Social workers affecting social policy in Spain

NGOs IN SPAIN AND SOUTH AFRICA: IN THE LINE OF TWO FIRES

“…In South Africa the level of support for NGOs also continued to decrease rapidly, with Rapoo (2010) reporting that South African NGOs had experienced a 30% decline in international funding during 2008. In both countries many NGOs were recorded as being forced to close their doors (Martínez-Román, 2013;Naidoo & Nkuna, 2009). …”

“…Such unclear and ambiguous regulations have also been implemented by the Spanish government. Much as in South Africa, in order to receive public funding for their activities, local Spanish NGOs must be registered, services must be provided by professionals with an employment contract, and they must meet the established requirements of the state-based agenda, yet within a context where the rules for state funding and support have not been clearly defined (Martínez-Román, 2013). …”

“…This only serves to further edge out NGOs, blurring the lines between state responsibility, third-sector service rendering and for-profit organisations, whose first priority is often economic gain over meeting the needs of the marginalised. This change in policy clearly represents a shirking of the responsibility of the state in the provision of service and welfare rights (Martínez-Román, 2013;MateoPérez et al, 2015).…”

“…Rather, a commitment to collaboration between NGOs, as well as a reinvigorated partnership with the state, in a manner not removed from the watchdog role nor altering the identity of the NGO, is a fundamental element in ensuring the sustainability and effectiveness of NGOs. The NGO sector in South Africa and Spain has at times been perceived as being too heterogeneous, with many small organisations all fighting individually to defend the rights of the people they represented and thus having limited, or less than desired, impact on public policies (Martínez-Román, 2013;Spolander et al, 2015). The crisis of sustainability in the local NGO sector, and the challenges being faced in the line of two fires as elucidated, have thus brought to light the need for collaboration within both the Spanish and South African contexts.…”

“…Much has been written about the growing power and influence of larger international and transnational NGOs (see, for example, McGann & Johnstone, 2006), and the resulting changes in the social and economic landscape for local NGOs in recent years. Such changes are most distinctly recognised in Spain and South Africa, two countries where local NGOs have long played a formative and historical role in society and welfare provision (Gray, 1998;Martínez-Román, 2013;Mazibuko, McKendrick & Patel, 1992), but whose sustainability and identity are now under siege.…”