Nathaniel Don Marquez

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• Nathaniel Don Marquez

Asian NGO Coalition (ANGOC)
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About ANGOC

• Established in 1979
• Currently in 11 Asian countries, with an
  effective reach of 3000 NGOs
• Working on food sovereignty, access to land,
  sustainable agriculture and rural development

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Strategic Networking of NGOs in Asia
A. Networking and its strategic importance
B. Historical overview of NGO networking in Asia

• C. Insights on Networking

D. Emerging trends and challenges in networking
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Strategic Networks

• Strategic networks are alliances of individuals
  and organizations that combine resources in
  pursuit of shared, defined and consequential
  goals.

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Value added of Network

• 1. Creating greater impact
• Most NGOs have visions beyond their institutional
  capacities and resources. They need to coalesce
  with like-minded individuals and organizations.
  This allows them greater bargaining power in
  negotiating with decision makers and power
  structures.

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Value added of network

• 2. Greater access to resources
• Networks facilitate sharing of resources and
  information by combining these small and
  supposedly isolated resources.

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Value added of networks

• 3. Enhances administrative efficiency
• While most NGOs operate at the local level, they
  have to contend with policies and programs by
  national governments and regional institutions.
  For each one of them to relate with these
  structures would be very costly. Networks can
  enhance administrative efficiency through
  representation and by providing these
  administrative services.

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Asian NGO Networks Three Waves
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Some characteristics of networks

• Provide venues for social interaction
• Based on interpersonal commitment, and shared
  goals
• Volunteerism as primal energy
• Builds on diversity and respects independence of
  members
• Transformative and empowering
• Creative, evolving and dynamic
• Mutual accountability
• Flexible, but not rigid institutions, not
  hierarchical or bureaucratic

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Sustaining networks

• Ownership as key to network sustainability. -
• - members are being actively engaged
• - ensure that the network remain relevant to
  its members
• Vision.
• - need for a long-term vision while the
  goal of networking is to work for a bigger
  change, it should start from small victories and
  slowly build up from there.
• Clarity of objectives and roles of members.
• - clear goals and limited focus are related
  conditions of network success
• - goals should be defined at the outset to
  be understood and shared as a rationale for
  coming together.
• - sharing of resources (time, skills,
  funding) among the members should be constantly
  reviewed

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Sustaining networks

• Coordination.
• - cater to different interests and
  understand the roles of groups within the
  network.
• - important element is to have a clear flow
  of information (who gets what, when and what
  form)
• Learning through diversity.
• - differences among members should be
  respected
• - treat differences as inspiration rather
  than hindrances
• Flexibility.
• - ability to adapt over time to changing
  circumstances
• - networks functions to best advantage where
  they are not cast in stone, but encouraged to
  evolve.
• Transparent decision-making and good governance.
  
• - it is best that a consensus approach may
  be taken when decisions are taken.

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Trends in networking

• SCOPE
• - to be more inclusive and participatory
• - started with linking individuals then
  gradually expanding to the whole of the voluntary
  sector
• - recently, networking has gone beyond the NGO
  sector and to involve the government and the
  private sector.

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Trends in networking

• APPROACH
• - strategic networking has promoted
  consultative processes and dialogues (the soft
  approach) and has downplayed confrontations and
  protest actions (the hard approach) due to the
  widening of scope of participants

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Guiding Principles in Multistakeholder Approach

• Broad representation

• Recognition of differences

• Equity of stakes

• Openness to other options

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Tips in convening multistakeholder dialogues

• Identify and include stakeholders who are
  interested and willing to participate
• Define parameters for the participation of
  stakeholders
• Define and establish mechanisms for sustained
  involvement of stakeholders
• Select issues or aspects of the topic wherein
  stakeholders are to be involved
• Enhance capacities of stakeholders to ensure
  equal participation

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Trends in networking

• AGENDA
• - shift from pursuing sectoral interests to
  the promotion of public good
• - in Asia addressing the issue of poverty