Trust deficit: Civil society’s effective response

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The floods in Pakistan are described to be of “Biblical proportions”. The same rivers that provided a lifeline to its people over the centuries have now submerged a fifth of Pakistan’s landmass and made 20 million homeless. Along with the daily dose of newspaper stories and television footages showing images of destruction, destitution, hunger and disease are tales of governmental apathy and mismanagement.

While it would be easy to sensationalise such a situation, it can be said that the magnitude of the tragedy is beyond the scope of any single government. The Katrina tragedy in New Orleans showed that even the most powerful government on earth proved ill equipped to handle the situation. This does not of course excuse a perceived lack of timely action. Nor should it cast a shadow on the heroic work of the military and some local governments.

Perhaps the most effective in the delivery of relief at the grass roots level is Pakistan’s civil society. Pockets of credibility and excellence in the civil society sector have slowly become major recipients of flood relief aid donated by local and international philanthropists. Robust as it is, civil society too is not fully equipped to match the task at hand without continued support of government, the people and the international community.

A 1999 landmark study of philanthropic giving by Pakistanis representing all economic segments showed them to be among the most generous on earth, far exceeding the charitable giving in most developing countries. In fact, they gave the same in terms of their per capita income as did US citizens who are regarded the most generous.

Yet many did not give as much as they could afford simply because they lacked trust in those charged with responsibility to direct funds where they were most needed. As a result, leaders of civil society, business and government in Pakistan, with backing from the Geneva-based Aga Khan Development Network, itself a major non-profit social development agency of the world, established the Pakistan Centre for Philanthropy (PCP).

PCP’s objective is to enhance the effectiveness and volume of giving in the country. Private and independent from government and other influences, it has devised a means of identifying and certifying other private, non-profit organisations that could be trusted to distribute donor funds where they are needed, without being diluted by malpractice or excessive administrative charges by unscrupulous administrators.

Today, PCP’s certification is accepted as one of the means for assessing the reliability and credibility of CSOs by national and international donors. Certification is also a requisite for recognition by the Government of Pakistan as a basis for tax exemptions. Aid agencies of Australia, Italy and Norway only disburse their support to PCP certified CSOs.

Of the 167 PCP certified organisations, 26 are directly working in relief and rehabilitation of the flood affected people. Some of these organisations have previously been involved in providing relief assistance during the earthquake of 2005, and more recently to over 2 million internally displaced persons in 2009.

Fortunately, the level of credibility presented by PCP certified CSOs is now assisting them and the PCP in mobilising funds for flood relief. The Citizens Foundation, a PCP certified CSO has received tremendous response from the public in support of its programme to provide 20 million meals to the flood affected families, using its network of 650 schools across the country.

Bunyad, another certified organisation working through a network of over 600 schools in the Punjab has set up Child Friendly Places for traumatised children and those who have been separated from their parents. Clean drinking water has also been distributed to 48,000 people as all regular water supplies have been contaminated. The Participatory Village Development Programme in Sindh is already planning the provision of sustainable livelihoods besides providing immediate food relief.

While the trust deficit looms large as a determining factor for philanthropy and international aid to flow into Pakistan, it is heartening that for PCP-certified CSOs, this is not as big an impediment as it once was. This is a time when Pakistan needs all the support it can get to mitigate the suffering of the millions left wrecked by an exceptionally brutal natural calamity.

Reconstruction will be another phase. For the moment, let the citizens of Pakistan carve out a reputation for their exceptional initiatives in alleviating suffering from one of the greatest natural calamities in our country’s history. They have demonstrated the ability to stand on their own feet even when government support is hard pressed.

Donors seeking information on how they can help in flood relief may wish to visit the Pakistan Centre for Philanthropy’s Web site at www.pcp.org.pk. Information is provided on the role PCP-certified organisations are playing in the current disaster, as well as bank details for both the PCP and its members where donations may be sent. The application of funds sent directly to PCP for distribution through its certified organisations will be monitored and reports sent back to each donor.

- This article was published in Daily Business Recorder on August 28th, 2010.http://www.aaj.tv/2010/08/trust-deficit-civil-societys-effective-response/