| Basic principles of MS in the South |
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The MS in the South Partnership and Development Programme (MSIS) is a development programme implemented between Mellemfolkeligt Samvirke (MS) and organisations in Africa, Asia and Central America.
Every year approximately 200 Danes with educational backgrounds ranging from law to horticulture are posted in the South as MS Development Workers (DWs).
Their skills are put to use in MS partner organisations in Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Mozambique, Lesotho, Nepal, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala.
In each of the above mentioned countries or regions of operation, MS has a Country Office headed by a Coordinator.
MS has been engaged in development work in the South since 1963. Initially the DWs - or as they were known in the early days - volunteers were the focal point of the MS in the South programme.
The world has changed over the past 35 years. Needs and conditions in the South have changed too. Consequently, so has MS's approach:
In 1992 the MS Board decided to change the focus of MS's work in the South. DWs are still the main component of the development support MS can offer organisations in the South.
But the partnerships between MS and these organisations are the foundation on which the development effort rests.
Poverty orientation is the fundamental denominator for all MSIS activities. The following four principles can be seen as the general objectives, based on which MS country programmes and partnerships are - and should continue to be - developed and concretised.
Development by People
Development by people is a key principle for MS.
Popular participation is a precondition for the successful implementation of specific development strategies.
MS believes that poor and marginalised women and men have potential and resources which are necessary to build on to ensure a sustainable development. In their endeavour to survive and improve their lives, these women and men require support.
MS strives to empower people by increasing their ability to effectively control and manage their own development activities.
In line with this, MS supports a strong civil society which can provide a necessary counterbalance to the power of the state.
Popular movements, NGOs, women's organisations, church organisations, the labour movement etc. are all necessary actors for society to develop a strong democratic base which can serve as the foundation for development.
Gender Orientation
Globally, the number of people living in absolute poverty is increasing, and in the South the vast majority of the poor are women.
In MS's partner countries, they are rural women with no access to or control over land and property.
Divorce rates are high and the number of (single) teenage mothers and female-headed households is growing.
So is the number of orphans, street children, boys and especially girls with poor access to education.
In addition, the social relations between men and women are characterised by patriarchal cultural patterns often leaving women with limited possibilities to influence decisions that are crucial to themselves and their families.
This makes it necessary for MS to integrate a gender perspective in its policies in the South.
No activity should be initiated without considering how to address the different conditions and opportunities of men and women in a specific context.
Within this framework, MS co-operates with women's organisations and other NGOs, as well as with local governments and community based organisations.
The Environment
The excessive consumption in the North and the exhaustion of resources in the South are two aspects of the global threat to the environment.
In the South, MS gives priority to integrated efforts so that the long-term effort to preserve and restore a sustainable environment is integrated with the effort to ensure that poor communities survive and gradually improve their situation.
This must be seen in the context of food security, which involves issues such as: Women's right to hold land, extension services to farmers, sustainable farming methods which do not exhaust the land, prevention of soil erosion and deforestation.
At an overall political level, this priority implies support to land reforms and support to a population policy based on women's active participation and respect for the basic human rights of women and men.
Sustainable Development
The endeavour to ensure sustainable development goes beyond the environmental aspect.The activities supported must be able to deliver benefits for an extended period of time, and they must ultimately prove able to function without the assistance of MS or other donors.
Attention must be given to three types of sustainability in particular: organisational, financial and technical sustainability.
Organisational sustainability means that partner organisations should achieve a reasonable degree of independence from outside bodies; the organisation should be accepted by the local community, and it should provide appropriate programmes with a positive, long-term impact.
It should be ensured that MS partners are given support to build up an organisational capacity which can cope with changing scenarios.
There is also a need to consider and safeguard the economic or financial sustainability of a partnership activity and consequently of its ability to provide continuos support to the beneficiaries.
Partnership activities also have to demonstrate that they can meet objectives with a technology which is appropriate.
The sustainability aspects mentioned here indicate priority areas in MS-partnerships:
- partners must be assisted to develop appropriate democratic structures of decision-making;
- they must co-operate with like-minded organisations to exchange experiences and concerns;
- they must keep costs at a realistic level;
- and they must utilise adapted technology in accordance with local requirements and opportunities.
MS is the abbreviation of the Danish name Mellemfolkeligt Samvirke which means Danish Association for International Co-operation. MS was founded in 1944 on the initiative of a number of individuals who were determined to contribute to the rebuilding of Europe after the second world war. They believed that the meeting and co-operation of people from different countries and with different religious and political beliefs was necessary in order to avoid conflicts between nations in the future.
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