Foundations, NGOs and non-profit organizations in general have become a real phenomenon of the modern world. Their activities cover almost all aspects of social life; they cross borders and set political agendas on all levels. Besides state institutions, business entities and traditional social structures such as family, non-profit organizations of all kinds represent a natural environment for human activities.

My country – the Czech Republic – has a long history of development of NGOs in various forms and with various purposes and fields of activity. All aspects of social life were traditionally organized through or together with a great number of NGOs, foundations, etc. After World War II, this development was artificially interrupted and the spontaneous wide-ranging activities of these organizations were subject to government control. The end of the Cold War brought about enormous development of this non-profit sector. Charity, education, health care, social services, research, environmental protection as well as politics and ideologies of all brands and orientations are a matter of concern to NGOs. Their influence is permanently growing; they significantly form the public opinion and create international links and networks, which multiply their potential.

At first sight, everything looks great – people get spontaneously involved and become active citizens; the voice of ordinary people can be heard on a daily basis through the NGOs; public awareness of the problems of the society increases; people get better informed and more educated.

This statement is true but we also should not neglect the potential risks and problems, which have already appeared and are getting stronger and stronger. Therefore I think that at a gathering such as this one today, we should not speak solely about the positive aspects of NGOs. I believe that we should also address the potentially risky side of the boom of foundations and NGOs. I believe that we have already accumulated enough experience.

We should not forget that NGOs are private entities representing certain partial interests within the society. Their activity can be beneficial but I stress that it is important to maintain a balance between the different, often competing interests within the society. We should be aware that various pressure groups hidden behind many foundations and NGOs can easily turn into merciless rent seekers capable of misusing their influence at the expense of the rest of the society.

I think everybody knows stories about the really negative and sometimes really disastrous effects of some NGO activities in, for instance, such seemingly indisputable areas as environmental protection. I can mention significant losses, permanent blockades and considerable delays caused by green fanatic NGO activists to almost all important infrastructure projects in our country. I should mention serious health consequences and all kinds of other sufferings of the urban population in our big cities resulting from that. We can find many other areas where similar threats and problems are appearing.

NGOs are not only altruistic entities. They can easily become dangerous parasites of the state coffers if they are allowed to get too close to them. The public policy should not be privatised by NGOs and the power should remain in the hand of politicians with a public mandate, not in the hands of irresponsible and fanatic activists.

NGOs play an indispensable role in civic and human rights protection, policy analysis and other fields of applied social sciences. However, we can see serious disputes about the role of some NGOs in internal conflicts in some countries. The NGO sector has become the top-level field of political confrontation nowadays. We should be aware of that. Foundations and other forms of NGOs can do a lot to increase understanding and the general welfare all around us. But we should not overestimate their possibilities; we should not forget that they represent partial interests and lack a democratic mandate and responsibility. Therefore an appropriate framework for their activities taking into account all these upsides and downsides is necessary for their successful development.

I hope this conference and exchange of views and experiences can give us a lot of inspiration. Thank you for your attention.

Jiří Weigl, Notes for The Third Global Foundation Leaders Forum, Nanking, China, September 2015.