Thank You for Supporting KP at ASA & ARNOVA

Despite a lower attendance rate for both conferences, Kumarian Press received great attention; and we would like to take a moment to thank attendees for coming out to support our endeavors.

We met a variety of individuals at ASA, ranging from your everyday professors to historians, researchers and development workers. We appreciate book ideas, and are working hard to implement these ideas for our readers.

I would also like to thank Lou Picard, author of KP's African Security and the African Command and A Fragile Balance. For two days, he welcomed our guests and signed copies of his two books.
Our trip to ARNOVA was also a hit, where our authors were found meeting and greeting our readers and attendees. Chris Corbett, author of Advancing Nonprofit Stewardship Through Self-Regulation, spoke at the conference, while Susan Ross, Shae Garwood and Jennifer Brinkerhoff promoted their new and upcoming titles.

We are thankful for our readers and their continuing support; and we look forward to seeing them next year at ARNOVA and ASA 2012.

NOTE: ASA and ARNOVA attendees - Do not forget about your post conference discounts. Source code is located on the top right corner of the order form. Valid for one month.

Cambodian NGOs Raise Doubt

Cambodia-based NGOs are under the gun "as the government gears up to pass controversial legislation regulating the country's estimated 2,000 civil society groups" (Asia Times Online) who are part of a foreign donor-funded railway renovation project, costing approximately $141 million that will affect more than 4000 poor families living near the tracks.

On August 4, 2011, the Cambodian Ministry of Interior suspended Sahmakum Teang Tnaut (STT), one of several involved with monitoring the resettlement of residents displaced by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and AusAID-funded rail project. At first, talks of suspension were due to inconsistencies in the group's paperwork, but later we found out the truth.

"STT operated and incited people to oppose national development by the government in order to make the development partners suspend or stop the project," the ministry said in an August 14 statement.

Since the suspension of STT, the government has warned NGOs about making "false" claims, such as the death of two children last year.

These NGOs have received criticism that marks them as using a project that will only benefit their career by exploiting others. They stay firm though stating that they are not opposed to national development.

But, since the United Nations "mission of the early 1990s seeded Cambodia with a vibrant civil society sector, NGOs here have had an ambivalent relationship with the government." (Asia Times Online) This, until recently, made Cambodia a safe and welcoming place to hold an NGO.

Some NGOs in Cambodia, such as VBNK- an NGO founded by Kumarian Press author Jenny Pearson - hold no responsibility in this debate, but still have to worry about more government interference. Like many NGOs, they choose to do business in a truthful way that will positively affect those in the country.

However, with the new regulation on the horizon, this may change things for NGOs, favoring more government involvement. If NGOs were honest, and handle their business practices with integrity, there, most likely, would be less government interaction. (Read Chris Corbett's new read to see how to create an honest nonprofit organization.)

These projects must be sustainable and help the people of Cambodia and if the government must intervene in order for this successful transition, then so be it.

Read more about this issue now.

Defend the Reputation of Microfinance

Microfinance has taken flight over the last two decades bringing in new development policies and many reasons to celebrate (especially if you are a woman). However, NGOs and small business owners, such as SKS, in India are far from celebrating. Andhra Pradesh, India's microfinance-meca hit crisis today after state legislators passed a law that would regulate microfinance firms.

Critics say that the new law regulation in India could cripple microfinance firms, stating that the collection of dues has already fallen around 10%; but to "backers of the law, it's an attempt to rein back the worst excesses of an industry, which it is claimed, is charging exorbiant interest and is responsible for an increasing number of suicides because of heavy-handed debt collection methods."(Poverty Matters Blog: "Development Panacea or Exorbiant, Ineffective PovertyTrap?")

So, is microfinance really helping community development?

The idea of microfinance, to many, sounded promising as a savior to poor communities looking for poverty reduction, bringing in savings and loans. But, although microfinance (and microcredit) brings in huge support and praise, it also comes with an arsenal of critics who argue that it is being used as a measure of poverty reduction rather than poverty transformation. Some critics even state that small loans are only used for new businesses and not used for poor people themselves who need the money for healthcare and education expenses. (Critics of microfinance would love Milford Bateman's upcoming release Confronting Microfinance.)

This isn't the most pleasant news for small busines owners looking to self-regulate their own business. And, for authors like Chris Corbett who just released his new title Advancing Nonprofit Stewardship Through Self-Regulation - which highlights Independent Sector's 33 Principles of Self-Regulation in an effort to help these small firm owners reach success through integrity and genuine practices - this news couldn't have come at a more inopportune time.

India's news even struck a nerve with Father of Microfinance, Mohammad Yunus who stated that small companies are "misusing" and "abusing" his concepts.

Being a lover or a hater of microfinance has depended on evidence of individual lives who have played a part in this dramatic play.

Do you think microfinance is good for community development? If not, how would you control the rise of poverty?