9 to 5

It's tricky, this notion of mine that I'm not going to make any mention of the organisation I work for. Everyone reading knows who it is, and I'm sure it's blindingly obvious; but I really don't want to be found defaming a charity of some repute through a google search. The reason it's tricky though is that I wouldn't be here if it weren't for work, and that's the only reason this blog might be vaguely interesting.
It's Saturday afternoon, and I'm in the office, typing from my gmail. Simp will put this up on the blog later.

Yesterday I went to a presentation by the UNDP on citizenship in Honduras, and the factors that influence it. Fascinating stuff. Apparently, more than 90% of Hondurans interviewed said it was never acceptable to accept a bribe. This got a big belly laugh. The same people agree overwhelmingly that it's ok to take the law into your own hands, that if somebody is harassing a neighbourhood it's ok to murder him (extra-judicially), and that, unsurprisingly, there's no reason to have confidence in the police or the judiciary. Honduras has the highest rate of confidence in the Catholic Church in all of Latin America though. Dear Jesus, help us.
So security is a core issue, and one that undermines democracy (spotting a theme in my blogs here): a majority of people claim that they'd be happy to go back to military dictatorship if it kept the streets safe. Social cohesion has collapsed in the cities, although, interestingly, it persists in the countryside which is even more violent. There are other major factors in the absence of citizenship, and particularly profound poverty and vulnerability, themselves major drivers of violence. It's a familiar story. That's why it's so depressing.

The presentation made virtually no mention of the national Poverty Reduction Strategy, but that's what we're putting our cards on. Why? Maybe I shouldn't go into it now, but the idea is that there's a space guaranteed by law which MUST include representatives of the poor and marginalised in deciding how the national budget should be put to reducing poverty. All the usual suspects are invited along: youth, elderly, disabled, women, indigenous people, representatives of small and medium enterprise, red-haired people, citeogs, travellers, Welsh-speakers, you get the message. This is what we call civil society: the organised spaces that aren't overtly political. Except they are. The NGOs of the disabled don't talk to each other; the lesbians fighting for the rights of people living with HIV don't get on with the other people fighting for the rights of people living with HIV. There's suspicion and tension among different organisations, all of whom are competing for the same funds, and not all of whom are exactly demonstrating any impact from the receipt of those funds. Meanwhile, as long as civil society bickers among itself, the government chuckles and decides that they can't be trusted to input into policy (nor do they have the technical/ intellectual capacity); so we'll just sign a contract for another maquila (sweatshop) in San Pedro... If this sounds just like home - wherever home is - that's because it is.

My work involves trying to find the good organisations and fund them and challenge them to show that they're making a difference to the way decisions are made in Honduras. Also to go to all their godawful meetings in godawful hotels, which are made more tolerable by the really rather lovely finger food. I find it fascinating. This week I'm spending two days at workshops reviewing the way we do all of this and considering whether it works. And a day up north somewhere visiting a project mobilising citizens around environmental destruction. But I'd like to konw more about the work we do with the destitute, in the slums and the HIV clinics, and once I do, I'll tell you about that too.

Hey listen, if there's anything you'd like to know more about, do tell me. I'm waiting for my work to go way beyond the theoretical, and I'm surely not going to keep blogging about the power struggles between different charities. Hope to catch up with you all soon.