more importantly, that it is implemented. Trapped in survival mode, many NGO’s forget to raise visibility about their work in the form of newsletters (print and electronic), websites, blogspots, articles in newspapers, brochures, pamphlets, letters, faxes, block e-mails, etc. So trapped in survival mode, they forget their work is about changing human lives and that they need to celebrate their successes. And don’t hide your challenges! Let others know about it! And tell them what you are doing about it.

16.                STAFF DEVELOPMENT REGARDED AS A LUXURY

Staff development is considered a luxury instead of a necessity. And where there is staff development it is usually not focused and planned.  Some staff members are sent to workshops just to fill up places. And the aim is only for the staff member to perform better in her/his work, i.e. it is only task focus and not also person focused. Remember, you employ a whole human being not just half a human being!

17.                IMAGE NOT CONGRUENT WITH TRUE IDENTITY

The image (what you stand for in public) and true identity (what you actually do in practice) of the organization are not the same. What we write in our proposals, brochures, reports, not the same as what actually happens in reality. They preach accountability but provide each other with secret loans, salary increases, distorting reports, etc to secure the next funding tranche. And then they get the auditors to hide this. Some preach gender equality only to make life difficult for females in the organization. Remember, the proper balance between image and true identity leads to organizational integrity!

18.                PROBLEM FOCUSED APPROACH

Many NGO’s have a problem focused approach in their work. They do not celebrate successes enough. They like to flog themselves unnecessarily. When donors commit funding to projects, nobody celebrates. It is seen as just another donor! So what? The same thing happens when we hear success of stories of beneficiary, .g. a person who is healed, reintegrated into a family and community, someone starting a successful business or accessing sustainable employment, or a policy change effected after pressure by the organizations, etc. Instead we are looking for the next problem.

19.                NO LEARNING ORGANISATION

We pay lip service to a learning organization. It is more rhetoric than substance. Instead of seeing the learning organization as a means to an end it is approached more as an end in itself like some renowned American academics do. Learning is viewed as a neutral construct and not a process influenced by power relations. The learning organization is not viewed in the context of a world of globalization, etc. and as a tool to end social and economic relations based on inequality and injustice.

20.                TOO MANY MEETINGS

Now here is a common illness. Too many meetings leading to analysis paralysis, i.e. we analyze so much that we become paralyzed. More time is spent inside instead of outside the organization where the need and opportunities are.  Remember, sometimes you may not only have too many meetings but you may sit with the wrong people attending meetings. The first question to ask when organizing a meeting is not who should attend but who should NOT attend! Remember, you cannot work and meet at the same time!

21.                NO SOCIAL ACCOUNTING

Financial accounting may be fine. But this is not enough. You need to account socially as well. This is about accountability to the vision and mission of the organization. That means keeping all relevant stakeholders informed about both your challenges and successes. It is your duty to do this. Failure to do this will slowly but surely cause your organization to become irrelevant and degenerate into job creation for a few individuals. Whilst funding last of course!

22.                NO TRACKING OF BENEFICIARIES

There is no tracking of beneficiaries to check the impact of their work. If you want to establish the impact of your work then they are the best people to tell you what worked and what did not work. But we forget about them due to crisis management and losing focus on the real reason why we exist. For e.g. it is rare to find education centres who track children when they reach primary or high school or youth development centers who track youth accessing employment, etc. We simply don’t care. It is too much of a cost! It takes too much time! And we are always busy being busy…

23.                SECRECY AND NEPOTISM IN THE SECTOR

There is no sharing or little sharing of information and other resources within the sector itself. Most of the time we are governed by a scarcity mentality, i.e. that there is always not enough for everyone! We fall into the mindless corporate trap of competing with each other instead of cooperating. And even where forums or networks exist to promote sharing of resources, these will descend into private clubs to keep others out and not bring new ones in.

Please note: This list is far from exhausted. So feel free to add other sins. We can only learn what to do and do it right if we know what not to do and what is simply just wrong and unacceptable!

“Remember, the task of a true leader is to create more leaders not followers!” (John Maxwell)

“A manager is paid to be uncomfortable. If you are comfortable then it is a sure sign that you are doing something wrong.” (Peter Drucker)

Written by: Frank Julie, independent development consultant and author of “The Art of Leadership and Management on the Ground” (A practical guide for leaders and managers to develop sustainable organizations for permanent social change)

To read more about the book, view its detailed contents and comments from community leaders and academics around the world, please go to HYPERLINK "http://www.frankjulieblogspot.com" www.frankjulieblogspot.com

To order the book and get a free list of donors in South Africa, please e-mail Zandile Stols (PA) at HYPERLINK "mailto:frankjulie@telkomsa.net" frankjulie@telkomsa.net  

Equality Versus Equity

Moving Forward on Corporal Punishment

This blog explores the current status of corporal punishment in the Ghanaian school system with the ultimate aim to expose reasons for reform, and to provide effective alternatives to corporal punishment. The aim is that Ghanaian stakeholders will come to understand the human rights basis for eliminating corporal punishment in schools, and in addition the pragmatic reasons for its abolishment as well. The basis is a human rights based focus, using the paradigm that children, and all other students deserve to have their rights defended and protected. The right to life, liberty and the security of person is not a matter of culture or norms but rather is a universal right, that applies to all, male and female, adult and child, to all citizens of our globe.

Corporal Punishment in Ghana Today

—  Currently if a teacher wishes to administer corporal punishment, regulations specify that is must be done under the strict supervision on the head teacher.

—  Despite this though in reality corporal punishment is frequently administered outside of the official guidelines.

—  Examples leading to corporal punishment include

—  incorrect answering of questions in class,

—  being late for school or

—  showing even slightly unruly behaviour.

—  2/3 of student dropouts cite corporal punishment as the most disliked aspect of their schooling,

Story 1

—  John was only 7 years old and he cited the long distances he had to walk to school as the factor which ultimately drove him to drop out. The distance he had to walk to school meant that he often arrived at school late, which led to punishment (caning), and made him miss school for fear of further punishment, so affecting his academic progress

Story 2

·         Mensah, a young boy, dropped out of school on account of the punishment he had received. “The teacher confiscated my flip-flops and caned me for wearing them to school … but I do not have any other shoes and cannot walk to school barefoot.”

Legal Status

—  At present corporal punishment remains legal in Ghanaian schools and the Education Act allows for “caning up to six strokes by a head teacher or person authorised by the head.

—  Ministerial directives advise against the use of corporal punishment in schools but this has not been confirmed in legislation.

Historical Context

—  Corporal punishment has an ancient history reaching back in the historical record at least to ancient Greece and the times of the Old Testament

—  What other things that may have been historically practiced are no longer tolerated (examples could include slavery, Africans and women without the right to vote etc.

—  History does not mean there can’t be change and at times it means there must be change.

Human Rights

—  Many of our previously practiced behaviours that we now condemn  have changed over the centuries, often based on the concept of human rights.

—  Universal human rights provide a connecting vision of humankind that can be a catalyst for change.

—  Education plays a key role in instigating this change by planting the seed of core human rights and global citizenship.

Convention on Rights of the Child

—  Article 37 of the Child’s Rights Convention (CRC) of which Ghana is a signatory to, requires that “no child shall be subjected to torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment”;

—  Article 19 requires states to protect children “from all forms of physical or mental violence”.

—  The Committee on the Rights of the Child – the monitoring body for the CRC has addressed corporal punishment.

—  They repeatedly emphasise that this includes the prohibition and elimination of corporal punishment.

—  The Committee has also emphasised that it is referring to all corporal punishment, “however light”.

Religious Rights

—  In Ghana it is frequent that faith based arguments are raised supporting the need for corporal punishment, often based on the Bible or Shariah law.

—  International human rights law does protect religious freedom, but such freedom cannot infringe on the fundamental rights and freedoms of others.

Nothing New

—  Human rights are not new, but rather are principles and ideas that have been found in cultures and religions around the world for several millennia .

—  Not many would argue that individuals do not have the right to be protected from violence, exploitation and abuse and in that spirit we should consider children.

—  Think about this when reading the following quote “Children are not mini human beings with mini rights. As long as adults continue to regard children as mini human beings, violence against them will persist.”

Negative Results of Corporal Punishment

—  Corporal Punishment, even if one is not swayed by the rights of children, has now been shown to be detrimental to its own goals and to the health of children who suffer under it.

—  Repeated studies have found disturbing links between the application of corporal punishment and an increase, after the punishment in aggression, delinquency and even spousal assault later in life.

—  The linkages have become clear after years of research, physical punishment elicits aggression.

—  An increase in aggression is not the only risk though, there is a broad range of negative outcomes as a result of corporal punishment.

Violence Begets Violence

http://www.socipoll.com/img/polls/dbNwXY25QwvM.jpg

—  No study has found that physical punishment enhances the developmental health of children.

—  CP has been shown to lead to increased absenteeism, self-esteem issues, anxiety, and increased violence.

—  Other studies show that CP can lead to mood disorders, mental disorders, anxiety disorders, substance abuse/dependence, and personality disorders.

Hidden Message in Corporal Punishment

—  Children pick up on the unspoken message that corporal punishment communicates,  a message that “encourages a view of children as less worthy of protection and respect for their bodily integrity based on outdated notions of their inferior personhood.

—  The other message is that hitting is an acceptable means of dealing with conflict.

Some are Campaigning against Corporal Punishment in Africa

—  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l4bxUxeOQkk

Discipline Problems and Solutions

—  When considering alternatives to corporal punishment it is important to first understand some key ideas.

—  Discipline problems must not be confused with discipline solutions.

—  The problems with discipline that teachers account in their school must be separated from the way the school responds to those problems.

—  “There is a tendency for teachers who are against prohibition to point to children’s behaviour as demonstrating the need for corporal punishment.  But children’s behaviour does not necessitate a violent response”

Discipline vs. Punishment

—  Discipline is not the same as punishment. Real discipline is not based on force, but grows from understanding, mutual respect and tolerance.

—  Corporal punishment tells children nothing about how they should behave. On the contrary, hitting children is a lesson in bad behaviour.

—  It teaches children that adults find it acceptable to use violence to sort out problems or conflicts.

Respect versus Fear

—  Respect should not be confused with fear. “Good” behaviour due to fear of being punished means that a child is avoiding punishment, not showing respect.

—  Corporal punishment can appear to be effective when it results in immediate compliance, but its negative short and long term effects are well documented.

Alternatives to Corporal Punishment

—  Provide direct instruction to students in social skills and problem-solving strategies.

—  Use positive reinforcement to teach and maintain the use of appropriate problem-solving and social skills.

—  Use social reinforcers such as teacher feedback, peer pressure, and other self-esteem enhancing activities to support and maintain the use of problem-solving and social skills.

—  Apply logical consequences that will teach students personal responsibility for their actions; for example. losing the privilege of participating in special school activities.

—  Consider the use of time out, which may allow students to learn to take control of their actions and ultimately, in conjunction with instruction in social skills, to cease their undesirable behavior.

—  Employ problem-solving classroom meetings and/or school assemblies with honest discussion of problems to encourage student ownership of and responsibility for solutions.

—  Establish contractual agreements that clearly outline consequences with students and their parents to enhance the development of self control behavior.

—  Establish a variety of strategies for communicating with parents.

—  Establish an in-school suspension program, supervised by a responsible adult, in which the student performs curricula-related activities.

—  When necessary. and possible, refer students to a counselor, social worker and/or psychologist.

—  Evaluate and arrange appropriate curriculum and adequate support for students who need academic acceleration, special education, alternative education or services for achieving English proficiency.

—  Consider the use of suspensions and/or expulsions only after all other alternatives have been exhausted.

Corporal Punishment and Religion

—  Often there are arguments that corporal punishment is supported or even mandated by certain religious texts. 

—  It is important to understand that in this situation there may be a lack of awareness that there may be alternative interpretations which would promote non-violent disciplinary measures.

—  Over the last two decades there has been a  “growing faith-based support for ending the use of corporal punishment

—  An increasing number of “religious leaders promoting non-violence in childrearing.

—   For example, at the 2006 World Assembly of Religions for Peace in Kyoto, Japan, more than 800 faith leaders endorsed “a religious commitment to combat violence against children”, including prohibiting all CP.

Relevant Christian Passages

—  Parents, don’t be hard on your children. Raise them properly. Teach them and instruct them about the Lord - Ephesians  6:4

—  “What do you want me to do when I arrive? Do you want me to be hard on you or to be kind and gentle” - 1 Corinthians 4:21

—  “Parents, don’t be hard on your children. If you are, they might give up” - Colossians 3:21

Relevant Muslim Passages

—  The Prophet said: The Compassionate One has mercy on those who are merciful. If you show mercy to those who are on the earth, He Who is in the heaven will show mercy to you (Abu Dawud, 4941)

—  “Anas ibn Malik (may Allah be pleased with him), the servant of the Prophet, had another recollection: I never saw anyone who was more compassionate towards children than Allah’s Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) (Abdullah, parag. 8)

Conclusions

—  The key thing to remember is that corporal punishment does not make children feel responsible for their own actions, the fear of getting caught causes them to avoid confrontation with teachers up to and including dropping out.

—  In addition the students become focused on the punishment, rather than on the misbehaviour.

—  Educators should care about the success of their students, so pitting the teachers against them as the enforcers of corporal punishment undermines this role.

Ghanaian Proverbs

—  When times change, so must we.

—  Force against force equals more force