That means, 180 NGOs in a week and 720 in a month go for affiliation! Interestingly, almost all of them are new NGOs, according to officials at the council. The registration process takes two to three days and the NGOs get their certificates.[break]
Thus, the number of NGOs is likely to increase manifold in a very short period. Acting Deputy Director of the SWC, Uma Paudyal, informed that about 34,000 NGOs have been registered with the council to date. Moreover, there are many NGOs which have not yet registered at the SWC. She estimates that the total number of NGOs in the country must be around 50,000 already.
Interestingly, given the population of the country, 34,000 NGOs means one NGO per 872 people! Or if the NGOs are centered on VDCs, eight NGOs can focus on one VDC. Similarly, 202 INGOs are working with the SWC, according to the latter.
That being the case, it would not be wrong to expect far more from these non-profit organizations. A glance at the inflow of funds through the NGOs is enough to cause excitement.
For example, in the month of Jestha (mid-April to mid-May) alone, SWC Member Secretary Dr Chhewamg Uamgel Lama (who has been suspended by the government for irregularities and corruption) signed agreements amounting to Rs 8,358,242,584 with the country director and representatives of several donor agencies.
Information provided in the newsletter for the month states that an amount of Rs 7,538,242,584 in grants was agreed for several social service programs and development activities, while the rest would be received under annual funding to be provided to a few NGOs.
The newsletter also says that Rs 1,564,903,639 was sanctioned to 127 NGOs for programs related to health, education, environment, children, human rights and community development.
According to Prahlad Pant, Assistant Director at the SWC, most of the NGOs work for community development, which means maximum coverage of the social sector.
“The NGOs come up with programs that attract good funding,” he said. Paudyal agrees that NGOs are unlikely to attract funding if their working area is limited. She disclosed that the highest percentage of funding at present has been channelled to marginalized groups such as Dalits, followed by funding for climate change and community development.
Asked whether it was time to check the numbers of NGOs and focus more on quality, Paudyal said that "rising numbers alone need not be a problem, because NGOs bring more or less positive change in society."
Interestingly, Nepal is still far behind close neighbors India and Pakistan when it comes to the ´quantity´ of NGOs. Several studies estimate the number of NGOs in Pakistan to be above 100,000. India is estimated to have more than 3.5 million NGOs.
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