KARACHI, Dec 19: Speakers at a workshop on Friday stressed that NGOs should try to explore other means of fund raising, rather than banking fully on international donors, in order to avoid any lapse resulting from interruption in the flow of foreign assistance.

The speakers were expressing their views at the concluding session of the two-day workshop on Strategies for the NGOs’ Sustainability organized jointly by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) and the Aga Khan Foundation.

Prof Adil Najam of Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University, USA and Ahmad Saeed Shaikh were among those who spoke to the participants representing various NGOs operating in different parts of the country and working in various fields. Ronaldo Bahamondes, head of the Canadian High Commission mission, Islamabad, also participated in the concluding session.

The workshop focused on sustainability experiences, challenges and viable strategies to strengthen civil society organizations and human development approaches.

The speakers stressed on diversifying the resource base of NGOs in order to ensure their sustainability. In this context, they presented different models and best practices as well as opportunities of indigenous philanthropy which need to be channelled properly.

They also pointed out that a large number of NGOs were being headed by their founders even after many years of their establishment. This, they observed, was not a healthy practice. They suggested that heads of such NGOs should prepare the next tier of leadership so that the organization did not collapse once its chief relinquished his position.

The speakers pointed out that NGO business was not a private or family affair. Rather, its nature and working were based on earning benefits for community, they said, and added that there should not be a monopoly of an individual in such organizations.

They observed that NGOs worked at places neglected or left unattended by the government for services supposed to be provided by the state. They appreciated the role of the citizens sector organizations, particularly those working in the fields of political empowerment and education, in creating awareness among the masses and carrying out advocacy and lobbying with the government with regard to gender issues.

The speakers hailed the government’s initiative which led to the inclusion of a larger number of women in different tiers of governance. They highlighted scarcity of hardworking and skilled work forceas well as lack of institutional and financial sustainability in the NGO sector.

The speakers pointed out that many donors, at present, were inclined to cost-cutting measures and favouring a few but comprehensive programmes as against too many but small programmes. The concept behind this approach is obvious that bigger the number of programmes, the bigger number of staff they would require to execute them. Similarly, the staff would have to be paid suitably.

Representatives of Pakistan Centre for Philanthropy, Kashf Foundation, Shirkatgah, Taraqee Foundation, Pakistan Microfinance Network, Human Resource Development Network, Institute for Educational Development, NGO Resource Centre, Aga Khan Foundation, etc., participated in the workshop.