LATIN AMERICA: NGOs Step up Campaign for Justice and Equality

By Marcela Valente Reprint | | Print |

Marcela Valente

BUENOS AIRES, Sep 21 1998 (IPS) - Latin American non-governmental organisations (NGOs) have been stepping up their campaign for justice, equality and solidarity as the role of governments shrinks and that of civil society increases, a trend that started in the early 1990s.

This month, the IVth Latin American Conference of the Third Sector brought together close to 1,000 members of NGOs, foundations and corporations from 14 countries. The meeting’s conclusions will be presented at the Ibero-American Summit in November in Oporto, Portugal.

Juan Carr of the Solidarity Network in Argentina, said in an interview that Latin America was going through “a true explosion of solidarity”, which some optimists have called “the last revolution of the 20th century or the first one of the 21st century”.

“If there is economic globalization, then let there be globalization of solidarity,” is the network’s slogan. Carr said: “Ideologies have not disappeared completely, but they have faded a bit. Now, the rich who want to help the poor are coming together.”

“We believe that there are certain things about society that can be transformed, even when we have to be realistic and accept the fact that the market is setting the pace and that globalization is inevitable,” he added.

Carr, a veterinarian who has devoted his life to his work, believes that many people who in the past would have joined a political party, today want more direct contact with others. “We at the Network believe that if we can save one person, we are successful,” he said.

The Solidarity Network is made up of a wide group of telephone volunteers who donate their time to connect donors of organs, food, medicine and furniture with the people, households or institutions who need them.

The conference included religious organizations, human rights groups, foundations financed by corporations and other organizations that are working with people with AIDS, the handicapped, the poor, women and the elderly in Latin America, Spain and Portugal.

What the conference delegates have in common was their experience in social action. They reaffirmed their commitments in a document in which they stated their rejection of social exclusion and injustice, their advocacy of solidarity, democracy and ethics, and their commitment to equality.

On the basis of the work done in various commissions and the conclusions of the presentations, members of the movement will draft a specific document which will be presented for the first time to Ibero-American heads of states at their next summit.

“We have stated here that a community is more than the state and the market,” stated the final document, drawn up with the idea of leading to a “new social contract for the 21st century”.

“No contract for the next century can ignore the debt of rights that we have with broad sectors of the society,” it added. “We must gather the best of our Ibero-American tradition to forge a social contract that gives preference to social integration.”

“In the era of globalization, the creation of networks is imperative. There are no conditions for national solutions, except in a limited way.”

In Argentina, a Gallup poll revealed that solidarity work had increased in the past few years. The number of volunteers rose from 20 to 36 percent of the population between 1996 and 1997, and the average age of volunteers shifted downwards from the 50- to 64- year range to the 35-49 range.

In 1997, 46 percent of people surveyed had made some kind of donation, compared to 40 percent in 1996. This year, marked by huge floods which affected hundreds of thousands people, the percentage who had made donations has risen to 55 percent.

Those surveyed supported the idea of targeting NGO work (81 percent), and considered those groups to be the most credible after the Catholic Church and public schools, two institutions which, given the withdrawal of the state, are also part of the solidarity movement.

Through the application of neoliberal economic policies, Latin American governments renounced their responsibility toward a broad range of sectors who have been excluded from the model of development, according to statements made by many of the participants in the Buenos Aires meeting.

This void has become increasingly filled by these non-profit organizations, who believe that people’s needs cannot wait for a radical transformation of society, nor for a change in government.

One of the foundations that participated in the conference was ‘The Milk Store’. Two women social workers managed to obtain funds for an ‘oasis’ in a marginal neighbourhood on the outskirts of Buenos Aires. Its purpose is to help children and adolescents so that they are able to attend school.

Through their work at The Milk Store, professors, psychologists, speech therapists and other specialists experience a world that is very different from their own middle- and upper- class environments.

Recovered drug addicts, former criminals and young people who live on the margins of society are offered incentives in the form of scholarships, food, housing and counseling so that they can remain in school.