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Dianova e-magazine - november 2008

high stakes for the non-profit sector

Social Economy

The non-profit sector has accomplished a true "silent revolution" during the last 15 years, integrating the concepts of effectiveness and efficiency claimed by conventional business, while remaining loyal to its principles of commitment by those who participate in providing the organizations’ services.

For its part, Dianova endeavors to provide a lower-cost range of services, partnering with a variety of firms and civil society to develop and finance its programs.

The 20 th century will certainly leave bad memories. But let's be fair, it also saw immense social progress, including the implementation of social programs that provided a partial safety net for the basic needs of many.

"No system is able to produce more solidarity than there is in the society itself "

The market economy has turned work into a saleable commodity and thus contributed to the development of freedom for the individual while, at the same time, leaving a critical question: what can the individual do with such freedom when illness, unemployment, old age or social exclusion may impede the worker in selling his skills?

In many countries, the need for social safeguards brought about a reaction that produced a collective and united response by governments. United, because individual contributions to the system are mandatory and not associated with each individual’s risk factors, as it is in a traditional insurance system, but with each individual's income. Such a safety net is now part of our daily lives. However we would blunder if we considered it to be permanent.

On the one hand, let's not forget, that it was implemented relatively recently and that it took nearly 50 years to make it work, and, on the other hand, that this safety net for our basic, daily needs only concerns a small number of countries. Millions of Americans, for example, are still without basic social safeguards, as are most inhabitants of countries to the south.

The Challenge of a Sustainable Social Protection System

A general, united system of basic social protections is also based on a policy of full-employment, and job insecurity, an increasing phenomenon, is a major threat to its future - not to mention emerging needs such as long term care for patients with expensive illnesses, an ageing population, severe environmental changes, the occurrence of epidemics, and more.

Over the past 40 years, the percentage of GDP needed for public social services rose from 15% to an average of 30% in the European Union. The budget deficit reaches new peaks every year, and it would be irresponsible to continue to bank on the status quo, which would probably lead to the bankruptcy of the entire system.

A sustainable development of the non-profit sector can be part of the solution. Through thousands of projects in both developed and developing countries the non-profit sector actively participates in building a new way of living and shaping social and economical progress.

The non-profit sector relies on a community-oriented reshaping of social priorities. Our future is at stake, and the debate should not be let to individual experts, but shared by every one of us. We're all concerned.

Social Bond and Citizenship

Dianova's example is certainly not unique, but it is the one we know best. Within its international network of treatment centers for addicted individuals, within its schools, its educational and personal development programs, its outpatient and intake centers, Dianova cares for men, women and adolescents originating from all walks of life and brings them a high quality range of services that are rooted in a strong sense of social responsibility and community values.

It is a community value to involve every employee, every recipient of services in the active management of the Dianova network's centers, developing a horizontal and participative hierarchical system where anyone is entitled to his say.

It is a community value to reckon with individuals coming from Dianova programs and to integrate them within our interdisciplinary teams.

It is a community value to provide lower cost services, using all leverage of solidarity andpartnering with a variety of private companies and other civil society organizations to develop and finance Dianova's programs.

We are proud of this example on our own modest scale. However, given that no system is able to produce more solidarity than there is in the society itself, it's up us all to develop a heightened social consciousness and community values.

To build or to perpetuate an efficient system of social benefits, there will be no solution popping up with the wave of a magic wand; and an effective solution may take many different paths. Taking into account the model provided by non-profit sector is one of them.

Is Developing the 3rd Sector Part of the Solution?

What the non-profit sector has accomplished during the last 15 years is a true "silent revolution" within all social benefit systems, and with respect to healthcare in particular, by integrating the concepts of effectiveness and efficiency modeled by conventional business, while remaining loyal to its core principle, which is encouraging the commitment of those who participate in producing the services that we offer.

Several models were designed which induced a series of collateral effects contributing to the overall enrichment of social fabric, much beyond their initial, declared goals. Along with a renewed public sector, the non profit sector can become a mainstay for the delivery of modern social benefits that is capable of being sustained throughout the 21 st century and beyond.

However, it will take the combined efforts of governments, private business and civil society to provide the financing and other foundational support that will enable their non-profit partners to function.

The editorial