Following my recent post worrying about the instinctive antagonism of many charities against private sector approaches to reducing poverty, here's an article from another writer on the same subject.
Reviewing a recent Oxfam report on the provision of basic services, the author comments on how Oxfam views the private sector as "the enemy at worst, and a wild beast to be caged at best." Sadly, how familiar.
Of course, throwing the private sector at a problem is not a solution, and can often be harmful. But private sector innovation has played a helpful role in many areas of basic service provision in developing countries around the world, not least of all in India. And surely, given decades of disappointment in public sector provision of services for developing countries, Oxfam might recognise that a shared or compromise solution - the best of the state with the best of the private sector - might be a more pragmatic option for providing poor people with the services they deserve?
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1 comment:
The irony of the Oxfam report is that if governments really did all the things that Oxfam want them to do, Oxfam would be out of a job. Funnily enough, I spotted the same article on nextbillion (as you'll see if you scroll through the comments!)
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