Let's talk sustainability
…and it's not the environment
Blog #2: NGO sustainability
Do a quick Google search of “what is sustainability” … seriously, do it. I’ll wait.
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What did you get?
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I bet the results are overwhelmingly environment related. The likes of these:
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“avoidance of the depletion of natural resources in order to maintain an ecological balance”
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“Environmental Science”
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“the quality of not being harmful to the environment or depleting natural resources, and thereby supporting long-term ecological balance”[1]
Here is a collage of the images that pop under images for “sustainability”
Photo Credit: Google images[2]
But that’s not the “sustainability” discussion to be had here. Not in the international development context, anyway. When we discuss sustainability in this context, we mean something different, which may (sometimes) or may not (most often the case) have anything to do with the physical environment, ecology, trees etc.
Let’s back up a bit to define some terms. This will ensure that we are all on the same page. What exactly do we mean by international development? Global or international development is synonymous with the economic development of a country. Economic development refers to the improvements made by respective nations in order to improve the economic, political, and social well-being of its people. International development is the basis for classifying countries into developed and developing countries.
The World Bank divides countries into four income units: low, lower-middle, upper-middle, and high. A country’s income is measured using its gross national income (GNI) per capita.
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Low-income economies = per capita GNI of $995 USD or less in 2017;
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Lower middle-income economies = per capita GNI of $996 to $3,895 USD;
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Upper middle-income economies = per capita GNI of $3,896 to $12,055 USD; and
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High-income economies = per capita GNI of $12,056 or more[3]
Over time, “developing countries” has become the most common generic term used to conveniently categorize low, lower-middle, and upper-middle income countries . It is important to note that this term does not imply that all developing countries are experiencing the same economic developments, as evident from their vastly different per capita GNI. Most of the developing countries are located in many parts of Africa and Asia and some countries in South and Central America.
Phew! Now that we have does definitions behind us, what exactly do we mean by organizational “sustainable” in the international development context? The UN General Assembly (UNGASS) defines sustainability as “meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” Sustainability can also be described as the continued use of program components and activities for the continued achievement of desirable program and population outcomes[4]. Based on these definitions, and also for the purposes of these series of blogs, NGO sustainability is defined as:
“the surviving and thriving of an organization beyond its initial funding stream to serve future generations; the viability of an organization, post initial support, to continuously carry out programmatic activities and achievements in order to reach the desired outcome.”
The sustainability of an NGO implies the continuation of the organization’s activities and the maintenance of its project outcomes after the end of the initial or primary monetary award. It is the degree to which the NGO is able to fulfill its mission and serve its beneficiaries over time, even after their initial mandate has come to an end.
Why should we care about NGO sustainability important?
It all boils down to resources, limited resources that is. You may recall from the previous blog post that NGOs are often funded by donations from entities such as the United Nations (UN), foreign governments, or philanthropic entities. Development funds, however, are quite limited and we simply cannot afford to waste the limited resources in form of monetary funds. We cannot continue to reinvent the wheel of organization programming on every award cycle as we respond to the many development issues that NGOs address.
The United States government is experiencing budget cuts on the aids awarded to developing countries. For example, USAID, the biggest donor entity in the world[5], is experiencing drastic budget cuts[6], as high as 33%[7]. The reality that development aids are finite brings the importance of organizational sustainability to the forefront. NGOs in developing countries must become savvier in their ability to leverage their awarded grant monies to foster the sustainability of their organizations.
[4] Scheirer, M. A., & Dearing, J. W. (2011). An agenda for research on the sustainability of public health programs. American Journal of Public Health, 101(11), 2059-2067. doi:10.2105/ajph.2011.300193