Peoples

Abstract

In the various moves to secure recognition and support for the role of the ‘Unofficial Commonwealth’ there were suggestions that this appellation was itself inappropriate. A conference on ‘The Potential of the Unofficial Networks’ in June 1988 expressed the view that the phrase ‘non-government organizations’ was too negative. There should be a way of describing such organizations which did not simply see them in relation to governments.¹ The phrase ‘Unofficial Commonwealth’ is obviously open to the same objection. In recent years, new styles have been sought to highlight the positive contributions of the voluntary and private organizations. There have been references to an ‘association of peoples’² or a ‘Peoples’ Commonwealth’.³ Some commentators have preferred ‘informal sector’⁴ or ‘organic Commonwealth’.⁵ Anthony Low threw the net wider with ‘personal, professional and philanthropic’ concerns.⁶ Ron Crocombe has stressed the voluntary, non-political and non-profit aspect by his use of ‘voluntary agencies’ (VolAgs) and ‘private voluntary organizations’ (PVDs).⁷