Matching Intentions with Divergent Agendas: Interplay of the State, International Donors, and the Civil Voluntary Initiatives in Pakistan

During the last two decades, there has been proliferation of civil voluntary initiatives in the name of local and international development. The international donors of a large variety have played catalyst role in supporting such initiatives financially to help engage in meaningful interaction with the states in whose jurisdiction they operate. These initiatives have been given many names, most popular being the NGOs (Non-Governmental Organisations). However, in this paper one is referring to this collectivity as civil voluntary initiatives (CVIs). They can be institutions, organisations or behaviours, forms of social activism or participation—formal and informal, organised and or random. There is general perception that these initiatives are “donor driven” and follow a “western agenda”. We also observe that many international donors do not tend to fund and encourage impartially; they leave out faith-based groups from their support net. The latter reportedly receive charity donations from foreign governments in the name of serving religion—Islam, in the case of Pakistan. The states, at times, seem to be receptive to funding of international donors for ‘development’ initiatives aiming service delivery and awareness raising in certain ‘non-controversial’ areas like population planning, HIV-AIDS awareness, etc. However, they do not appear to approve international donors’ funding of advocacy focused rights based initiatives motivating and urging people to articulate their concerns for policy change, reform and promoting democratic assertions.