Front Line NGOs in China: Challenges and Success Stories

Golden Bridges is dedicated to building sustainable capacity of China’s NGO sector. The society’s needs are not always fully addressed by the government nor the private sector so the “civil society” requires people and community based efforts to focus on a broad range of human needs. Holly talks about challenges faced by front line NGOs in China, including competition from the government and an unclear and undeveloped legal system. Unlike other countries, China has a number of "Government-Organized Non-Government Organizations (GONGOs)", which directly or indirectly receive a disproportionate amount of available funding. For example, about 80% of all charitable donations made in the aftermath of the 2008 Sichuan earthquake were funneled to the Chinese Red Cross and other GONGOs. She shares success stories of international NGOs operating in China today.