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NGOs need to find a balance between promoting a sense of solidarity among workers in the fight against poverty and ensure that it can attract some of the best and brightest

people are confused about how the work of development professionals who want to be. On the one hand, they want to see professional values ??such as high-quality surveillance and evaluation in the heart of the work, and perhaps to criticize each error or a lost book. On the other hand, tend to express their concern for "admin" costs (see "professional management") and sometimes in wages or working conditions of the donors. When I worked in the field of charity, I am sometimes surprised when I told people that I work for free, and actually pay half way decent.

There is a balance to find, as in all public sector jobs among the growing sense of solidarity that is essential if you are serious about poverty and injustice, s' ensuring they do not take advantage of people, and make sure you have some of the best and brightest to do their part in important organizations.

This balance is not easy, and is by no means material reward is greater. I remember talking with a colleague from Kenya who said that because the work of NGOs in Nairobi between the highest paid in any industry, people apply for them, even if they felt any sense of solidarity with the values ??and goals of the organization. This is a problem for organizations whose mind is much more than the coverage and effectiveness.

Before a radio interview I did recently, there was a report of the Sudan in which a local development worker complained of "NGO workers rich white SUV stay in additional allowances expensive hotels ... and have many unemployed professionals could do the job. "It's an emotional line to take, and I have a general answer. It is quite possible (and I said in my reply) that some foreign workers for development in a particular area are completely separate from real needs of poor and marginalized. I saw myself.

"There are few people in the world who do this, but the vast majority of aid and aid workers are professionals who come to life, either as a full-time career or as part their careers. They have families and mortgages just like everyone else. They are necessary because they are engineers, health workers, accountants and administrators. Most of them do not work without a salary attached, and safe working conditions and acceptable. Why should where you can get good jobs in the country and their counterparts in the private sector (diplomats directors) are paid for all the good wages (often much better than the non-governmental organizations and wages UN) to work in these countries?

thought these words injected a bit of reflective equilibrium in the debate. However, there is another side to this argument that deserves consideration. As donors require a greater degree of professionalism in what officials are planning the development, implementation and achievements, there is a danger that the grassroots organizations - could be the logical framework of performance targets or perceived as more complex, oppressive at worst - is being marginalized by the NGO professionals who speak the right language, but each time it is removed from the database. And let's be honest, the salaries of United Nations are not exactly stingy.
need both a World Bank economist and leader of the community, and everyone in the community, to make a difference. World Bank economist, the type of professional development in business class, staying in luxury hotels and make lots of money. The community organizer will not. But one without the other would be pretty useless. Community groups, while living in a world different from the operations of the World Bank, would not be beneficial for the development of the spirit of their careers in other sectors due to the greater material rewards were .