Introduction
In most countries, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) complement the government in the provision of social amenities. In most instances, NGOs identify the areas of need where the government has not managed to effectively provide services. The major essence of NGOs is to provide services with no particular monetary interests. In addition, NGOs should be able to identify areas of need and this should be done after adequate research has been conducted. In most developing countries, the distribution of resources is not always equitable. Furthermore, it is important that NGOs identify the most vulnerable and the most marginalized in society and identify ways in which they can be assisted.
What are the areas of Need in Qatar?
In Qatar, there is a need to take care of the elderly in the population. The elderly in most societies are usually left to take care of themselves due to the high demands that the current economic situation places on the young and the middle-aged. The young are mostly involved in pursuing education and it is obvious that they would not have time to take care of the old or risk jeopardizing their future. The middle-aged on the other hand are lays involved in their careers and looking for money to take care of their children and their aged relatives.
In most instances, governments fail to identify the age as being vulnerable and are mostly ignored during the formulation of policies and budgetary allocation. A society should be able to take care of the aged because they once contributed to the development of society. Most governments concentrate on the young but fail to identify that the aged are also s vulnerable. Social security is sometimes not sufficient as some old-aged people may be having terminal illnesses that might be expensive to treat or to manage.
Children constitute a needy segment of society because they have not reached a point in their lives where they can take care of themselves. Therefore, it is upon society to ensure that children can access their basic needs and be educated so that they can have the chance of a promising future. In traditional communities, a child was not just the responsibility of his or her parents but a responsibility of the whole community. However, things have quickly changed and with the economic constraints being experienced the concentration has shifted the nuclear family. Therefore, there is a need for NGOs to complement the government in the provision of services aimed at children. The NGOs can initiate activities aimed at assisting children to develop their skills in a favorable environment.
In most instances, during disasters governments are overwhelmed with management, treatment and evacuation of casualties. During such circumstances, NGOs play a significant role in assisting the government take control. Natural disasters are usually the most difficult to contain since they mostly come with little or no warning. Such circumstances require the intervention of NGOs that are well established in dealing with such circumstances. Furthermore, the government does not always have the financial capacity to manage the situations alone and intervention of NGOs is usually very important.
Dissemination of information to the masses is also an important aspect in any community because it empowers the community to identify the operations of the government and to critic the government. This provides a control and check mechanisms in case the government is not faithful. NGOs can also take the role providing the masses with important information such as the government policies and expenditure so as to sensitize the masses on issues related to governance. This undertaking cannot be left to the government because there is no way that the same government can criticize itself. This ensured that governmental institutions are always accountable and transparent to the communities they serve.
The contemporary society has been plagued with social problems such as drug abuse and other social and psychological disorders that it needs to deal with. As much as there are various interventions that have been instituted to prevent the occurrence of the social problems, it is still evident that they still occur. Therefore, it is important for the government to make sure that rehabilitation facilities are available to prepare the affected members of the society to once more become productive.
However, the government cannot succeed completely without the help of NGOs. NGOs can assist the government in various capacities for instance identifying the most widespread social problems. Furthermore, NGOs can also assist the government in coming up with the most applicable rehabilitation procedures to assist the affected members of the society. Rehabilitation also involves persons who have been incarcerated with the aim of preparing them to rejoin the community after serving their sentences. Therefore, NGOs can act in many capacities to assist the government in arriving at its objectives.
What are the Challenges Facing NGOs?
The primary challenge facing most NGOs in Qatar is funding. Funding for most NGOs is quite a challenge because they are not profit making organizations. In most circumstances they depend on donations from well wishers, donors and other well established NGOs. In some instances the government might also offer some help. The funding that NGOs get is not always consistent and therefore it presents problems when it comes to budgeting for activities to engage in. the fund may at one time come in large amounts and then other times the funding might not be there completely. Therefore, most NGOs are forced to budget for money that they have at hand because in other instances donors may fail to fulfill their promises.
Furthermore, most NGOs also lack adequate resources to deal with the segments of the society that they have identified as being vulnerable. For instance, during a natural disaster an NGO may not have the relevant machinery in terms of manpower and equipments to reach the affected. Therefore, they are forced to depend on the government or other organizations to provide the machinery which may frustrate the timely attendance on the affected.
The lack of resources may be due to lack of funds or lack of appropriate channels to secure the resources. Human resource is another aspect of resources that NGOs lack. Most NGOs are not usually able to offer high salaries like mains stream profit making organization and therefore NGOs do not usually attract specialists. For instance, an NGO dealing with the aged will require the services of a doctor who is experienced in terminal illnesses. Very few doctors would agree to work in an environment that may sometimes not be very pleasing and yet the pay is low. This circumstances make it difficult for most NGOs to secure professional employment and in the instant that they do they have to offer more compensation that other main stream organizations.
In some circumstances, NGOs may be at logger heads with the government especially when the government perceives that the NGO may be intruding in state affairs or is inciting the masses against the government. The government may therefore place mechanisms that may frustrate the operations of the NGO. Such a situation mostly happens when the NGO is involved in issues related to governance and sensitization of the masses.
In such a situation the NGO does not only act against the challenges in the society but also the challenges instituted by the government. NGOs should also be apolitical and act with regard to areas where need has been identified. However, in some instances governments are quick to absorb NGOs in politics either by demanding that they target a particular group of people or direct funds towards specific projects. Lack of following the government proposals may mean that the NGOs may not operate freely or may be sanctioned altogether.
Conclusion
NGOs play a very crucial role of assisting the government in the provision of services to the society. NGOs act in various capacities and it is important that they identify the most vulnerable and the marginalized in the society who for one reason or another government cannot attend to. After the identification of these segments of the society, NGOs should then come up with strategies to ensure that their problems are alleviated or eliminated and that they are given the opportunity to lead quality lives. In the provision of their services, NGOs are constantly faced with challenges that they have to overcome in order to arrive at their objectives. The challenges range from funding and lack of resources to other aspects such as government intervention.