NGOs need some transparency [Archives:2003/683/Opinion]

Yasser Mohammed Al-Mayyasi
Non-governmental organizations, NGOs have had a good role in bringing success, activation of big development projects witnessed by advanced countries and by virtue of sincerity and great effort exerted by leaders of those NGOs those countries have become much respectful of the law and building institutions, such countries have become knows as the states of civil institutions.
NGOs work is intensified and active in democratic states which give them the freedom of establishment and action and success of NGOs activities in advanced and democratic countries is reflected in developing countries that have adopted democracy as a pursuit.
In our country, the NGOs have not seen any real interaction or existence but since 1990 by virtue of realization the Yemeni unity and its constitution that guarantees formation of political and civilian organization in addition to providing suitable climate for their activities.
As a result of allowing establishment of those organizations, statistics confirmed that the number of political and civil organizations of varied identities such as, an organization, political party and non-governmental society has in 2002 amounted to more than 3600 organizations.
Researches and studies conducted by specialized centers have confirmed that Yemeni NGOs are still lacking of many constituents particularly, the apparent specialty.
Most of these organization in Yemen usually have multipurpose goals and their interests are rather much ramified, therefore, a little success has achieved by those NGOs due to the competition of their leaders on getting material gains and purely personal benefits.
Other studies have mentioned that most Yemeni NGOs concentrate their attention on certain issues having special priority on agenda of international and foreign organizations which offer support and financial aid to domestic organization that focus on issues adopted by those foreign organizations.
As a result of much financing received by some NGOs, some of them worked sincerely for attaining their humane goals, but many of them failed in achieving the minimum level of realizing goals for which they have been established because of the difference overshadowing their while sharing their financial positions.
As some of the NGOs are after gaining money, their outputs are usually informed the symposium and workshops lacking objectivity.
Therefore, expenditure on those workshops and symposiums are done without the existence of a single practical activity.
According to this reality, a journalist or a researcher finds it difficult to have access to corridors of those organizations to obtain what he wants of information about them and their activity as well as financial accounts, which usually are under supervision of one single person.
It is quite sure that transparency claimed by such NGOs leaders are merely slogans meant for cheap extortion and some officials at that organization would treat as an intruder who has no right to even ask about affairs of those organizations.
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