Enjoy the reading (with some reservations on translation to Arabic, French and Spanish versions available on the website). Original written in English: Open Democracy: http://t.co/EAHeyU36ub
In the Arab region, barriers abound to giving locally
In the Arab region, barriers abound to giving locallyIt’s
time for a paradigm shift in the Arab region, where local human rights groups
are negatively perceived and donors still resist supporting right based groups.
For
decades, human rights defenders across the Arab region have relied on foreign
resources rather than local funding to support human rights initiatives. Raising
funds locally has been simply too difficult, largely because governments and
some ordinary people distrust human rights as a Western construct; even though
many Arab governments signed and ratified most human rights conventions and
treaties.
Arab governments still react
angrily to criticisms of their human rights practices, accusing human rights
NGOs of defaming the nation. Moreover, in countries where there is wealth to
spare, existing laws make it difficult to raise funds without express government
permission. In most countries,potential contributors receive no tax advantages
for charitable donations. In addition, businesses,corporations and individuals
who might otherwise be inclined to contribute fear the perceived political
nature of human rights work.
.
Few
local donors are keen to help local civil society fundamentally address human
rights problems at their roots in a sustainable manner. If a non-profit activity
is perceived as political, as human rights inevitably are, the indigenous
funding potential drops to zero. It is always easier to find donors willing to
support the restoration of historic property or build a new orphanage than it
is to find those willing to support a human rights advocacy campaign
Human
rights stigma
In the Arab world, many people, including high net-worth and
educated individuals, perceive human rights as part of a partisan or anti-regime
agenda. In years past, many political opponents of established dictatorial
regimes used human rights as a way of undermining those regimes’credibility.
They appeared to be simply using human rights as anti-regime alibi. This
perception, in turn, gave human rights work a false reputation, with many
viewing it as partisan. This has made it difficult to raise local funds.
Reliance on international support, however, has its own serious
problems. Experience shows that relatively few international human rights donors
pursue long-term strategic goals based on unique regional needs. Instead, most
donors focus their support on issues identified internationally as important,
with little indigenous input or agenda-setting participation. International
donors’ priorities then change, pushing local human rights activities to follow
the new trends.
Encouraging more financial support from
Arab contributors requires increased efforts to build public awareness around
the importance of human rights, particularly at a time when local publics are creating a new political order. It is crucial that both local and
international actors depict human rights work as essential to sustainable social
development, rather than as some kind of politicized,
The
giving trend
People living in the region give a large amount of money, but
typically do so for charitable purposes rather than for development or human
rights. While the “giving” trend derives in many developed countries from the
concept of “social responsibility,” the prevailing trend in the region is one
of“charity” – giving because “I want to help” – establishing a donor/recipient
power dynamic that undermines the whole giving process.
The accrued weaknesses of civil society – including human rights
groups – over the past six decades has contributed to this situation. The
devolution of government services, performance, and accountability in many Arab
countries led to an increased role for nonprofits in filling the gaps.
However, this did not translate into an effective contribution
to the policy-making process, and this shortcoming badly affected the
credibility and sustainability of NGOs. The region ended up with cohorts of
non-profit institutions devoted to service delivery; while very few of them got
engaged ineffective advocacy and policy-making initiatives. Existing regimes -
who wanted to sideline any non-profit entity challenging their monopoly in
policy making – considered this to be a blessing.
As a result, “capital holders” channeled their donations to
“safe interventions” – mostly social,cultural, and environmental – rather than
to human rights, policy-making, and accountability initiatives.
Time
for a paradigm shift
There is an urgent
need to facilitate a paradigm shift toward philanthropy for human rights inside
the Arab region. The region’s existing philanthropic organizations should build
awareness of the value of supporting and funding human rights efforts. The Arab
Human Rights Fund, the first Arab grant-maker in the field of human rights,
devoted much effort to communicate with potential Arab donors on the importance
of their contribution to the advancement of human rights in the region,and by
extension to the sustainable development of their respective communities. This
included direct mailing campaigns, intensive use of social media, and reaching
out to then during major regional and national events.
The Arab Human Rights Fund addressed issues such as the
non-partisan aim of human rights work,the links between human rights and
sustainable development, the impact of a poor human rights record on economic
growth, the role of all actors (governmental, non-governmental,
professional unions, media, academic institutions, etc.) in improving human
rights, and the fact that a human-rights friendly approach is not a threat to
stability.
This new approach in communication resulted in a steady but yet
very slow growth of the number of potential donors, and the Fund continues to be
engaged to building a constituency for human rights in the Arab region.
It is of utmost
importance that local and regional actors build a constituency for human
rights, which in turn will widen the base of potential contributors. This can be
achieved by longer-term funding streams and a more inclusive process to set
funding priorities. Recent political developments have triggered more interest
in the region, resulting in an enhanced direct and physical presence of
major human rights funders and actors. Some of these funders suddenly decided to
establish offices,recruit staff and implement projects. This has sidelined a considerable
number of regional and local human rights actors who cannot necessarily compete
with the big international agencies. Therefore,one of the proposed approaches
is to establish strategic partnerships in the region, rather than to engage in
direct implementation.
At the same time, local groups must enhance their own
professionalism, build a wider constituency for their causes and, most
importantly, complement their work with a solid engagement in policy-making so
that their initiatives bring palpable change people’s lives. Otherwise, their
work stands the risk of being always under-valued and discredited because it
does not induce real change.
Many of the region’s activists envision a day when the efforts
of human rights actors are sustained by the beneficiaries of their work – the
people of the Arab region. We know why it is not yet happening. Will this change
anytime soon?
