When Will government procurement of services benefit ordinary NGOs?

This article discusses the push for government procurement of social services in Guangdong and the many challenges it poses for NGOs.  At the end of May, the Guangdong government issued “Provisional Measures for Government Procurement of Services from Social Organizations”.  But there are still many questions about whether these measures will be carried out in a way that benefits ordinary NGOs.  Many of the social services will be procured from registered social work agencies, which must employ qualified social workers with university degrees, raising the question of whether many NGOs can meet this qualification.  There are also problems of transparency in the project bidding and evaluation, and ordinary NGOs wonder whether they can compete on an even playing field with social organizations that have close connections with the government (e.g. GONGOs).  Moreover, there will be a need for support organizations that can help NGOs build up capacity to meet the conditions to bid for government funding for social services.