Actually the session title was ‘sustaining the ngo sector’, a lunch session with 50 + NGO leaders discussing the impact of the downturn on the community...an amazing group of people of course, as the uplifting series of opening presentations amply demonstrated...discussion about mergers and acquisitions and currency management seemed quite normal to these folks, alongside the more familiar concerning calls for support to the community in helping – yes – the community.
It was Ingrid, the now-not-so-new Secretary General of Civicus (note that her predecessor, Kumi Naidoo, is on hunger strike in a large scale campaign for change in Zimbabwe (check out UTube for more on this: http://www.youtube.com/user/civicusworldalliance), who landed the matter of the fabric of the NGO community itself, “in recent times, no fewer than 87 countries have passed or are advancing legislation that will to varying degrees muzzle civil society...in our understandable prioritisation of those directly impacted by the recession, let us not forget civil society itself”...
My take on the moment was offered minutes later in a somewhat different vein, “civil society has blossomed in recent decades, and now employs more and secures more money than ever before, our growth rates have exceeded those of China...so do we feel proud of ourselves as we enter the greatest global recession in history, do we feel as we rightly point to the flaws of business and political leaders that we escape blame...surely our current circumstances suggest that we are culpable in having failed, fundamentally, in shaping society as it should be”...curiously, the session moderator stepped in before any answers were forthcoming, “lets not talk about culpability, but maybe responsibility”...well no, that is the point surely, I pondered (to myself), culpability is essential if someone or something can be held to account, responsibility is a means of avoiding such starkness. We highlight this difference when we call out business misdemeanour, but seem unwilling to apply it to ourselves.
This could become an entirely unintended Davos theme, and I apologise in advance for any irritation it might cause.
This blog posting is a re-post from: