The good and bad sides of NGOs in Afghanistan

General observations of NGOs in Afghanistan

·       Thousands of local and international NGOs operate with Afghanistan. They provide many different services related to education, health, agriculture, infrastructure, capacity building, etc.

·       NGOs play the key role in providing or supporting services that are typically controlled/ managed by government entities.

·       Some large organizations assume full responsibility of managing large service areas. Example: Entire primary healthcare for entire provinces of the country.

·       A majority of NGOs only offer services on individual topics. Many do not cover the specific topic fully or only for a (very) limited population size.

NGOs are a major employer in Afghanistan

·       Thousands of NGOs and related organizations not only use the large part of foreign funds, but also direct, administrate and execute thousands of projects that sustain Afghanistan through many services that typically handled by government organizations in foreign countries.

·       The present Afghanistan government has limited funds to do public projects.

·       Many people (who worked in previous government) find it difficult to work in administrative positions of the new government because restrictions.

·       Private sector companies are struggling to deal with current the economic situation in the country. Few are hiring.

·       This leads Afghans to focus on NGO work as primary employment destination.

International NGOs are destination of choice for Afghans

·       Most Afghan people would like to work for the well-funded international NGOs

·       Salaries are often notably better than employment with local companies. Benefits are often considered great.

·       Work there is often said to bee much more structured, systematic and in line with professional international standards.

·       Good learning opportunities help people advance in their knowledge and carriers.

·       Many Afghans also hope that working for large international organizations may give them opportunity to leave the country. This contributes to the painful brain drain of skilled people that would be in fact needed to build the country.

Mixed situation with local NGOs

·       While some local NGOs may be well funded, others are struggling to provide their services.

·       Some NGOs are started by local businesspeople who hope to gain lucrative projects and earn money.

·       Other NGOs were started with much heart and desire to help people, but often struggle to maintain their operations.

·       Salaries are more comparable to local rates within the local private sector.

Overall cluster structure of NGOs, but lack of coordination?

·       NGOs operate typically individually without coordination. There is often little collaboration.

·       NGOs have their own interests, organizational objectives and ambitions.

·       Individual NGOs are categorized by service clusters. However, NGOs may belong to several clusters as they provide different services.

·       Clusters are somewhat represented by an entity to the government. Such entity is also a NGO and requires funds itself through own donors. This may lead to a conflict of interest?

·       Cluster entities may collect ideas and raise problems of the NGOs in their clusters. However, there is little perceived help from Cluster entities to the respective NGOs

Overall poor use of international funds (counting the actual amount that really benefits the local Afghan people)

·       Only 20 (!) percent on average of the foreign donor money allocated to Afghanistan really reaches the Afghan people in form of products and services.

·       80 (!) percent on average of the funds is swallowed by various types of administration & other overhead of international and local organizations

·       Note: This the percentage figures are based on the opinions/ estimates of various stakeholders in the market (NGOs, economists, advisors, etc.)

Reasons for poor use of international funds

·       Foreign funds from large donors (such as world development bank) typically pass through several organizations before they finally reach the NGOs that provides the desired service to the Afghan people. Each organization charges overhead & administrative costs.

·       Every time a program is split into smaller allocations, contracting & subcontracting takes place. Each entity involved charge administration & overhead and other fees.

·       Hefty compliance requirements require detailed monitoring & auditing activities. Those activities in form of frequent field visits and data analysis in backoffice drive notable costs, which may alone surpass the actual service value to the people.

·       Outdated security requirements (note: Afghanistan is now very safe travel across most of the country) leads many NGOs to still use expensive security force convoys to make common trips that could be simply done individually by taxi for fractions of such costs.

·       Some organizations offer employees lavish salaries - often many times above the local standard salary. Uneducated drivers are reported to sometimes earn several times the salary of a very educated local engineer working in the local market! Furthermore, some large organization are said to allocate 2-3 (!) people to do the work of one person (for work/life balance) driving massive personnel costs.

Positive value contribution of NGOs of Afghanistan

·       NGOs and other foreign aid organizations keep Afghanistan functioning. It would be difficult for current government dealing with the international sanctions to provide the needed healthcare, education, and other public services.

·       NGOs touch literally the lives of millions of people and help sustain them in their basic needs.

·       The help of NGOs cannot be overemphasized. However, ...

The currently assumed role of NGOs seems to be not sustainable and in the long-term not helping to build Afghanistan for the future

·       NGO (= Non-Government Organizations), by definition, carry the role to support a functioning government. NGOs should, by definition, not carry out the roles of the government.

·       NGOs are not designed to function as a substitute government. NGOs, regardless how big, can only cover some of the needed services. Trying to deliver most necessary services through NGOs requires not only to coordinate, but also to piece together individual services from hundreds of NGOs. No NGO could ever do the overall coordination.

·       This is one reason why presently some areas are very well covered with services while others are less covered.

·       Also, lacking coordination there is often unnecessary duplication of overlapping services, field personnel and monitoring.

·       Ideally, the government would provide the main services while using NGOs to complement/ fill services in needed areas. The central governing body would determine what is needed and then ask the NGO to provide such a specific missing service.

·       The current situation in Afghanistan is quite the opposite: NGOs and their donor think up ideas of what they would like to do. Such decisions are often influenced by NGO personal objectives & needs: What is attractive for donors to give funding? What ideas/ projects “sell” well? What capabilities does our current staff have and how can we find specific projects that put their skills to use? Analogy: It is a hammer looking for nails, rather than a skillful craftsman identifying the need and then determining the appropriate tool to use.

·       The current dependency on NGOs does not allow to properly lead, manage and build Afghanistan

·       If Afghans want to build their country, they need a government that leads strategically and manages all public services systematically. Afghanistan should not be driven by NGOs that think up and promote their projects.  

Perceived negative impact of NGOs by the people in Afghanistan

·       NGOs (and foreign aid companies) have brought help to many people, but also some notable perceive challenges and disadvantages to the Afghan people:

·       The NGO predominance in the Afghan economy created a culture where the local people look for free hand-outs and ongoing support. Depending on foreign support has become a nationwide attitude and lifestyle.

·       This situation has arguably stifled the private sector. Depending on NGOs to provide many services (and products), local businesspeople have seen less opportunities, incentives and inclination to address the needs themselves.

·       Further, local companies find it difficult to recruit the best talents to staff their organizations as they cannot compete with the luxurious salaries & benefit packages of well-funded large international NGOs (and foreign add organizations

·       Many Afghan people (even highly educated) have given up initiative to take responsibility for their own lives. Few are willing to start own businesses, collaborate with other local people. And they shy from taking an active role of building their country.

·       Some Afghans ask why so little of the foreign aid is really reaching the Afghan people and wonder whether such money could not be better spent.

·       Critics raise concern that Afghanistan may never become a truly independent, healthy nation as long as the country depends so much on NGOs. Some see NGOs in Afghanistan as part of the problem, rather than part of the solution for the future.

Conclusion

NGOs have provided much needed help and benefit to the Afghan people. At the same time NGOs have assumed (perhaps out of necessity) many roles that can and should be assumed only by the government. Their current unusual role and way of operating in Afghanistan has arguably had negative effect on the Afghan mind set and stifled the development of the local private sector.

The author recommends a closer examination of the described issues and an open dialogue with all key stakeholders.

Connect with/ contact Alex directly at WhatsApp +966 531824178 to schedule a meeting for expert exchange & discussion.

Legal Disclaimer

This article reflects the opinion of Alex Steinberg only. It does not claim to represent the viewpoints of any present/ former client, employer, or partner. The author acknowledges that there are often different viewpoints on a topic, which are equally valid. Constructive discussion rather than criticism can lead to better ideas and positive outcome & value to business and society.

About the author:

Alex Steinberg has advised governments, the largest multi-national companies and NGOs. Alex has developed strategies, programs and plans that have positively helped impact over one hundred million people. Alex has personally educated and trained over 300,000 people worldwide.

Alex is currently in Kabul, identifying opportunities and developing solutions to help build Afghanistan. Alex is coming as an expert advisor to work alongside with government, businesspeople, NGOs and other parties to serve the people of Afghanistan.