Voluntary organisations and the challenge of sustainable development

Abstract

That the world faces a global social and environmental crisis is now beyond question. The issue is how to address it. The institutions of government, including inter-governmental bodies, generally approach solutions within the framework of the conventional growth-centred development vision that has guided most development action over the past several decades. Investment, growth in economic activity, resource exploitation, debt financing, specialisation, corporate ownership, and emphasis on international markets are cornerstones of this vision. This vision dominates policy action at global and national levels. An alternative people-centred development vision, articulated and promoted primarily by voluntary organisations (VOs) emphasises human well-being, stewardship of environmental resources, local self-reliance in basic needs, development of domestic markets, broadly based political and economic participation, local control of environmental resources, and strong participatory local government. The paper questions whether solutions based on the conventional vision are likely to be effective if, as some critics claim, the vision itself is largely to blame for the current crisis. It also asks whether institutions that are competent only in activities that support the conventional vision are in a position to provide needed leadership. It is argued that VOs, ie. organisations driven by a shared value commitment, have a substantial advantage over governmental organisations as catalysts of the type of institutional and values change required to resolve the global crisis. This will involve VOs increasingly in national and global networks concerned with advocacy and public education on policy issues. A two-fold agenda is suggested. The first agenda item calls for historical country assessments of the social and environmental impact of foreign assistance, and trade and corporate investment policies. The second agenda item calls for the documentation of local initiatives that involve comprehensive approaches to development of productive, sustainable, and self-reliant local economies on a meaningful scale.