The global economic meltdown is hitting hard on various sectors of the world’s economy, and Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) are also feeling the crunch. International donors and the governments have cut budgets due to the global financial crisis. experts fear that increasing unemployment and poverty has led to less food security and quality of nutrition, which in turn has put more stress on an already weaker sections of society.

1. Economic Meltdown and
Management Challenges of NGOs –
A Way Forward
Public Private Partnership
Dr. Vibhuti Patel, Director, PGSR
Professor & Head,
Post Graduate Department of Economics,
SNDT Women’s University,
Churchgate, Mumbai-400020.
E-mail-vibhuti.np@gmail.com
Phone-91-022-26770227®, 22052970 (O)Mobile-9321040048 1

2. Macro economic Reality
• The global economic meltdown is hitting hard
on various sectors of the world’s economy, and
Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) are
also feeling the crunch.
• International donors and the governments have
cut budgets due to the global financial crisis.
• experts fear that increasing unemployment and
poverty has led to less food security and quality
of nutrition, which in turn has put more stress
on an already weaker sections of society.
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3. Widening Funding Gap
• Even international donor organisations have
started to feel the financial crunch.
• The meltdown is affecting the sectors such as
health, education, poverty reduction and
malnutrition prevention.
• Social sector is feeling the heat, thus
diminishing hopes of meeting the Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs).
• Small NGOs bear the brunt
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4. Multipronged crisis Management
• the current financial crises has led to a drop in
asset values of scales among philanthropic
foundations,
• while households now face greater
financial uncertainty and declining net
worth, which has led to drops in
individual donations even a break up of
donor pools. Oxfam, Novib
• a decline in volunteering.
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5. Optimal Utilisation of Funds
• NGOs should learn how to manage resources
in terms of current expenditures for ongoing
and planned programmes;
• adding that the economic crises could lead to
financial instability, more uncertainty for
management and staff, possibilities of
unfulfilled contracts and obligations and
unmet demand.
• Building corpus through auctions of paintings,
organising concerts, jumble sale, etc.
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6. Distressing Scenario
• "If we do not receive urgent financial assistance,
we will have to curtail some very essential
services - especially in deep rural areas where
our provincial staff have trained and are
supporting the volunteers who are helping us to
manage the projects.”
• "It is also sad that despite the fact that children
are considered the future of our country, our
investment in children's welfare services is one
of the areas being cut back.”
• "It is sad because our staff around the country
work long hours, for low rewards with a great
deal of dedication and love for children.”
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7. How Argentina’s NGOs Responded to Melt Down?
• During the economic collapse, many business
owners and foreign investors drew all of their
money out of the Argentine economy and sent it
overseas. As a result, many small and medium
enterprises closed due to lack of capital, thereby
exacerbating unemployment. Many workers at
these enterprises, faced with a sudden loss of
employment and no source of income, decided to
reopen businesses on their own, without the
presence of the owners and their capital, as self-
managed cooperatives.
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8. Worker managed cooperative
businesses
• range from ceramics factory Zanon (FaSinPat), to
the four-star Hotel Bauen, to suit factory
Brukman, to printing press Chilavert, and many
others.
• As of 2007, there were about 10,000 people
employed in self-managed businesses,
representing a significant source of employment
and economic growth.
• In some cases, the former owners sent police to
kick workers out of the workplaces; this was
sometimes successful but in other cases workers
defended occupied workplaces against the state,
the police, and the bosses. 8

9. Alternatives with Human Face
• Some businesses have now been legally purchased
by the workers for nominal fees, others remain
'occupied' by workers who have no legal standing
with the state (and in some cases reject negotiation
with the state on the grounds that working
productively is its own justification). The Argentine
government is considering a Law of Expropriation
that would transfer some occupied businesses to
their worker-managers.
• In the pockets of massive unemployment, starting
of community kitchen by NGOs-economies of scale
and No to personal obligation 9

10. Nigerian Response to Melt Down
• The unprecedented investment by the state
government in the rehabilitation and
construction of roads, schools, health facilities,
drainages, canals, houses, markets and the
beautification of open spaces and loops across
the state, has provided it with a very good credit
profile and bonding credibility.
• NGOs collaborating with the governments
• Public-private partnership in development
administration
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11. Need to Network between
NGOs & GOs
• We need to ensure that the poor and the
marginalised sections of the economy do not
become a silent casualty.
• Development agenda (Education, Health,
Employment, safe environment) has to be our
priority to attain MDGs
• Public Private Partnership
• Mega Project-NRHM, SSS, JNNURM, NACO
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12. PPP between Gos & NGOs in India
Highlights of Union Budget 2009-10
• Strengthen the delivery mechanism for healthcare
• · Allocation of Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojna stepped up by 30%
• Housing allocation hiked under Rajiv Awaas Yojana
• · Fund allocation for urban poor accommodation is 3,973,000 cr
• JNNURM allocation hiked by 87 per cent
• · Allocation for PM Gram Sadak Yojna up by 59 per cent
• Rs 39,100 crore allocation for NREGA
• · Rashtriya Mahila Kosh corpus to be raised to Rs 500 crore
• National Mission for female literacy
• · NREGA allocation up 144%
• Work on National Food Security scheme for subsidised food
• · Indira Awaas Yojna hiked by 63% to Rs 8,883 cr
• Allocation for NRHM to be raised by Rs 257 cr
• · 50% cent of rural women to be in self-help groups
From Advocacy to Programme implementation
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13. STRENGTHENING OF PUBLIC
INSTITUTIONS FOR HEALTH DELIVERY
• Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojna
• Emergency Management and Research Institute
(EMRI)
• Urban - RCH
• Mobile Medical Units
• Social Marketing of Sanitary Napkins
• Cleanliness and Maintenance of Community Health
Centers (CHCs)
• Public Private Partnership (PPP) in Primary Health
Care sector.
Change in the mindset of both the partners (GO
and NGO) to work jointly and coherently
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14. Public-private partnerships
in micro-finance
• NGOs can help in channelizing credit to the poor,
both in borrower selection and monitoring
• Cross-sector partnerships – such as those between
business & non-governmental organisations and
government and NGOs– are an increasingly popular
way for NGOs to contribute to society and face
challenges of the economic melt-down.
e.g. Stree Mukti Sangathna (Mumbai) , Mandesh
Mahila Sahakari Mandali (Mann), Annapurna
(Mumbai) MASUM (Pune).
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15. Human Resource Centre
• Training-modules on rainwater harvesting,
alternate sources of energy, solid waste
management, livelihood finance, IT
• Capacity Building
• Staff- training on financial management
• Frontline areas of knowledge management
• Niche areas-CEHAT (Health), Majlis (Legal literacy
& Service), Vacha (Education), Stree Mukti
Sangathana (Environment)
• Getting out of awareness generation mode to
action mode and skill enhancement mode
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16. In the muddy water of economic melt
down, the NGOs have to bloom like
water lilies….. Thank you
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