Democratizing Development

Book excerpt: Decades of official development aid to the Third World have, largely, entrenched privilege and, through the debt crisis, increased impoverishment. The poor have been increasingly marginalized and disregarded. Often in the teeth of intense opposition they have begun to create their own, democratic, organisations - credit unions, co-operatives, legal and medical aid services and so on - whose natural allies are the voluntary organisations of the North (non-governmental organizations - NGOs)