Compromiso con los Proyectos Estratégicos de Desarrollo Socialista

Ethics are principles of right and wrong, which human beings try to exercise in their relations with others and with the natural world; humans are different from animals in the sense of being conscious of and having a conscience about our actions; that is, we make moral and ethical judgements about intentions and behaviours relating to our actions. In the context of development, however, the ethical problem of what, and how much to produce are made less difficult by the plight of the world’s poor. The moral question then is not if, but how to provide the basic needs of the poor- the means of providing these needs is referred to as ‘development’; development as a project deserves ethical repute, political support and practical advocacy (Peet and Hartwick 1999). Accordingly, ethicists question the morality of opulence in a world characterised by extreme poverty, and how individuals should respond to this issue (Chatterjee and MacLean 2004). Against this background, it is claimed that the first major involvement in global governance by NGOs was the setting of normative standards; this was translated into an international policy agenda. NGOs are said to have been mainly responsible for formulating the concept of SD and ensuring that it got into international discourse at major world gatherings (Armstrong, Lloyd and Redmond 2013). Accordingly, citizen participation is one concept gaining international attention. Using Go4Health as an example (bearing in mind that this study is analysing NGOs as development partnerships for malaria intervention in Nigeria), the normative framework on the right to health framed Go4Health’s proposal to set goals and a form of governance

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centred on the foundation of a shared, but separate responsibilities for achieving UHC. Go4Health argues that the right to health can be successfully implemented via a firm global social contract, despite the status of it being ‘voluntary cooperation’- described as a political concept which involves citizens and governments participation to achieve any agreed goal (go4health. 2018). From an African context, it is claimed that the high level of poverty on the continent is an issue which requires a moral-ethical discourse for philanthropists, charities and foreign aid. In view of this, images of people suffering from starvation and diseases (particularly children) are usually taking from SSA countries. These images used by NGOs, (often INGOs) to solicit for funds gets the attention of many citizens and organisations in developed countries. These ‘disturbing’ images of people suffering in SSA countries and the consequent response by NGOs presents these organisation as ‘problem solving organisations’ (Jones 2005: 988). Accordingly, these NGOs often partner with other organisations on development projects Jones (Ibid), thus, they can arguably be classified as development partners.

3.9 Conclusion

This chapter examined some theoretical approaches to development, particularly those associated with the main themes of this study- sustainable development, the UN as an institution promoting development agenda, NGOs as development partners in the field of development. Different writers in theorising development link the economic dimension of SD as a modern or liberal ideology; the social aspect and environmental dimensions are usually connected to normative-ethical thinking. Consequently, a review of critical, dependency, modern, liberal/neoliberal, and normative theories was imperative in this study. This chapter looked at critical international relations theory. It is argued that a key feature of critical theory is its insistence on self-reflection,

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including an account of how knowledge arises out of and is situated in certain contexts. In relation to SD, this chapter discussed how critical theory has influenced SD. It is claimed that critical theory offers important knowledge into development theory and SD in relation to understanding the complexity of modernisation and the role of science and technology. From critical theory, the discussion in this chapter moved on to dependency theory. Recognising that the central theme in dependency theory is based on the idea that the development of the United States and Europe was grounded in the active underdevelopment of Third World nations. The leading dependency theorist, Frank A.G hypothesised that real development involved separating from the capitalist system to become a self-reliant economy. The argument of dependency theory was that the regions that maintain close ties with the capitalist West are the most underdeveloped. Accordingly, development has been argued to be part of the modernisation agenda of modernising or developing the other parts of the world to be like the industrialised countries of parts of Europe and North America. While the concept of international development- by extension, the growth of NGOs, particularly INGOs, is rooted in neo-liberal ideologies of social justices.

However, this thesis is grounded on the normative theoretical approach in the context of private or State agencies making ethical judgements about what ought to be done vis-à-vis, different actors from across national boundaries coming together as partners to achieve a goal (as it relates to development partnerships). It is argued that normative theory is linked to the ethical nature of the relationship between communities or institutions. Hence, development became increasingly known as a normative idea. Accordingly, this chapter also discussed the connection between the UNDGs and normative ideology, as there is an assertion that the UN is based on a normative framework. The UN’s Global

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Goals envisages some basic objectives, these include, economic prosperity, social inclusion, environmental sustainability and good governance which is expected of development stakeholders in both public and private sector, these expectations is argued to a normative-ethical idea. Finally, this chapter discussed the theoretical framing for NGOs in the field of development, as there is an assertion that development NGOs are service providers of basic needs which is also argued to be a normative-ethical idea of ‘doing good’, thus, their recognition as development partners, crucial for the implementation of the Global Goals.

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CHAPTER 4: RESEARCH DESIGN, METHOD AND METHODOLOGY