An international NGO representative in Colombia: reflections from practice

Abstract

Certain contexts render particularly challenging the disjunctures and discontinuities between international NGO (INGO) headquarters and in-country operations, as this Christian Aid case demonstrates. Torn loyalties result when seeking to discern how best to work with partners in a human-rights crisis in a middle-income country. Navigating these challenges requires a critical interrogation and radical practice of partnership. With many INGOs partially or wholly decentralising operations, and in anomalous and complex INGO programme contexts like this, it is vital to analyse the disjunctures and to support in-country staff to respond creatively to them, to do justice to programme potential and partnership principles.

Une représentante d’une ONG internationale en Colombie: réflexions basées sur la pratique

Certains contextes rendent tout particulièrement délicates les disjonctions et les discontinuités entre les opérations des ONG internationales (ONGI) au niveau du siège et des pays, comme le démontre ce cas de Christian Aid. On se heurte à des problèmes sur le plan des loyautés lorsque l’on tente de déterminer la meilleure manière de travailler avec les partenaires lors d’une crise de droits de l’homme dans un pays de revenu intermédiaire. Pour se frayer un chemin parmi ces défis, il faut une interrogation critique et une pratique radicale de partenariat. Comme de nombreuses ONGI décentralisent actuellement en partie ou totalement leurs opérations, dans les contextes de programmes d’ONGI anormaux et complexes comme celui-ci, il est essentiel d’analyser les disjonctions et de soutenir les effectifs au sein des pays pour qu’ils puissent y répondre efficacement, afin de faire honneur au potentiel des programmes et aux principes des partenariats.

Uma representante de ONG internacional na Colômbia: reflexões a partir da prática

Certos contextos tornam particularmente desafiadores as desconexões e descontinuidades entre as sedes das ONGs Internacionais (ONGIs) e as operações internas do país, como esse caso da Christian Aid demonstra. As lealdades são afetadas por tensões quando se busca discernir qual a melhor maneira de trabalhar com parceiros em uma crise de direitos humanos em um país de renda média. Contornar esses desafios exige uma investigação crítica e uma prática radical de parceria. Com muitas ONGIs descentralizando parcial ou inteiramente as operações e em contextos de programa de ONGIs anômalos e complexos como este, é vital analisar as desconexões e apoiar funcionários internos do país para responder criativamente a elas, para fazer justiça ao potencial do programa e aos princípios de parceria.

Reflexiones sobre la experiencia de la representante de una ONG internacional en Colombia

Ciertos contextos agudizan la distancia y las discontinuidades entre las sedes de las ONG internacionales (ONGI) y sus oficinas en otros países. El caso de Christian Aid que aquí se analiza es un ejemplo. Se produce un conflicto de lealtades a la hora de decidir cómo trabajar mejor con las contrapartes en medio de una crisis de derechos humanos en un país de ingresos medios. Navegar entre estos escollos requiere de un análisis crítico y una práctica contundente. Muchas ONGI han descentralizado total o parcialmente sus actividades. En contextos complejos y muy diversos es de vital importancia analizar las diferencias y respaldar al personal expatriado para que pueda actuar de forma creativa ante las diferentes coyunturas, potenciando a la vez los programas y los principios de alianza con las contrapartes.

Keywords:

• Aid
• Civil society
• Rights
• Latin America and Caribbean

Acknowledgements

Useful comments on earlier drafts were provided by colleagues in the Participation, Power and Social Change team of the Institute of Development Studies and in Christian Aid; and by James Lupton, my predecessor in CA Colombia. I am grateful to ex-colleagues and members of Christian Aid’s partner organisations in Colombia for what I learned from them, and apologetic for what I did not.

Notes

Brokerage is ‘a longstanding theme in political anthropology, in which structuralist-functionalist models have been challenged by work […] highlighting the ways in which social actors operate as active agents building social, economic and political roles rather than simply following normative scripts […]’ (Mosse and Lewis 2006: 11, drawing on Bierschenk et al., 2000). The concept of translation refers to the process, in a network of actors in a system, of ‘mutual enrolment and the interlocking of interests that produces project realities. [It] permits the negotiation of common meanings and definitions and the mutual enrolment and co-optation into individual and collective objectives and activities’ (ibid: 14).

See Christian Aid website, http://www.christian-aid.org/aboutus/who/aims/our_aims.aspx/.

At that time, CA policy was to manage programmes from London unless there were country-specific and compelling reasons to locate this function in-country.

The thorough overhaul, commenced in 2004, is still on-going, due to the complex nature of the task and the number of other programme-development initiatives occurring concurrently.

Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia, Armed Revolutionary Forces of Colombia, the major guerrilla group still in operation.

This won it acclaim in 2007 as a ‘top performer’ and first among the ten INGOs assessed, in the 2007 Global Accountability Report, an initiative by the One World Trust (OWT), a UK NGO promoting accountable global governance (see http://www.christianaid.org, retrieved 14 Jan 2009).

CA Colombia’s partner Peace Brigades International, for which my predecessor had formerly worked, was a model and major source of inspiration for this model.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Rosemary McGee

Rosemary McGee is a Fellow in the Participation, Power and Social Change Team of the Institute of Development Studies, UK. During 2004–2007 she was Christian Aid’s Country Representative in Colombia. Much of her work seeks to address in practical ways the challenges faced by international NGOs.