That’s one of many questions we are grappling with as we travel through Cambodia from the capital Phnom Pehn to the remote Lao/Cambodia border. We are meeting with a range of organizations in our effort to understand the terrain and where we can share our expertise and experience in a useful manner.
As the community focal point for this project, I pay close attention to community-based initiatives. Working with the community is a theme common in many organizations we visited, and Cambodia has a number of village volunteers who serve multiple functions in support of government efforts. There are animal health volunteers, human health volunteers, malaria volunteers and HIV volunteers among others. It is impressive how many people give their own time to health-related issues.
Along with this fantastic cadre of village volunteers, however, come disease or sector specific infrastructure and reporting mechanisms. For those tracking outbreaks of disease, having many independent systems makes it very difficult to get a full picture and respond effectively. But this nut is tough to crack. Disease specific funding streams are partly driven by donors who want to see results in their area of concern. This silo approach is not only widespread here, but in affluent nations such as the United States. We are exploring ways technology might be able to build bridges and open communication.
Regardless of the professional challenges, Cambodia is a glorious place to be. I am writing this blog overlooking the majestic Mekong River which is so vast at times it resembles the sea. I plan to visit the Killing Fields of Choeung Ek and the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum because the present cannot be understood without an appreciation for the horrific past they have endured. We learned that only six doctors survived the Khmer Rouge regime, and we have had the great honor to meet two of these extraordinary individuals. I hope we can give something back to this nation (and others in the region) that have suffered so greatly.
Friday, February 8, 2008
How can you make a difference in a country with over 600 NGOs?
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2 comments:
The problem you point to - the lack of knowledge sharing between and information management within NGOs leading to fractured outcomes and much waste - is a problem larger than just those NGOs you point to. My work over the past decade in Sri Lanka has been to encourage, with varying degrees of success, organisations and individuals in civil society to share information in pursuit of shared goals. The idea that sharing strengthens everybody's outcomes sounds obvious, but tremendously difficult to communicate and sustain in a complex environment where there is no trust, little donor aid, and frankly, very little collaboration and coordination between donors themselves. In Sri Lanka we are working presently on three front to address human rights, human trafficking and victims of violence with NGOs, and designed a collaborative workspace for key donors and a back-office management platform for small to large NGOs. All standards based. All interoperable. All technically possible of linking with each other on demand. We have a long way to go - but if anything, the central problem seems to me to be resistance from individuals rather than anything technical. Human nature, you will agree, is a complex beast that bedevils the best of technology.
Best regards,
Sanjana Hattotuwa
Dear Colleagues
The challenge of information is not new ... information overload has been an issue in management as long as I can remember and perhaps since the invention of the printing press ... now aggravated by modern technology and fast but not deep communications.
We need to think hard about what information is key, useful and material and work to filter out the vast amount of "noise" that is getting in the way.
Tr-Ac-Net's focus on community centric information may be a way forward, combined with a framework for social benefit accountancy ... which is now relatively easy with Internet technology.
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