South China NGO Getting More Professional But Still Face

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 GUANGZHOU 000679 SENSITIVE SIPDIS STATE FOR EAP/CM, OES/PCI, DRL, AND EAP/PD STATE ALSO PASS USTR FOR CHINA OFFICE E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: SOCI PGOV ECON SCUL EAID CH SUBJECT: South China NGO Getting More Professional But Still Face Internal Challenges GUANGZHOU 00000679 001.2 OF 003 (U) This document is sensitive but unclassified. Please protect accordingly. Not for release outside U.S. government channels. Not for internet publication. ¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: As the operational space for non-government organizations (NGOs) continue to slowly widen in China (septel),the sector's social role is becoming more defined and some organizations are beginning to mature in how they organize and operate, according to NGO experts in south China. As part of this trend, the Internet and the media are playing an increasingly important role in the public campaign efforts of some south China NGOs. However, not all NGOs have been able to take full advantage of this extra space. Some have stalled in their development as a result of internal capacity challenges. Lack of training and oversight are often cited by NGO organizers as reasons why some organizations struggle to mature. End Summary. The Role of NGOs in China -------------- ¶2. (SBU) NGOs in China are more clearly defining their social functions, said Professor Zhu Jiangang, Director of Sun Yat-sen University's Institute of Civil Society (ISC) in Guangzhou. Zhu told the Consul General and ConGenOff that the sector's role in Chinese society has become more directed and falls into three major categories. First, the sector is a provider of social services, especially in areas where the Chinese government cannot or where the market is unwilling to do so. Second, by helping the development of rule of law, NGOs have a role in defending human and civil rights. Third, NGOs act as social innovators because social problems cannot be solved by the government, the market, or NGOs alone. NGOs can experiment on how to improve social welfare, and if it is successful, the government can take up the model and craft new policies accordingly. This is a learning process for all involved, said Zhu. NGO Professionalization -------------- ¶3. (SBU) In recent years, there has been a slow, but steady, trend of Chinese NGOs becoming more mature in their organization and operation, according to Zhu. Some NGOs in south China have become more professionalized and have expanded beyond their initial location to offer services to a larger community. Several have also transitioned from loosely organized volunteer organizations to ones with more defined administrative structures. Zhu added that the founders of NGOs are no longer limited to social workers, but also include migrant workers, students, university graduates, businessmen, former government officials, and even members of organized crime rings. Many labor NGOs in south China, for example, were founded by migrant workers. ¶4. (SBU) The Friends Social Welfare Association, a student organized NGO serving the gay and lesbian community, began on the campus of South China University of Technology in Guangzhou's University Town. It now has offices on two other campuses and the association's activities have expanded to include the entire University Town, which houses ten universities, said its founder Chen Du. Although the staff are all volunteers, each has a set of defined responsibilities and administrative duties, said Chen. Yangai Special Children Parent Club, which provides assistance to families of children with special needs in Guangzhou, is another organization that has compartmentalize its internal functions. Yangai has separate departments for education, parent services, and project development. The organization also offers internships to university students majoring in social work or sociology, said an administrator. ICS, the organization that Zhu heads up, has a board of directors consisting of scholars, entrepreneurs, and other NGO leaders. It supports the developmental work of NGOs in south China, as well as those in Yunnan and Anhui provinces. ICS also has plans to create formal training programs for NGO professionals and volunteers in the near future. Making Good Use of the Internet -------------- GUANGZHOU 00000679 002.2 OF 003 ¶5. (SBU) The Internet is proving to be a valuable public relations tool for NGOs in south China. At ICS, Zhu's team is working with specialists from Guangdong University of Technology and Massachusetts Institute of Technology to develop a web platform, known as Philanthropy 2.0, to facilitate communication among China's NGOs. Meanwhile, organizations like FSWA uses the Internet as its core means of communication with its constituents, said FSWA founder Chen. He explained that because FSWA targets young people, particularly students, who spend a lot of time surfing the Internet, having an online platform is essential for promoting the association and disseminating information to its members. FSWA administers two blogs and has also created a user group in QQ, an online instant messenger service. Yangai also taps the Internet to do outreach and fund-raising with a relatively developed website and an online store. Yangai Project Development Director Liu Yahui said that she hoped the organization could further raise its Internet presence in the future. ¶6. (SBU) Separately, some organizations have linked up with other civil society actors, like bloggers, to publicize their work. At a recent meeting of Chinese bloggers in Guangdong, many grassroots NGOs gave presentations about their organizations. These included NGOs working on education and children's issues, as well as charity funds and advocacy groups. "The conference was a platform for us to share and exchange our ideas with like-minded people who have access to many information channels on the Internet," said one NGO presenter. Media and Government Relations -------------- ¶7. (SBU) A good relationship with the media is essential for an NGO to be successful in China because it lessens the degree of official scrutiny and provides positive exposure of an NGO's work, said Wei Wei, founder of Little Bird Mutual Help Hotline. Media reports have helped Little Bird spread the word about its services and have made the organization more functional and effective, according to Wei. In Guangdong, Shenzhen Television and Southern Metropolis Daily (Nanfang Dushi Bao) recently highlighted Little Bird's Shenzhen office, after which the office saw an increase in the number of migrant workers seeking legal advice from the organization. In 2004, Little Bird had similar success in Beijing, when a report about the hotline aired on the Beijing Evening News. The publicity ultimately resulted in the local government granting the NGO the right to establish the Little Bird People's Mediation Committee under the Donghuamen Justice Office. With this new status, Little Bird possessed an organizational identity to approach companies and represent migrant workers and their rights. Drawing on Little Bird's experience with the media, Wei plans to create a training course for grassroots NGOs on how to develop a media strategy and take advantage of the resulting publicity. ¶8. (SBU) For organizations like FSWA, however, avoiding the media but concentrating on relations with the authorities may be a better strategy. Serving the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender communities on many of Guangzhou's university campuses, FSWA found that keeping a low profile and avoiding media exposure meant less scrutiny and opposition from university authorities, said founder Chen Du. Instead, he has cultivated relations with the universities' Communist Youth League committees, working with them to host events and programs focused on sex education. In contrast, Chen said that a similar organization, the more high-profile Rainbow Association at Sun Yat-sen University, was banned by university authorities not long after its founding. Internal Roadblocks -------------- ¶9. (SBU) Although some Chinese NGOs have been able to capitalize on the wider operational space afforded them by the authorities, others find themselves at a development stage where they simply are unable to take full advantage due to internal shortcomings, said Li Weining (aka Miles W.N. Lee),a senior research fellow at China Development Institute (CDI) in Shenzhen. Although organizers of many NGOs have GUANGZHOU 00000679 003.2 OF 003 great ideas and passion for their work, they are often deficient in the administrative experience and financial expertise required to efficiently organize and grow an organization, according to Li. Zhou Xinjing, founder of Allied Social Work Services Center of Shenzhen, lamented that it is difficult for her organization to attract support because she and her staff lack management and promotional skills, as well as computer know-how to advertise her organization's work. She said that other barriers afflicting organizations like hers include the lack of training in organizational management, team and project development, and evaluation skills. ¶10. (SBU) There are no established training curriculums for NGO administration in China, Li pointed out, adding that whatever training does exist is informal and often in the form of seminars, conferences, and forums. Zhu of ICS, which currently offers seminars on NGO development, also identified training as a critical area for development. Within the next three years, with assistance from the British Council in Guangzhou, ICS plans to provide formal training on volunteerism, NGO professionalism, and social entrepreneurship. ¶11. (SBU) Another internal encumbrance facing many NGOs in China is often the founders themselves, argued one south China expert. Some heads of NGOs run an organization as if it is his/her "kingdom," and the NGO's success is intimately linked with its leader's success, he explained. Related to this issue is the matter of oversight. Most NGOs in China, particularly the grassroots ones, lack internal oversight mechanisms, which often lead to accountability problems. Comment - Positive Trend -------------- ¶12. (SBU) The disparities in professional capacity are large between more mature organizations and less developed ones in south China's emergent NGO sector. Many have a long way to go and will continue to struggle with internal problems. However, the trend is positive, and local experts are optimistic about the potential for NGOs to play a growing role in society in south China. GOLDBECK