Voices
Voices
Donors And Real Pacific Priorities
Donor organizations undeniably have the right to give aid to whomsoever they wish. Island governments and the NGOs that work within them are grateful for the assistance they receive. But must we pretend that the priorities of the agency reflect the most urgent needs of the island societies upon which they bestow their money?
"How does this project benefit women?" is the question this is nearly universally asked by donor organizations today.
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Clearly donors are preoccupied with redressing what they consider longstanding imbalances in their own societies. Woman may suffer much worse in certain non-western countries, as most of us are aware. Still, should the plight of woman be assumed to be the same in Pacific Island societies? And even if it is, should it be regarded as serious enough to eclipse other priorities?
Throughout Micronesia, and perhaps through the entire Pacific, a strong argument can be made that males are at greater risk than women. Certainly far more so for suicide, but also for drug abuse, incarceration, accidental death, and even for schizophrenia. I tell people all the time that the greatest at-risk group in the islands is young males. But if this is so, why shouldn't the priorities of donors reflect this obvious fact?
Priorities, alas, are much more a reflection of the social philosophy of the donor country than of the needs of the recipients. We might think that an institution like the Asian Development Bank, with years of experience in the Pacific, might know better, but it too succumbs to the temptation to think small when it could be thinking so much bigger. The bank offers hundreds of technical assistance grants to the small island nations aimed at developing land registration systems, drafting model leases, and putting in place the other machinery needed to encourage foreign investment. The bank seems to assume, however, that the population is so eager for economic development that it is prepared to pay any cultural cost to achieve this end.
Yet, nothing is further from the truth. My own experience as a consultant for bank projects has convinced me that people have fears that will not be easily allayed. The biggest of all is that they are, in biblical terms, selling their cultural birthright for a bowl of porridge. They need to see how the particular strategy that the bank is promoting links to the whole modernization process, and how modernization, as envisioned by the bank, is not the end of the cultural trail for them, but rather a new turn toward a future that holds the promise of continuity.
Sometimes there is an undeniable allure in thinking small. Sewing machines for village women and fishnets or boats for their men are the kind of direct aid projects that most donor organizations love. Yet again and again donors are forced to back off this type of direct aid and admit defeat. You can hear the sorrow in their voices as the donors tell you that the sewing machines have been appropriated by individual families and the community has achieved none of the economic benefits it was supposed to derive from the project.
Grant-in-aid projects have their place, provided we don't expect too much of the recipients. Specific projects aimed at eliminating minor nuisances also have their value, as long as they are recognized for what they are and not elevated in the eyes of donors or recipients to the status of high priority. But what people seem to need as much as anything else is understanding of themselves and the way in which modern societies work so that they can be active parties in making the transition.
Perhaps the priorities might be rethought by donors. There was a time when community education-helping people work through their problems-was very much in favor. Where has that spirit gone? Am I wrong in assuming that donors find much more satisfaction today in offering the fish-but only if the outstretched hands to receive it belong to a woman?
The writer is the director of the Micronesian Seminar, a research institute located in Pohnpei, Federated State of Micronesia.
