Making Room for Civil Society - Guangdong NGO Leaders Talk

UNCLAS GUANGZHOU 000192 SENSITIVE SIPDIS STATE FOR EAP/CM, OES/PCI, DRL E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV SOCI CH SUBJECT: Making Room for Civil Society - Guangdong NGO Leaders Talk Sector Development, Capacity Building, and Ongoing Challenges REF: Guangzhou 0017 ¶1. (U) Summary and Comment. What can you expect if you work for a Guangdong NGO? At best, a degree of official oversight, which could be even greater than before if authorities follow through with the idea of having a party committee in each NGO. At worst, outright interference, especially if you're dealing with a sensitive issue, like labor or human rights, which suggests to people that perhaps the party has not lived up to its obligations in this area. More than likely, you're navigating the terrain "in between." At a March 23 informal NGO luncheon hosted by the Consul General, NGO leaders representing labor, HIV/AIDS, and environmental protection organizations also pointed out that attitudes among officials often vary by the age of the official (though we have found some younger officials who are, to put it mildly, more "officious" than their elders). Conversation over lunch turned to capacity building (getting better educated and more highly skilled personnel), fundraising, international cooperation and what the U.S. might do. Invariably, with regard to the latter, the response was general support but the recognition was that the NGOs needed to build their own organizations up without the appearance of outside direction. End Summary and Comment. -------------- Government Perceptions are Fickle At Best -------------- ¶2. (SBU) Local government perceptions of NGOs are based on a complex matrix of factors; what's important varies from NGO to NGO, locality to locality, government official to government official. For some NGOs, their interaction with local authorities is based on the organization's mission and activities. If an organization's activities, for example environmental protection, fill a gap in public services that the government does not have the capacity to provide or supplements government services (often with an acknowledgement by the NGO to that effect and that the two, government and NGO, are working together to achieve the same aim), authorities are likely to be more amenable toward the organization. Yuan Shuwen, China Project Manager for Friends of the Earth, told us that Guangdong authorities are actually more liberal when it comes to local NGO participation in environmental protection than their northern counterparts. However, if the NGOs mission threatens local authorities by highlighting transparency and accountability, as might be perceived in the case of NGOs advancing workers rights, the relationship between NGO and government officials might be contentious. According to Huang Qingnan, founder of the Workers Work Safety and Health Center, local authorities tolerate NGO activities insofar as they don't endanger local officials' reputations or prospects for promotion. ¶3. (SBU) To complicate matters even more, local government attitudes toward NGOs often (though not always) vary along generational divides. According to Chung To, founder of the Chi Heng Foundation, 'old guard' and more senior officials are likely to view NGO activities and programs as a criticism, direct or implicit, of their inability to provide certain services. Worse, they might be viewed as precursors of the much dreaded color revolutions. Younger, more progressive officials are likely to view NGOs as a useful supplement to government-provided public services, and this could portend future opening for NGOs in Guangdong. However, all the NGOs at the luncheon agree that the recent trend appears to be one of tighter control. -------------- -------------- Big Brother: Guangdong is First to Increase Oversight -------------- -------------- ¶4. (U) Guangzhou is taking the lead in strengthening NGO oversight with the establishment of China's first Communist Party of China (CPC) Work Committee for Social Organizations Administration. Established March 26, the committee is supposed to manage all industrial and professional associations in Guangdong, establishing CPC branches in social organizations that do not have supervising official agencies, e.g., unregistered NGOs. How this oversight mechanism will play out in the development of Guangdong's civil society is still unclear, but it could well have a chilling effect on the autonomy of local NGOs. -------------- -------------- GD's Operating Environment: Navigating an Uncharted Sea -------------- -------------- ¶5. (U) At the March 23 lunch and in our other conversations, NGO leaders have emphasized that Guangdong's NGO sector is in its infancy compared to other regions, and navigating it requires considerable caution. With mounting local government scrutiny and an operating environment full of unknowns, an NGO's quest for legitimacy and legal standing can be a daunting one. Most local NGOs are not able to register legally, a process that requires the endorsement of more than one local government agency, and they operate under the radar (though not so far under the radar that local officials don't know of their existence or aren't monitoring their activities). Without legal standing, local NGOs have to consider carefully the legal implications of their activities. Most NGO leaders agree that local government does not support the public promotion of their activities. Zhu Qiang, head of the Zhi Qiang Consulting Firm, commented that it was difficult to organize an event larger than 100 people because the local police would deny the request to hold the event. ¶6. (SBU) Part of solidifying an NGO's standing in the community is public buy-in. Philanthropy as a cultural phenomenon has yet to take hold, leaving much of the general public wondering about who supports the NGO's activities and the value-added NGOs bring in building a civil society. Chi Heng's Colin Ye said that when he tells locals about Chi Heng they often ask whether the organization is anti-government. He noted that citizens were more inclined to inquire about why an individual would work for a non-profit, where wages and benefits are lower; they seem less interested in the actual role the NGO plays in the community. Despite gaps in understanding, NGO leaders tell us, local support for NGOs is growing. Guangdong's NGO sector has seen an influx of volunteers, with increased participation by more highly skilled personnel. Some local professors have also begun to offer free training programs to complement the mission of many NGOs, which vary from environmental and health and safety (EHS) training for factory managers to workshops on labor rights for migrant workers. -------------- --- A Lack of Capacity and Funding Challenges Growth -------------- --- ¶7. (SBU) The growth of Guangdong's NGO sector will largely depend on capacity building. Many NGOs still lack skilled leadership and a sense of how to sustain their development. Similarly technical and management resources are deficit (e.g., how to use information technology for advocacy purposes) and NGOs are behind in best practices relating to public relations, financial management and fundraising, strategic planning, and governance and leadership. As some of the NGO leaders explained, there is hardly any training in NGO management as universities have yet to integrate courses on the non-profit sector into their traditional curriculum. ¶8. (SBU) Funding for NGOs is as variable as the wind; sometimes the money blows in, and sometimes it doesn't. For some NGOs, the global economic downturn has affected the amount of money they receive from private donors, but for others, such as Chi Heng Foundation, the downturn has had little impact because the majority of funding comes from foundations, not private donors. Many NGO leaders said it was rare to receive large, sustained private sector donations, except as Mr. Chung To of the Chi Heng Foundation told us, when there are major international campaigns such as the Sichuan earthquake relief effort. Some entrepreneurs offer donations, but not in significant amounts. Zhu Qiang of the Zhi Qiang consulting firm said that entrepreneurs were more likely to donate material goods such as clothing rather than money. Money donations from international entities add to government suspicion of NGOs, as local authorities are likely to question the level of international influence (and direction) the NGOs. -------------- -------------- International Support: Help Us, but From a Distance! -------------- -------------- ¶9. (SBU) Do-gooders beware: local NGOs want support, but not at the risk of appearing to be puppets of the "outside" groups. For some local authorities, the phrase 'non-governmental organizations' evokes thoughts of Western democracies placing their imprint on the domestic affairs of China. As a result, the role that foreigners play in the operations of local NGOs, whether financial or participatory, 'colors' authorities' engagement with NGOs. Ms. Yuan of Friends of the Earth, who used to work for the local Environmental Protection Bureau (EPB),said that local government is highly concerned about foreign influence on local NGOs, citing the local government's contentious relationship with Guangzhou's Greenpeace office. (Note: The Guangzhou office of Greenpeace was forced to reduce its profile and staff following government ire directed at the release of its report on agricultural produce and pesticide residue. End Note.) Zhu Qiang pointed out that after his organization received State Department grant funding in 2004, investigators dispatched by the local government asked why the NGO was granted funding and how it was used. Zhu was eventually asked to disclose the organization's accounting records. Chung To told us that it might be more effective if the USG provided support discretely, rather than publicly, due to the still sensitive nature of the NGO sector in south China. ¶10. (SBU) Guangdong's non-profit sector is going to need a lot more than money to be sustainable; NGOs are going to need partnerships. Ms. Yuan told us that stronger U.S. cooperation can assist local NGOs in linking up with their foreign counterparts, thus increasing exchange in the areas of theory, best practices and development opportunities. Through local-foreign cooperation, with the local groups providing knowledge of the on-the-ground operating environment, foreign organizations can strengthen and extend their outreach efforts. Such partnerships are gaining popularity due to the work of organizations like the Gates Foundation, Rockefeller Brothers Fund and the Institute for Sustainable Communities in south China. -------------- NGO Background -------------- ¶11. (U) The NGOs represented included: --Chi Heng Foundation. Founded in 1988, Chi Heng Foundation is an HIV/AIDS NGO registered in Hong Kong, with a satellite office in Guangzhou. The organization focuses on serving AIDS orphans and providing assistance to men having sex with men (MSM),commercial sex workers, and migrant workers. --Zhi Qiang Consulting Firm. Shenzhen-based Zhi Qiang Consulting Firm was founded by two migrant workers who suffered occupational injuries. Zhi Qiang's mission is to strengthen migrant workers' awareness of their rights, and to provide counseling and training services. --Worker's Work Safety and Health Center. With a similar mission, Workers Work Safety and Health Center, also located in Shenzhen, is dedicated to protecting labor rights and providing training and legal advice on labor disputes. --Friends of the Earth. One of Hong Kong's most prominent green organizations, Friends of the Earth, through its office in Guangzhou, seeks to engage local government, enterprises, and the general public in promoting sustainable environmental policies and practices. GOLDBERG