CONNECTING: African NGO reps network in China (CHEN FEI)

Bottom-up approach

With their great influence among the general public, African NGOs are playing a key role in delivering important public services to supplement government actions. In recent years, African NGOs have been very active in a wide range of fields, such as HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment, poverty alleviation, environmental protection and gender equality.

Botswana Federation of Trade Unions (BFTU) is one of the African NGOs that is engaged in labor movements. According to its president, Allan S. Keitseng, BFTU is built as an anti-government organization. "Because we need to come to the issues of social justice, social democracy and the overall development of the people. It must be underlined that BFTU is a social organization," he said. "We provide checks and balances [for government actions]."

According to Keitseng, BFSU oversees government actions to make sure that the white-collar workers are protected. When the government signs deals with other countries, BFTU must be involved to ensure the deals are successful. BFTU also provides services to society, like raising funds and providing orphans with school uniforms.

Huang Haoming, Executive Director of China Association for NGO Cooperation, noted that China and Africa have different methods in NGO operation. "In China, [the decision-making mechanism] in most cases is a top-down approach. While in Africa, a bottom-up approach is often adopted," he said.

Unlike African NGOs, Chinese NGOs often have strong government support. CNIE, as an umbrella NGO organization with 45 member organizations, has been engaged in promoting exchanges and cooperation between Chinese NGOs and NGOs around the world.

But like African NGOs, the Chinese NGOs also play a supplementary role to the government and serve as a bridge between the government and civil society.

"While supporting and complementing the government policies, Chinese NGOs should be more flexible and proactive in renovating traditional ways of thinking and working," said Wang Yunze, Vice President of CAPFA.