Imagine the working day of a community worker in the rural areas or slums of the developing world. Out on the frontline there are tens of thousands of poorly qualified, poorly paid and (which may be worst of all) poorly supported minor officials trying their best to alleviate the desperate needs of the millions that they serve. Families needing food, clothing and building materials, children needing books and study facilities, the sick needing medicines, farmers needing seeds, fertilizers and other inputs, all call on these representatives of distant government who actually have a presence in the locality. What can they give? Precious little, is very often the answer. NGOs, charities, UN agencies supplement the supply of necessities, but government itself is all too often paralysed or sometimes simply unconcerned.
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