SELF-HELP OFFERS HOPE FOR MANY

I have been getting many inquiries about the Socio-Economic Development Alliance (SEDA since I announced it in my Daily Tribune column. The main purpose of SEDA is to coordinate and integrate the socio-economic development advocacies of Non-Government Organizations (NGOs). However, common sense would tell us that it is very important to address first the socio-economic needs of the individual members of these NGOs, and that is where the self-help movement in the Philippines could be of help, under the leadership of the Self-Help Association for Revenue Enhancement (SHARE).

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The story about the self-help movement worldwide is really very simple. There are poor and disadvantaged people everywhere, and more often than not, their only hope of being able to improve their lives is to help each other. More often than not however, there is always an expectation everywhere that one way or the other; big business and the national (or federal) government would come in to help. While this help would come in one form or the other, it needs to be organized, and that is where the NGOs would come in.

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Although the self-help movement is generally understood to be “micro-economic” in the sense that it usually happens at the village level, I would think on the other hand that all these small and isolated “activities” should follow a “road map” in order for it to have a “macro-economic” direction within a broader area, such as a municipality or a province for instance. Without meaning to downplay the efforts of the private sector, I have observed that many civic organizations undertake a “piecemeal” approach in their socio-economic development programs, a behavior that is not really their fault, because no one is really giving them an overall “direction” from where they are operating.

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In my previous articles, I have discussed the roles that the Municipal Development Councils (MDCs), Provincial Development Councils (PDCs) and Regional Development Councils (RDCs) are supposed to fill in. I have also discussed the roles that the sectoral NGOs are supposed to play, as provided for in the laws. Recently, I learned that the law also requires NGOs to register with the Local Government Units (LGUs), and I think this is good as far as identifying who the participants in the local development process should be.

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As I envision it, SEDA could play an important role in organizing and coordinating the efforts of all NGOs participating in the municipal (MDC), provincial (PDC) and the regional (RDC) levels. At the top of this structure, SEDA could organize and coordinate the NGOs at the national level also, when and where interaction with the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) is already needed. Notwithstanding this focus on policy work however, I would repeat myself, that NGO members should also be given project supports at the levels of their own organizations, because what good would a self-help movement do if our own members could not be helped?

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As you have probably surmised by now, SEDA is only going to be an umbrella organization of NGOs, intended to fill a vacuum of leadership that seems to be prevalent everywhere. By design, SEDA is not going to recruit or pirate the members of the other NGOs where they already exist. In order to strengthen the ranks of the NGOs in the various localities however, SHARE is going to recruit fresh members from among those who are not yet involved in any of the NGOs, or have become inactive.

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Even if it is widely perceived that socio-economic development is a very abstract notion, I would still say that there are internationally accepted ways of defining its objectives and measuring its results. For instance, the United Nations have come up with the Human Development Index (HDI), and recently I came across some standards set by the Institute for Solidarity in Asia (ISA). Aside from that, I have also come across some interesting standards set by a website (http://www.sustainablemeasures.com). Although usually lacking in form and substance, we do have our own set of national standards in some cases that are already workable.

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Right now, I am hoping that some SHARE Clubs could already be organized at the municipal levels, so that they could start becoming active in the MDCs. If you are interested or if you know anyone who is interested in your own areas, please let me know. A group of five core members would be enough to start; we will provide all the guidance that you would need.