2nd Online Colloquium: Challenges for Grassroots NGOs

在许多国家，如这个网站所显示的，草根活动主义者面临政治制约 - 从缅甸逮捕艾滋活动主义者，到马来西亚和柬埔寨骚扰减害外展工作人员。虽然国外观察者们注意到这种政治压力，但是这只是亚洲逐步显现的民间组织所面临的所有不确定性中的一个。

草根机构

亚洲促进会向亚洲的非政府组织（NGO）提供帮助，包括战略规划、财务预算、组织管理、募捐技巧等，这些内容对一个草根组织来说都很陌生。我们也为他们提供人权和国际外展方面的培训。

在过年的十年中，亚洲的草根NGO发展迅速，所涉领域从儿童权利到艾滋和环境保护。虽然一些国家如印度的民间社团迅速突起，欣欣向荣，但是NGO这个概念在亚洲其他国家特别是中国和东南亚的某些地区还相对陌生。因此，在有的国家，NGO组织们还面临许多挑战，从政治压力到基本技能的缺乏等。

宣传与计划

在亚洲的许多地方，宣传也是一个相对较新的概念。NGO组织们也刚开始从严格提供直接服务到开始表达对政策和法律的关心。一些组织与当地警署官员建立关系，以使其能够对个案进行讨论、发表公共声明或请愿书，或组织集会。在其他国家，即使做这些事情也可能会危及到组织的生存，还没到他们能够发展一整套宣传目标和围绕此目标建立一项长期活动的那一步。

在有些国家，政治制约和逮捕威胁已经被看成是规范做法，草根NGO需要花费大量时间规划如何绕开这些问题从而能去做一些日常的工作，因此更不要说做宣传了。正如一位中国活动主义者所说的，"我们必须说服政府非政府组织不是反政府组织"。

新运动的挑战

这些人权问题最受国际媒体的关注，但是在实践中，更多的组织是因为缺乏技能和资金而倒闭的，而非政治压力。在中国和东南亚许多地方的NGO运动还处于第一代，其领导能力限制了他们获得管理非盈利组织的技能。在有些国家，NGO们有20到30年的经验；但是在其他国家，甚至其执行理事也从未在另外一个非盈利组织工作过。对有些人来说，建立一个NGO是他们第一份全职工作。

因此，职员们努力掌握预算、招聘和募捐技能。大部分人需要从海外寻求资助，却又缺乏必要的英语语言能力。基金会应用和捐赠者关系管理也需克服文化差异。

有些基金会提供旨在提升能力的工作坊，但是草根机构工作人员抱怨说这些课程时间太短，而且主要通过课本和演讲形式，而不是通过实践练习，对提升他们管理组织所需要掌握的日常工作能力帮助不大。许多草根组织需要类似组织提供实际工作培训和现场技术支持。亚洲促进会为此类组织提供一到三年不等的帮助，也将中国艾滋活动主义者送到亚洲其他NGO中学习。在那里，他们能够观察一个较为成熟的组织如何工作和建立国际联络。

建立基金会

亚洲缺乏慈善事业和缺乏政府资助都意味着大部分组织必须转向国际捐助者寻求支持，包括政治上敏感的基金会。这使他们陷入两难：如果他们不接受这些资助，他们就可能无法继续工作。如果他们接受了这些资助，又可能会面临批判，说他们是国际捐赠者的"傀儡"。

草根非盈利组织是为其国家和地区的未来民间社团奠定基础。但是他们需要更加实际的帮助和资助。有了这些，他们才能生存和发展，才能成为未来社会建构中一个永久特征。

Sara L.M. Davis，中文名王翠风，博士，是亚洲促进会（Asia Catalyst）的创始人和执行理事www.asiacatalyst.org。

In many countries, as this website shows, grassroots activists face political restrictions - from arrests of AIDS activists in Burma, to the harassment of harm reduction outreach workers in Malaysia and Cambodia. But while political pressure interests foreign observers, it is only one of many uncertainties facing Asia's emerging civil society.

Grassroots Agencies

Asia Catalyst assists nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) in Asia to get off the ground. We give assistance with strategic planning, budgeting, team management, fundraising--skills that may be new to a grassroots group. We also help with human rights training and international outreach.

The past decade has seen an impressive blossoming of grassroots NGOs in Asia, working on issues ranging from children's rights to HIV/AIDS and environmental protection. While some countries such as India have a flourishing and sophisticated civil society, in other parts of Asia - China and parts of Southeast Asia in particular -- the very concept of an NGO may still be a relatively new one. As a result, in some countries, groups face many challenges, from political pressures to the need for basic skills.

Advocacy and programs

Advocacy is also a relatively new concept in many parts of Asia, and strategies are still emerging as groups move from strictly providing direct services to beginning to express concerns about policy and law. Some groups develop relationships with local police officials that enable them to raise individual cases, or issue public statements or petitions, or organize rallies. In other countries, even doing this much is dangerous to the survival of the group. Many of the groups we work with are just beginning to advocacy on a case-by-case basis, and are not yet at the point where they can develop a set of advocacy goals and build a long-term campaign around them.

In some countries, political restrictions and the threat of arrest are accepted as the norm, and grassroots NGOs spend a lot of time strategizing about how to circumvent them just to do their normal work, never mind advocacy. As one Chinese activist quipped, "We have to convince the government that nongovernmental organizations are not antigovernmental organizations."

Challenges of a new movement

These human rights issues receive the most attention by international media; but in practice, far more groups probably collapse from lack of skills and funding than from police pressure. The NGO movement in many parts of China and Southeast Asia is in its first generation, and its leadership has limited means of gaining nonprofit management skills. In some countries, NGOs have two or three decades of experience; in others, even the executive director may have never worked at another nonprofit. For some, starting an NGO was their first full-time job.

As a result, employees struggle to master budgets, staffing, and fundraising. Most have to seek funds overseas, but may lack the necessary English-language skills. Applying to a foundation, and managing the donor relationship, can also involve overcoming cultural differences.

Some foundations offer capacity-building workshops, but grassroots agency staff complain that these courses are short and are oriented towards texts and lectures rather than practical exercises, and rarely help them master day-to-day skills required to run an organization. Many grassroots groups need peer organizations that can offer hands-on training and in-office technical support. Asia Catalyst does this for groups for a period of one to three years, and also places Chinese AIDS activists in fellowships at other Asian NGOs, where they can observe a more established organization and build international contacts.

Building a foundation

For many of our colleagues, the days are a blur of equally urgent tasks, as well as the ever-present need for funds. The lack of philanthropy within Asia, and lack of government funding, means that most groups have to turn to international donors for support, including politically sensitive foundations. This places them in a bind: if they don't take the funds, they may not be able to do their work. If they do take the funds, they are vulnerable to criticism for being "puppets" of international donors.

Grassroots nonprofits are laying the foundation for the country's, and the region's future civil society. But they need more practical help and funding. With it, they can survive and thrive, becoming a permanent feature of the social landscape long into the future.

Sara L.M. Davis, Ph.D. (王翠风) is founder and executive director of Asia Catalyst (亚洲促进会), www.asiacatalyst.org.