After Indian companies, it’s the turn of desi NGOs to go multinational. While The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) and CUTS International have set up affiliate organisations in Asia, Africa, Europe and North America to present the perspective of developing countries to developed countries and foster south-south cooperation, Pratham’s US and UK affiliate charities are dedicated to raise funds from local communities to finance education of poor children in India. Similarly, while PRIA (Society for Participatory Research in Asia) operates from Afghanistan to Sri Lanka for training and capacity building of local people, Barefoot College invites poor women from Africa, train them to become solar engineers and usher in a change back home.
Says TERI director-general RK Pachauri: “We forayed abroad to highlight the perspective of developing countries on pressing issues like energy and environment.” TERI’s presence from Japan, Malaysia and the Gulf to North America and Europe helps the NGO to work at the ground level at these locations. Set up in 1974, TERI with its 700 employees engages in research in energy, environment, forestry, biote-chnology and the conservation of natural resources and consults with governments, institutions and companies across the world.
Similarly, CUTS International (Consumer Unity & Trust Society), which was set up in 1983 as a rural development communication initiative in a garage in Jaipur, Rajasthan to bring out a wall newspaper, Gram Gadar, now has centres all over the world at locations like Hanoi, Lusaka, Nairobi, Geneva and London.
Source: The Financial Express
Published on 4 August 2010