Are we on the right track?
Paradigm Review by Civil Society Organisations (CSOs)
WIDE participated in the international conference ´Are we on the right track? Paradigm Review by Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) as development actors´,held in Prague, Czech Republic, on 14Â16 May 2008 and co-organised by TRIALOG, CONCORD and the Ecumenical Academy of Prague. With the conference secretariat allegedly turning down around 50 last-minute applicants, WIDE´s two representatives considered themselves lucky to be inside the magic circle of some 150 participants who met over the two days.The conference aimed to serve as a forum for civil society actors from the old and new EU Member States and from developing countries in the South and East. Participants were encouraged to challenge current development approaches and paradigms, by trying to find and identify new and more promising ones and learn from changing contexts. Burning issues were discussed such as: ´Is there a difference between the approaches taken in old and new Member States, or between European NGOs and CSOs in developing countries?´, ´Where are the common areas?´, ´Are there alternative visions in Europe and in developing countries for sustainable development?´, ´Can we agree on promising development paradigms together?´.
Gender in new development contexts
We made a much-needed effort to bring into the plenary discussions around development a gender perspective that was sorely lacking apart from the lip service paid to it by speakers and resource staff.Gender issues resurfaced when we formed a small reflection group. In this group the lack of representation of women in Eastern European societies came up, while conferences such as this need participants that are sources of first-hand information regarding the situations of women in many countries in Eastern Europe, Central Asia and the Balkans. For instance, there is no day care system in Georgia. WorkshopsBoth WIDE representatives participated in their chosen workshops on the second day of the conference. Monika, an expert on global education, took part in the workshop on ´Empowerment & Change´, facilitated by Jochen Oppenheimer. In this workshop, the discussion on the current understanding and goals of development co-operation finally led to a very concrete proposal being presented to the plenary. The working group defined development education as a solution for bringing a change to the European mentality, and saw in this way a possible impact on current development approaches.Filomenita, a writer on migration and gender, joined the workshop on migration, which was facilitated by Lidia Barreiros, formerly working at the EU´s DG Development.
Are we on the right track as far as migration is concerned?
While most countries in the world today allow their populations to leave the country, there is a growing number of countries in the Western hemisphere that hinder people, especially from developing countries, settling or even just entering their borders. In the workshop, participants discussed two ways of thinking. A negative way of thinking defines migration as a development hindrance, since it contributes to the so-called political instability in Europe, resulting in xenophobia, because it stimulates the thinking of Europeans that developing- country nationals are out to exploit European society. Another strand in this thinking is seeing migration as opening up trafficking.The positive way of thinking looks at migrants in terms of human rights and the need to uphold such rights. First and foremost, migrants must have freedom of movement. The working group participants felt that more attention should be paid to the economic benefits of migrants for host European societies, but also for the migrants themselves and their country of origin, as in the instance of remittances that, when managed correctly, can be used for development. Remittances have increased immensely and now hugely exceed the amount of Official Development Aid spent by host countries.The workshop addressed the following challenges: 1) the role of NGOs vis à vis immigrant or diaspora groups organising themselves into NGOs so that they can deal with money, and new alliances with European NGOs that lead not to dependency but to empowerment; 2) the role of remittances in the diaspora. Hearing some speakers from the plenary session bemoan the aspect of remittances vis à vis development, why do NGOs perceive it as somehow morally ´wrong´? Duncan Green´s comment was that development NGOs need to do a lot more to properly address the migration gap in their work. It seems they are afraid to talk about migration because there is a highly negative opinion of migration among European populations, according to a recent study reported by the Financial Times. However, it is surprising that the same people interviewed in the study who showed dislike and aversion of migrants will themselves not hesitate to migrate given the chance.Some of the main conclusions from the workshop are that Northern NGOs must support, empower and enter into dialogue with migrant and diaspora organisations in their efforts to be development actors rather than victims, and both should engage in projects as equal partners. Migrant groups should be involved in the policy and political discourse around development. And organisations should advocate for the Convention on the rights of Migrant Workers and their Families that still needs ratification and has not yet been signed by one EU Member State.It is also important that the way migration interacts with gender inequality, specific roles for women, etc. is highlighted and addressed in policies around migration and in projects with migrant groups, etc. The feminisation of migration is growing, and almost 50% of the people who migrate globally are women, such as female workers  often with tertiary education  in the care and health industry in an ageing Europe. For some countries like the Philippines, women make up the majority of people migrating  sometimes up to 85% in some sectors and geographical areas, for example the Middle East and to some extent Europe.
Conclusions
There was a general consensus that in order to work for change, NGOs need to deal with power and advocate for political change to reallocate the cake, so to speak. At the same time, we need to think ´outside the box´ and reach out to other sectors outside the development sector as well as critically reflect upon our own policies and practices.One of the most important outcomes for KARAT, the regional WIDE platform for Central and Eastern Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CEE/CIS), was to contribute to a significantly growing interest in experiences coming from exchanges between new EU Member States and developing countries and to find out that at this conference the voice brought to the discussion by CSOs from Eastern Europe seemed to represent a completely new approach for understanding development as such. At the plenary closing session, T. Rajamoorthy spoke of the South´s historic encounter with Eastern Europe and pinpointed that while the Eastern Europeans are sceptical about the role of the state they also have a different view of NGOs in their free market economics, for instance a more critical stance towards CSOs. This chasm can be bridged by further dialogues and networking that will narrow the differences.From Brazil, Chico Whitaker expressed his wish for NGOs from the North to link more deeply with Southern NGOs so as to deepen their understanding of the South. Since Eastern and Central Europe have taken the road from communism to capitalism, this dyed-in-the-wool socialist asks to what extent capitalism can be harnessed for development. In parallel, what are the limits of social democracy, for example in the Scandinavian countries? There is a need for active citizens who are conscious of their rights and who have the will to fight for keeping these rights and the rights of others, and this active citizenship should grow in number of citizens.For the representative of the Danish WIDE platform, KULU, it was important to refocus attention on the issue of the feminisation of migration, precisely because globalisation´s demands seem to be traditionally met by women in nursing, childcare, the service sector, the catering industry, hotel services, cruise ships, etc.  many of them skilled workers, often with tertiary education. And there are many other issues pertaining to gender, migration and development that need to be discussed. A rights-based approach to development should be the aim. In this context, migration is of a positive value to Europe, so we must open up fortress Europe. While gender equality should be a priority in NGO and CSO work, environmental questions should also be tabled, such as energy, and climate justice.And, as Hildegard Hagemann stated in her conclusions: “Global coalitions need diversity: look beyond your garden fence!”
About the authors
Monika Matus works at the CEE/CIS WIDE platform, KARAT, as Project Coordinator working on projects that focus on consumer electronics and awareness-raising campaigns.Â
Filomenita Mongaya Høgsholm is active within the Danish WIDE platform, KULU, and recently edited the bookIn de olde worlde: view of filipino migrants in Europe. She is co-founder of Babaylan Denmark and Babaylan Europe, a Philippine Women’s Network.
