the role of non governmental organizations (ngos) in development - nigeria village square

8/13/2019 The Role of Non Governmental Organizations (NGOs) in Development - Nigeria Village Square

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WRITTEN BY SAMUEL UWHEJEVWE-TOGBOLO

CREATEDON 22 DECEMBER 2005

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December 22, 2005

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The Role of Non GovernmentalOrganizations (NGOs) in Development(/articles/samuel-uwhejevwe-togbolo/the-role-of-non-governmental-organizations-ngos-in-development.html)

Prepared for Coalition of NGOs in Delta State, Nigeria

1. Definitions, Types, and Roles of

Nongovernmental Organizations

Optimal development requires the harnessing of acountrys assets, its capital, human and naturalresources to meet demand from its population ascomprehensively as possible. The public and privatesectors, by themselves, are imperfect. They can not or areunwilling to meet all demands. Many argue (Elliott 1987,Fernandez 1987, Garilao 1987) that the voluntary sector may be better placed to articulate theneedsof the poor people, to provide services and development in remote areas, to encourage thechanges in attitudes and practices necessary to curtail discrimination, to identify and redressthreats to the environment, and to nurture the productive capacity of the most vulnerable groups

such as the disabled or the landless populations.

The aim of this paper is to give a theoretical background of the third sector (non governmentalorganizations - NGOs) and their role in delivery of basic services and involvement in thedevelopment sub sector. I made an attempt to show the interactions between NGOs and otheractors of the development cooperation.

1.1. The Growth of NGOs

A striking upsurge is under way around the globe in organizing voluntary activity and the creationof private, nonprofit or non-governmental organizations. People are forming associations,

foundations and similar institutions to deliver human services, promote grassroots economic

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development, prevent environmental degradation, protect civil rights and pursue a thousandother objectives formerly unattended or left by the state. The scope and scale of this phenomenonis immense.

Salamon (1994) argues that pressures to expand the voluntary sector seem to be coming from atleast three different sources: from "below" in the form of spontaneous grassroots energies; fromthe "outside" through the actions of various public and private institutions; and from "above" inthe form of governmental policies.

The most basic force is that of ordinary people who decide to take matters intotheir own hands and organize to improve their conditions or seek basic rights.

There have been a variety of outside pressures: from the church, Western private voluntaryorganizations and official aid agencies. Emphasis has shifted from their traditional humanitarianrelief to a new focus on "empowerment."

Official aid agencies have supplemented and, to a considerable degree, subsidized these privateinitiatives. Since the mid-1960s, foreign assistance programs have placed increasing emphasis oninvolving the Third World poor in development activities. In the last one and a half decade,development actors have adopted "participatory development" as its strategy.

Finally, pressures to form nonprofit organizations have come from above, from officialgovernmental policy circles. Most visibly, the conservative governments of Ronald Reagan andMargaret Thatcher made support for the voluntary sector a central part of their strategies toreduce government social spending. In the Third World and former Soviet block suchgovernmental pressures have also figured. From Thailand to the Philippines, governments havesponsored farmers cooperatives and other private organizations. Egyptian and Pakistanifive-year plans have stressed the participation of nongovernmental organizations as a way toensure popular participation in development.

Further, Salamon argues that four crises and two revolutionary changes have converged both todiminish the hold of the state and to open the way for the increase in organized voluntary action.

The first of the impulses is the perceived crisis of the modern welfare state revealed afterreducing of global economic growth in the 1970s. Accompanying this crisis has been a crisis ofdevelopment since the oil shock of the 1970s and the recession of the 1980s, which dramaticallychanged the outlook for developing countries. One result has been a new-found interest in"assisted self-reliance" or "participatory development," an aid strategy that stresses theengagement of grassroots energies and enthusiasms through a variety of nongovernmentalorganizations.

A global environmental crisis has also stimulated greater private initiative. The continuingpoverty of developing countries has led the poor to degrade their immediate surroundings inorder to survive. Citizens have grown increasingly frustrated with government and eager toorganize their own initiatives. Finally, a fourth crisis, Solomon is referring to " that of socialism -has also contributed to the rise of the third sector. It caused a search for new ways to satisfyunmet social and economic needs. While this search helped lead to the formation of market-oriented cooperative enterprises, it also stimulated extensive experimentation with a host ofnongovernmental organizations offering services and vehicles for self-expression outside thereaches of an increasingly discredited state.


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Beyond these four crises, two further developments also explain the recent surge of third-sectororganizing. The first is the dramatic revolution in communication that took place during the 1970sand 1980s. The invention of widespread dissemination of the computer, fiber-optic cable, fax,television and satellites open even the worlds most remote areas to the expandedcommunication links required for mass organization and concerted actions.

The final factor critical to the growth of the third sector was the considerable global economicgrowth that occurred during the 1960s and early 1970s, and the bourgeois revolution that itbrought with it. It helped to create in Latin America, Asia and Africa a sizable urban middle classwhose leadership was critical to the emergence of private nongovernmental organizations. Thus ifeconomic crisis ultimately provoked the middle class to action, this prior economic growth createdthe middle class that could organize the response.

The growth of NGOs operating in the Third World nowadays is enormous. Garilao approaches thecauses of this growth by reasoning:

1. Societal conflict and tension.

2. The need to respond more effec tively to crisis situations in the face of breakdown of traditional

structures.

3. Ideological and value differences with the powers-that-be in the planning and implementat ion ofdevelopment work.

4. The realization that neither government nor the private sec tor has the will, means or capacity to

deal with all immediate and lingering social problems.

1.2. Generations of NGOs

A number of observers have pointed to a gradual shift in the activities of development NGOs,from a welfare orientation to a more development approach. Korten (1987) refers to threegenerations of strategic orientations in the developing community: relief and welfare, local self-reliance, and sustainable systems of development (Table 1).

Many of the large international NGOs such as CARE, Save the Children, and Catholic reliefServices began as charitable relief organizations, to deliver welfare services to the poorthroughout the world. Relief efforts remain an essential and appropriate response to emergencysituations that demand immediate and effective response. But as a development strategy, reliefand welfare approaches offer just a temporary alleviation of the symptoms. The shift is inevitable.

Various factors have been cited as contributors to this shift. One is recognition of the inadequacyof trying to deal with symptoms while the underlying problems remain untouched. It reflects theconstant challenge to voluntary organizations to re-examine their strategies in a rapidly changingenvironment.

Projects of the second generation organizations, which according to Korten are Northern NGOs,aim to increase local capacity to meet needs and to control the resources necessary for sustainabledevelopment. They do a critical analysis of structural causes of underdevelopment and theinterrelationships between North and South. Policy advocacy, where it is carried out, consists nolonger of lobbying for additional aid but for the removal of barriers to Third World developmentat national and international levels.

Table 1.Three Generations of NGO development Program Strategies

Characteristics Generation


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First Second Third

Defining Features Relief andWelfare

Small-scale, self-reliant localdevelopment

Sustainable systemsdevelopment

Problem

Definition

Shortages of

goods andservices

Local inertia Institutional and policy

constraints

Time Frame Immediate Project life Indefinite long-term

Spatial Scope Individual orfamily

Neighborhood orvillage

Region or nation

Chief Actors NGO NGO +beneficiaryorganizations

All public and privateinstitutions that define therelevant system

DevelopmentEducation

StarvingChildren

Community self-help initiatives

Failures in interdependentsystems

ManagementOrientation

LogisticsManagement

Projectmanagement

Strategic management

1.3. NGO Definitions

In its broadest sense, the term "nongovernmental organization" refers to organizations (i) notbased on government; and (ii) not created to earn profit.

The terminology of an NGO varies itself: for example, in the United States they may be called"private voluntary organizations," and most African NGOs prefer to be called "voluntarydevelopment organizations.

It is impossible to give one unique definition for an NGO. However, a few have been assembled

below for consideration as under:

Definitions of an NGO

World Bank definition of an NGO:

The diversity of NGOs strains any simple definition. They include many groups andinstitutions that are entirely or largely independent of government and that haveprimarily humanitarian or cooperative rather than commercial objectives. They areprivate agencies in industrial countries that support international development;

indigenous groups organized regionally or nationally; and member-groups in


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villages. NGOs include charitable and religious associations that mobilize privatefunds for development, distribute food and family planning services and promotecommunity organization. They also include independent cooperatives, communityassociations, water-user societies, womens groups and pastoral associations.Citizen Groups that raise awareness and influence policy are also NGOs."

AnNGO

is

A non-profit making, voluntary, service-oriented/development orientedorganization, either for the benefit of members (a grassroots organization)

or of other members of the population (an agency).

It is an organization of private individuals who believe in certain basic social

principles and who structure their activities to bring about development to

communities that they are servicing.

Social development organization assisting in empowerment of people.

An organization or group of people working independent of any external

control with specific objectives and aims to fulfil tasks that are oriented to

bring about desirable change in a given community or area or situation.

An organization not affiliated to political parties, generally engaged in

working for aid, development and welfare of the community.

Organization committed to the root causes of the problems trying to better

the quality of life especially for the poor, the oppressed, the marginalized in

urban and rural areas.

Organizations established by and for the community without or with little

intervention from the government; they are not only a charity organization,

but work on socio-economic-cultural activities.

An organization that is flexible and democratic in its organization and

attempts to serve the people without profit for itself.

1.4. Typologies of NGOs

A number of people have sought to categorize NGOs into different types. Some typologiesdistinguish them according to the focus of their work " for instance whether it is primarilyservice- or welfare-oriented or whether it is more concerned with providing education anddevelopment activities to enhance the ability of the poorest groups to secure resources. Suchorganizations are also classified according to the level at which they operate, whether theycollaborate with self-help organizations (i.e. community-based organizations), whether they arefederations of such organizations or whether they are themselves a self-help organization. Theycan also be classified according to the approach they undertake, whether they operate projects

directly or focus on tasks such as advocacy and networking.1.Relief and Welfare Agencies: such as missionary societies.

2. Technical innovation organizations:organizations that operate their own projects to pioneer new

or improved approaches to problems, generally within a specific field.

3. Public Service contractors:NGOs mostly funded by Northern governments that work closely with

Southern governments and official aid agencies. These are contracted to implement components of

official programs because of advantages of size and flexibility.

4. Popular development agencies:both Northern and Southern NGOs that concentrate on self-help,

social development and grassroots democracy.

5. Grassroot development organizations: Southern locally-based development NGOs whose members


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are poor or oppressed themselves, and who attempt to shape a popular development process

(these often receive funding from Development Agencies).

6. Advocacy groups and networks: organizations without field projects that exist primarily for

educat ion and lobbying.

Typology of NGOs

a) NGO types by orientation:

Charitable Orientationoften involves a top-down paternalistic effort with littleparticipation by the "beneficiaries". It includes NGOs with activities directed toward

meeting the needs of the poor -distribution of food, clothing or medicine; provision of

housing, transport, schools etc. Such NGOs may also undertake relief activities during a

natural or man-made disaster.

Service Orientationincludes NGOs with activities such as the provision of health, family

planning or education services in which the program is designed by the NGO and people

are expected to participate in its implementation and in receiving the service.

Participatory Orientationis characterized by self-help projects where local people are

involved particularly in the implementat ion of a project by contributing cash, tools, land,

materials, labor etc. In the classical community development project, participationbegins with the need definition and continues into the planning and implementation

stages. Cooperatives often have a participatory orientation.

Empowering Orientationis where the aim is to help poor people develop a clearer

understanding of the social, political and economic factors affecting their lives, and to

strengthen their awareness of their own potential power to control their lives.

Sometimes, these groups develop spontaneously around a problem or an issue, at other

times outside workers from NGOs play a facilitating role in their development. In any

case, there is maximum involvement of the people with NGOs acting as facilitators.

b) NGO Types by level of operation:

Community-based Organizations(CBOs) arise out of peoples own initiatives. These

can include sports clubs, womens organizations, neighborhood organizations,

religious or educational organizations. There are a large variety of these, some

supported by NGOs, national or international NGOs, or bilateral or international agencies,

and others independent of outside help. Some are devoted to rising the consciousness

of the urban poor or helping them to understand their rights in gaining access to needed

services while others are involved in providing such services.

Citywide Organizationsinclude organizations such as chambers of commerce and

industry, coalitions of business, ethnic or educational groups and associations ofcommunity organizations. Some exist for other purposes, and become involved in helping

the poor as one of many activities, while others are created for the specific purpose of

helping the poor.

National NGOsinclude organizations such as the Red Cross, professional organizations

etc. Some of these have state and city branches and assist local NGOs.

International NGOsrange from secular agencies such as Redda BArna and Save the

Children organizations, OXFAM, CARE, Ford and Rockefeller Foundations to religiously

motivated groups. Their activities vary from mainly funding local NGOs, institutions and

projects, to implementing the projects themselves.


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1.5. Roles of NGOs

Among the wide variety of roles that NGOs play, Cousins identified six important roles:

Roles of NGOs

1. Development and Operation of Infrastructure: Community-based organizations and

cooperatives can acquire, subdivide and develop land, construct housing, provide

infrastructure and operate and maintain infrastructure such as wells or public toilets and

solid waste collection services. They can also develop building material supply centers and

other community-based economic enterprises. In many cases, they will need technical

assistance or advice from governmental agencies or higher-level NGOs.

2.

3. Supporting Innovation, Demonstration and Pilot Projects: NGO have the advantage of

selecting particular places for innovative projects and specify in advance the length of

time which they will be supporting the project - overcoming some of the shortcomings

that governments face in this respect. NGOs can also be pilots for larger government

projects by virtue of their ability to act more quickly than the government bureaucracy.

3.Facilitating Communication:NGOs use interpersonal methods of communication, andstudy the right entry points whereby they gain the trust of the community they seek tobenefit. They would also have a good idea of the feasibility of the projects they take up.The significance of this role to the government is that NGOs can communicate to thepolicy-making levels of government, information bout the lives, capabilities, attitudes andcultural characteristics of people at the local level.

NGOs can facilitate communication upward from people to the government anddownward from the government to the people. Communication upward involvesinforming government about what local people are thinking, doing and feeling while

communication downward involves informing local people about what the government isplanning and doing. NGOs are also in a unique position to share information horizontally,networking between other organizations doing similar work.

4. Technical Assistance and Training: Training institutions and NGOs can develop atechnical assistance and training capacity and use this to assist both CBOs andgovernments.

5. Research, Monitoring and Evaluation: Innovative activities need to be carefully

documented and shared - effective participatory monitoring would permit the sharing of

results with the people themselves as well as with the project staff.

6. Advocacy for and with the Poor: In some cases, NGOs become spokespersons or

ombudsmen for the poor and attempt to influence government policies and programs on

their behalf. This may be done through a variety of means ranging from demonstration and

pilot projects to participation in public forums and the formulation of government policy

and plans, to publicizing research results and case studies of the poor. Thus NGOs play

roles from advocates for the poor to implementers of government programs; from

agitators and critics to partners and advisors; from sponsors of pilot projects to

mediators.


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1.6. Role of NGOs in Todays Globalizing World

NGOs nationally and internationally indeed have a crucial role in helping and encouraginggovernments into taking the actions to which they have given endorsement in international fora.Increasingly, NGOs are able to push around even the largest governments. NGOs are nowessentially important actors before, during, and increasingly after, governmental decision-makingsessions.

The UN Secretary-General in 1995 said:

"Non-governmental organizations are a basic element in the representation of the modern world.And their participation in international organizations is in a way a guarantee of the latterspolitical legitimacy. On all continents non-governmental organizations are today continuallyincreasing in number. And this development is inseparable from the aspiration to freedom anddemocracy which today animates international society... From the standpoint of globaldemocratization, we need the participation of international public opinion and the mobilizingpowers of non-governmental organizations".

NGOs are facing a challenge to organize themselves to work in more global and strategic ways in

the future. They must build outwards from concrete innovations at grassroots level to connectwith the forces that influence patterns of poverty , prejudice and violence: exclusionary economics,discriminatory politics, selfish and violent personal behavior, and the capture of the world ofknowledge and ideas by elites. In a sense this is what NGOs are already doing, by integratingmicro and macro-level action in their project and advocacy activities. "Moving from developmentas delivery to development as leverage is the fundamental change that characterizes this shift,and it has major implications for the ways in which NGOs organize themselves, raise and spendtheir resources, and relate to others."

In the dynamic environment, NGOs need to find methods of working together through strategic

partnerships that link local and global processes together. By sinking roots into their own societiesand making connections with others inside and outside civil society, NGOs can generate morepotential to influence things where it really matters because of the multiple effects that come fromactivating a concerned society to work for change in a wider range of settings.

The small size and limited financial resources of most NGOs make them unlikely challengers ofeconomic and political systems sustained by the interests of big government and big businesses.However, the environment, peace, human rights, consumer rights and womens movementsprovide convincing examples of the power of voluntary action to change society. This seemingparadox can be explained by the fact that the power of voluntary action arises not from

the size and resources of individual voluntary organizations, but rather from the

ability of the voluntary sector to coalesce the actions of hundreds, thousands, or

even millions of citizens through vast and constantly evolving networks that

commonly lack identifiable structures, embrace many chaotic and conflicting

tendencies, and yet act as if in concert to create new political and institutional

realities. These networks are able to encircle, infiltrate, and even co-opt the resources ofopposing bureaucracies. They reach across sectors to intellectuals, press, communityorganizations. Once organized, they can, through electronic communications, rapidly mobilizesignificant political forces on a global scale.

2. Role of NGOs in Development Cooperation


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governments vary drastically from region to region and country to country. For example, NGOsin India derive much support and encouragement from their government and tend to work inclose collaboration with it. NGOs from Africa also acknowledged the frequent need to work closelywith their government or at least avoid antagonizing the authorities. Most NGOs from LatinAmerica offered a much different perspective: NGOs and other grassroots organizations as anopposition to government.

In the Third World, the difficult economic situation may force governments to yield to pressurefrom multilateral agencies to give money to NGOs. In these cases, the governments act asconduits of funds but is some cases try to maintain control over these NGOs precisely because oftheir access to funds. However, it was also recognized that through the multilateral donors, NGOcooperation and solidarity can influence policy at the national levels. Multilateral donors mayserve as a kind of "buffer" between government and NGOs in order to avoid unnecessary currenttensions and to promote coherent national development strategies.

A Healthy State-NGO Relationship

A healthy relationship is only conceivable when both parties share common objectives. If thegovernments commitment to improving of the provision of urban services is weak, NGOs will

find dialogue and collaboration frustrating or even counter-productive. Likewise, repressivegovernments will be wary of NGOs which represent the poor or victimized.

Where government has a positive social agenda (or even where individual ministries do) andwhere NGOs are effective, there is the potential for a strong, collaborative relationship. This doesnot mean the sub-contracting of placid NGOs, but a "genuine partnership between NGOs and thegovernment to work on a problem facing the country or a region... based on mutual respect,acceptance of autonomy, independence, and pluralism of NGO opinions and positions."

However, as Tandon points out, such relations are rare, even when the conditions are met. The

mutual distrust and jealousy appears to be deep-rooted. Governments fear that NGOs erodetheir political power or even threaten national security. And NGOs mistrust the motivation of thegovernment and its officials.

Though controversial and risky, many of the more strategic NGOs are overcoming theirinhibitions and are seeking closer collaboration with governments. However, with closercollaboration comes increased risk of corruption, reduced independence, and financialdependency.

Fostering an Enabling Environment

The State has various instruments it can use, for good or ill, to influence the health of the NGOsector (Brown 1990). The level of response can be non-interv entionist, active encouragement,partnership, co-option or control.

Ingredients of an enabling policy environment

1. "Good Governance" - soc ial policies which encourage a healthy c ivil society and public

accountability of state institutions.

2. Regulations - designed to help, not hinder, NGO growth, but also to root out corruption

and to foster sound management discipline; eliminate restrictive laws and procedures.

3. Taxation policies - to provide incentives for activities which conform with State


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development priorities; to encourage indigenous philanthropy and income generation.

4. Project/Policy implementat ion - State-NGO collaboration with proven NGOs in a way

which allows the NGOs to remain true to their agenda and ac countable to members or

their traditional constituency. This might typically indicate the following roles for NGOs

within government: articulation of beneficiaries needs to project authorities,

providing information about the scheme to communities, organizing communities to take

advantage of the schemes benefits, delivering services to less accessible

populations, serving as intermediaries to other NGOs.

5. Policy formulation - provision of information to NGOs for dissemination to their

constituencies; offering a role to NGOs in public consultat ions; invitation to NGO leadersto serve on official commissions etc. (for example, the Indian NGO, DISHA, has been an

influential member of the Central Governments Commission on bonded labor). Public

access to information is the key to success in this area.

6. Coordination - where the government fosters but does not dominate coordination, for

example, through having NGO Units in relevant line ministries or NGO consultative

committees; NGOs would be encouraged to attend to geographic or sectoral gaps, to

avoid religious or ethnic bias, to avoid activities which contradict state programs or

which make unrealistic promises; the government encourages training of NGO staff, for

example, by ensuring that its own training institutions offer courses of relevance to

NGOs; the government encourages improved attention to management skills, strategicplanning and sharing of experience within the sector.

7. Official support - the government provides funds, contracts and training opportunities to

give special encouragement to NGO activities in priority areas without undermining

NGOs autonomy and independence; broad agreement is sought with NGOs on such

priorities by establishing formal consultation with NGO leaders. Fora such as the Council

for Advancement of Peoples Action and Rural Technology (the body which channels

government funds to NGOs in India) and the forthcoming Community Action Program (a

local government scheme for financing NGOs and community initiatives in Uganda) are

illustrations.

For individual NGOs, the most favorable policy setting is when legal restrictions are minimized,when they have complete freedom to receive funds from whomsoever they choose, to speak outas they wish and to associate freely with whoever they select. In such a setting, the NGO sector islikely to grow most rapidly, but "bigger" does not necessarily mean "better." Loose regulationsand reporting open the door for unhealthy and even corrupt NGO activities which may taint thesector as a whole.

Where the expansion of the sector has been most rapid (e.g. South Asia and certain Africancountries) there is considerable concern about the rapid ascension of "bogus" NGOs - NGOs which

serve their own interest rather than those of vulnerable groups. The individual NGOs may behealthy, but collectively there may be insufficient coordination, duplication of effort, andimportant gaps left unaddressed.

2.3. NGO Accountability

The final important aspect of the role of NGOs in developmental process, i.e. providing basicservices, is their accountability. Concerns about NGO accountability have been raised by anumber of NGO scholars. Najam (1996) in his conceptual framework for NGO accountabilitydistinguishes three categories of accountability considerations:

1. NGO accountability to patrons.


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2. NGO accountability to clients.

3. NGO accountability to themselves.

NGO accountability to patrons

The most obvious NGO-patron relationship would be that between NGOs and donors. Donorsmay be both external (for example, governments, foundations, or other NGOs) and internal(members who contribute smaller amounts). NGO-patron relationships have very clear, thoughunwritten, lines of responsibility. The mechanisms for enforcing accountability tend to be strong:

grants are cancelled, membership dues dwindle, accreditations are revoked, and collaborativeagreements are reconsidered.

In many cases, however, the critical danger may be not a lack of NGO accountability ormechanisms of enforcing accountability, but a danger of being coerced, or what may be called the"puppetisation" of NGOs. The rise of quasi NGOs caused by "donor dependency" (especially offoreign patrons) some times is viewed as a danger to a national security and an external attack onlocal priorities, culture and values.

NGO accountability to clients

The obvious line of responsibility is for the NGO to be accountable to the needs and aspirations ofthe community it is working with. Basically, serving community interests is the stated primarygoal of much NGO activity in development. Often in practice, not only do impoverishedcommunities lack mechanisms of holding NGOs accountable; the process of aspiration definition isalso often murky and subjective. Unlike donors, communities cannot withdraw their funding;unlike governments, they cannot impose conditionalities.

NGO accountability to themselves

This kind of responsibility manifests itself on several levels. NGOs are ultimately responsible tothe vision that made them NGOs in the first place. They are responsible to their stated mission, to

their staff, to their supporters/members, to their coalition partners, to their larger constituency,and finally to the NGO community at large. Obviously, the specific counters of accountability tothemselves are likely to be different for membership and non-membership organizations.

Ceneral Levels of NGO Accountability " A Tentative Assessment

Accountabilitycategory

FunctionalAccountability

StrategicAccountability

To patrons High Medium

To clients Low-Nil Nil

To themselves Low Low

NGO Roles in the Project Cycle

Stage in Project

Cycle

Potential NGO Involvement


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Project

Identification

provide advice/information on local conditions

participate in environmental and soc ial assessments

organize consultations with beneficiaries/affected parties

transmit expressed needs/priorities of local communities to

project staff

act as a source, model or sponsor of project ideas implement

pilot projects

Project Designconsultant to the government, to local communities

assist in promoting a participatory approach to project design

channel information to local populations

Financingco-financier (in money or in kind) of a project component

source of funds for activities complementary to the proposed

donor-financed project

Implementation

project contractor or manager (for delivery of services,

training, construction, etc.)promote community participation in project activities

financial intermediary role

supplier of technical knowledge to local beneficiaries

advisor to local communities on how to take advantage of

project-financed goods or services

implementor of complementary activities

beneficiary of an NGO funding mechanism established by the

project

Monitoring and

Evaluation

NGO contracted to monitor project progress or evaluate

project results

Fac ilitate partic ipatory monitoring and evaluation

Independent/unsolicited monitoring and evaluation

NGOs can serve as enablers of the partnership through setting cooperation frameworks. NGOs,through community education, can awaken latent local champions that would act asrepresentatives of a community, take over the leadership role and push through the partnership.NGOs can ensure that the goals of the major stakeholders are mutually compatible andunderstood by the sides. They can provide capacity building of all stakeholders.

The community and its representatives and intermediaries such as NGOs can play a major role inawareness-raising, advocacy, decision making, implementing and of course in operations andmaintenance of the infrastructure facilities.

NGOs can ensure the quality of services provided by either public or private sector and monitorthe price. NGOs may ensure transparency and that the interests of all the major stakeholders arereflected in project development. There is especially important since they usually pay specialattention to meeting the needs of the poor.

NGOs are by their nature very flexible. This quality is extremely important for long-term, capitalintensive projects, changes in investment plans, technology choices and priority actions. NGOs


14/27

have a system that will quickly respond to unforeseen circumstances.

Partnerships with NGOs involvement can reduce construction costs, increase cost recovery,promote sustainability and respond more to the need of the users.

Conclusions

Non governmental organizations play an increasingly important role in the developmentcooperation. They can bridge the gap between government and the community. Community-based organizations are essential in organizing poor people, taking collective action, fighting for

their rights, and representing the interests of their members in dialogue with NGOs andgovernment. NGOs, on the other hand, are better at facilitating the supply of inputs into themanagement process, mediating between people and the wider political party, networking,information dissemination and policy reform.

By creating an enabling framework of laws, economic and political conditions, the State can play afundamental role in helping NGOs and CBOs to play their roles more effectively and as a resultincrease the access to infrastructure services for the urban poor. Partnerships between all groupsshould be achieved without ignoring each others strengths but make use of each otherscomparative advantage.

The strength of NGOs, particularly those operating at the field level, is their ability to form closelinkages to local communities, and to engender community ownership and participation indevelopment efforts. NGOs often can respond quickly to new circumstances and can experimentwith innovative approaches. NGOs can identify emerging issues, and through their consultativeand participatory approaches can identify and express beneficiary views that otherwise might notbe heard.

NGOs often are successful intermediaries between actors in the development arena, buildingbridges between people and communities on one side, and governments, development

institutions, and donors and development agencies on the other. In an advocacy role, NGOsfrequently represent issues and views important in the dynamics of the development process.

At the same time, limited technical capacities and relatively small resource bases maycharacterize some NGOs. NGOs sometimes may have limited strategic perspectives and weaklinkages with other actors in development. NGOs may have limited managerial and organizationalcapacities. In some countries, the relationship between NGOs and government may involvepolitical, legal, ideological, and administrative constraints. Because of their voluntary nature, theremay be questions regarding the legitimacy, accountability, and credibility of NGOs and theirclaims as to mandate and constituencies represented. Questions sometimes arise concerning the

motivations and objectives of NGOs, and the degree of accountability NGOs accept for theultimate impact of policies and positions they advocate.

References

1. Role of Nongovernmental Organizations in Development

Cooperation

Research Paper, UNDP/Yale Collaborative Programme, 1999

Research Clinic, New Haven 1999: . Olena P. Maslyukivska


15/27

2. NGO Funding & Policy: INTERAC-NGO Research

Programme, 2001

3. Aid, NGO and Civil Society:Eldis, 2003

Samuel Uwhejevwe-Togbolo, Movement for Youth Actualization International (MYAI) a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) in Nigeria


16/27

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4 Comments

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Ibrahim Abdul Karim

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lordzone

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non-governmental-organizations-ngos-in-development.html#startOfPage)

1

12-24-2005, 13:33:31 PMUnregistered posted on

To their critics, foreign aid workers in Africa serve a new form of imperialism: in their zeal to do good, the argument

goes, they prop up a humanitarian system that perpetuates the continent's dependence on outsiders. To their

supporters, international non-governmental organisations (NGOs) help the hungry and excluded, campaign for trade

reform and take big risks to expose human rights abuses, often fostering African self-reliance in the process.

One thing friend and foe agree on: for better or worse Africa's attempts to tackle the issues that govern its fate are

influenced increasingly by a growing army of foreign NGOs. On trade, hunger, debt, disease, war or governance,

foreign NGOs are busy both in Africa and in the rich world's corridors of power lobbying for more and better aid.

"Deeper debt relief, the Ottawa Treaty on land mines, the global movement for women's rights and protection of the

environment -- none of these advances would have happened without NGO ideas and pressure," wrote Michael

Edwards, director of the Ford Foundation's Governance and C ivil Society Unit. "(But) global NGO networks are

dominated by voices from the rich world, a weakness that makes them easy targets for attack," he wrote in an article

in London's Financial Times.

The number of international NGO branches -- measured by the presence of an office or just an individual member --

in Africa rose 31 per cent to 39,729 between 1993 and 2003, the Centre for Global Governance at the London School

of Economics says. The rate of increase in sub-Saharan African was higher, at 40 percent. The number of

international NGOs and NGOs with strong international links headquartered in Afr ica rose by 33 percent to 867 in the

same period, its research shows. The study does not count the thousands of grassroots African NGOs which

sometimes work a longside their foreign counterparts.

VOICES FROM THE RICH WORLD

Criticism of international NGOs has long focused on the issue of legitimacy: C lare Short, then Britain's International

Development Secretary, was memorably unimpressed by a protest against globalisation at a Group of Eight summit in

2001. "They are all white people from privileged countries claiming to speak on behalf of the poor of the world and

there is something a little bit wrong with that," she shrugged.

Supporters of Western NGOs counter that the proportion of Africans in their operations is rising. Some are

decentralising management and devolving authority to regional and country units to try to deepen their roots in the

communities they serve. ActionAid has gone a step further and moved its global headquarters to South Africa from

Britain to be based in the global "south". Its international board is headed by Noerine Kaleeba, a world renownedAIDS activist from Uganda.

"The issue of who is speaking for who is at the core of this," Charles Abani, a Nigerian who manages ActionAid's Africa

operations, told Reuters. The more that genuine representatives of the poor were involved in analysis and policy-

making the more pragmatic, effective and politically astute NGO operations would be, he said. "Too often analysis is

done in the abstract by intellectuals from academia unfamiliar with reality on the ground. Analysis is written, not 'with'

poor people but 'of' poor people," he said.

A more basic criticism levelled at the humanitarian system as a whole is that relief work undermines the political

contract between a state and its citizens to prevent ills such as famine. Many years ago NGO workers' common
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response to that argument was to say that they are in Africa to work themselves out of a job. But it hasn't happened.

The sector keeps growing and evolving, especially into the field of advocacy.

TAKE THE HIGH ROAD

"Over time NGOs tend to grow of their own accord and act less in the service of the people they are meant to help,"

said Sylvie Brunel, former head of Action Against Hunger. "There are too many institutions. Some NGOs have become

'little U.N.s' with their excessive focus on logistics, fund-raising and communication," she told Reuters. Rye Barcott,

American founder of Carolina for Kibera, an NGO in a Nairobi slum, insists that all its American workers are

volunteers while Kenyan staff receive a salary. "The goal of all NGOs should be to transfer ownership towards the

community," he said. "The generation of employment opportunities is not only important for economic development, it

is vital to have legitimacy in the eyes of the community."

However, too many foreign NGOs remain reluctant to step back and let African groups take over their projects or give

Africans more say in sectors such as fund-raising, experts say. It's not as if African NGOs lack a record of

achievement. Examples are Kaleeba's work in Uganda, Nobel Peace laureate Wangari Maathai's environmentalist

Green Belt Movement in Kenya and the vast civil liberties movement at the forefront of the Nigerian democracy

campaign under former dictator Sani Abacha.

"International NGOs are there to level the playing field and build capacity. But I sense a real reluctance among someNGOs to do that," Ford Foundation's Edwards told Reuters. Should international NGOs be more "Africanised"?

"Definitely," Edwards said. "International NGOs currently agonise a lot (over that) but I'm not sure they act enough.

"It's always difficult to hand over power and control because it may involve shrinking your organisation...But I think

NGOS can and should live up to their best principles, and take the high road."

10-28-2010, 10:07:56 AMMie posted on

good article

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Jonathan

Appoints
http://www.nigeriavillagesquare.com/news/president-jonathan-appoints-new-executive-secretary-for-pppra.htmlhttp://www.nigeriavillagesquare.com/news/president-jonathan-appoints-new-executive-secretary-for-pppra.htmlhttp://www.nigeriavillagesquare.com/articles/re-goodluck-jonathan-withdraws-nigeria-from-football-events-for-two-years-will-jonathan-withdraw-from-office-for-incompetent-leadership-a-rejoinder-by-comrade-shedrack-fubara.htmlhttp://www.nigeriavillagesquare.com/articles/re-goodluck-jonathan-withdraws-nigeria-from-football-events-for-two-years-will-jonathan-withdraw-from-office-for-incompetent-leadership-a-rejoinder-by-comrade-shedrack-fubara.htmlhttp://www.nigeriavillagesquare.com/news/president-jonathan-appoints-new-executive-secretary-for-pppra.html


20/27

New

Executive

Secretary

For PPPRA

(/news/president-

jonathan-

appoints-

new-

executive-

secretary-

for-

pppra.html)

NVS News

(/columnists/what-apc-

stands-for-in-

nigeria.html)

What APC

Stands For

In Nigeria

(/columnists/what-

apc-stands-

for-in-

nigeria.html)

Joe Igbokwe

(/news/90-

bodies-

found-in-

nigeria-after-attacks-

official.html)

90 bodies

found in

Nigeria

after

attacks:

Official

(/news/90-

bodies-

found-in-

nigeria-

after-

attacks-

official.html)

NVS News
http://www.nigeriavillagesquare.com/news/90-bodies-found-in-nigeria-after-attacks-official.htmlhttp://www.nigeriavillagesquare.com/news/90-bodies-found-in-nigeria-after-attacks-official.htmlhttp://www.nigeriavillagesquare.com/columnists/what-apc-stands-for-in-nigeria.htmlhttp://www.nigeriavillagesquare.com/columnists/what-apc-stands-for-in-nigeria.htmlhttp://www.nigeriavillagesquare.com/news/president-jonathan-appoints-new-executive-secretary-for-pppra.html


21/27

(/articles/suspension-of-

sanusi-lamido-sanusi-

now-is-politically-

wrong.html)

Suspension

Of Sanusi

LamidoSanusi Now

Is Politically

Wrong

(/articles/suspension-

of-sanusi-

lamido-

sanusi-

now-is-

politically-

wrong.html)

Benjamin

Obiajulu

Aduba

(/articles/lamido-sanusi-

nigerias-central-bank-

governor-in-bombshell-

suspension.html)

Lamido

Sanusi

Nigerias

Central

Bank

Governor in

Bombshell

Suspension

(/articles/lamido-

sanusi-nigerias-

central-

bank-

governor-

in-

bombshell-

suspension.html)

John

Campbell
http://www.nigeriavillagesquare.com/articles/lamido-sanusi-nigerias-central-bank-governor-in-bombshell-suspension.htmlhttp://www.nigeriavillagesquare.com/articles/lamido-sanusi-nigerias-central-bank-governor-in-bombshell-suspension.htmlhttp://www.nigeriavillagesquare.com/articles/suspension-of-sanusi-lamido-sanusi-now-is-politically-wrong.htmlhttp://www.nigeriavillagesquare.com/articles/suspension-of-sanusi-lamido-sanusi-now-is-politically-wrong.html


22/27

(/photo-

news/ludogorets-

midfielder-svetoslav-

dyakov-is-challenged-by-

lazio-midfielder-ogenyi-

onazi-of-nigeria-left-

during-the-europa-

league-round-of-16-first-

leg-europa-league-

soccer-match-between-

lazio-and.html)

Ludogorets

midfielder

Svetoslav

Dyakov is

challenged

by Lazio

midfielder

Ogenyi

Onazi, of

Nigeria, left,

during the

Europa

League

round of 16

first leg

Europa

League

soccer

match

between

Lazio and ...

(/photo-

news/ludogorets-

midfielder-

svetoslav-

dyakov-is-

challenged-

by-lazio-midfielder-

ogenyi-

onazi-of-

nigeria-left-

during-the-

europa-

league-

round-of-

16-first-leg-

europa-

league-
http://www.nigeriavillagesquare.com/photo-news/ludogorets-midfielder-svetoslav-dyakov-is-challenged-by-lazio-midfielder-ogenyi-onazi-of-nigeria-left-during-the-europa-league-round-of-16-first-leg-europa-league-soccer-match-between-lazio-and.htmlhttp://www.nigeriavillagesquare.com/photo-news/ludogorets-midfielder-svetoslav-dyakov-is-challenged-by-lazio-midfielder-ogenyi-onazi-of-nigeria-left-during-the-europa-league-round-of-16-first-leg-europa-league-soccer-match-between-lazio-and.html


23/27

soccer-

match-

between-

lazio-

and.html)

Administrator

(/news/president-

jonathan-suspends-

lamido-sanusi-as-cbn-

governor-appoints-

acting-governor.html)

President

Jonathan

Suspends

Lamido

Sanusi As

CBN

Governor,

Appoints

Acting

Governor

(/news/president-

jonathan-

suspends-

lamido-

sanusi-as-

cbn-

governor-

appoints-

acting-

governor.html)

NVS News

(/news/divboko-haram-shekau-threatens-

attacks-on-nigerias-

refineries-in-new-

videodiv.html)

Boko

Haram:

Shekau

threatens

attacks on

Nigeria's

Refineries in
http://www.nigeriavillagesquare.com/news/divboko-haram-shekau-threatens-attacks-on-nigerias-refineries-in-new-videodiv.htmlhttp://www.nigeriavillagesquare.com/news/divboko-haram-shekau-threatens-attacks-on-nigerias-refineries-in-new-videodiv.htmlhttp://www.nigeriavillagesquare.com/news/president-jonathan-suspends-lamido-sanusi-as-cbn-governor-appoints-acting-governor.htmlhttp://www.nigeriavillagesquare.com/news/president-jonathan-suspends-lamido-sanusi-as-cbn-governor-appoints-acting-governor.htmlhttp://www.nigeriavillagesquare.com/photo-news/ludogorets-midfielder-svetoslav-dyakov-is-challenged-by-lazio-midfielder-ogenyi-onazi-of-nigeria-left-during-the-europa-league-round-of-16-first-leg-europa-league-soccer-match-between-lazio-and.html


24/27

new video

(/news/divboko-

haram-

shekau-

threatens-

attacks-on-

nigerias-

refineries-

in-new-

videodiv.html)

NVS News

(/articles/africa-left-

behind-goals-kill-

countries-children-

future.html)Africa Left

Behind:

Goals Kill

Countries &

Children

Future

(/articles/africa-

left-behind-

goals-kill-

countries-children-

future.html)

Farouk

Martins Aresa

(/articles/boko-haram-

killing-and-maiming-of-citizens-in-northern-

nigeria-a-time-for-

collective-action-not-

politicizing.html)

Boko Haram

killing and

maiming of

Citizens in

Northern

Nigeria: A

time for
http://www.nigeriavillagesquare.com/articles/boko-haram-killing-and-maiming-of-citizens-in-northern-nigeria-a-time-for-collective-action-not-politicizing.htmlhttp://www.nigeriavillagesquare.com/articles/boko-haram-killing-and-maiming-of-citizens-in-northern-nigeria-a-time-for-collective-action-not-politicizing.htmlhttp://www.nigeriavillagesquare.com/articles/africa-left-behind-goals-kill-countries-children-future.htmlhttp://www.nigeriavillagesquare.com/articles/africa-left-behind-goals-kill-countries-children-future.htmlhttp://www.nigeriavillagesquare.com/news/divboko-haram-shekau-threatens-attacks-on-nigerias-refineries-in-new-videodiv.html


25/27

collective

action; not

politicizing:

(/articles/boko-

haram-

killing-and-

maiming-of-

citizens-in-

northern-

nigeria-a-

time-for-

collective-

action-not-

politicizing.html)

Shedrack

Fubara

(/articles/war-on-the-

poor-oshiomole-fashola-

and-the-psychology-of-

nigerian-leaders.html)

War On The

Poor:

Oshiomole,

Fashola AndThe

Psychology

Of Nigerian

Leaders!

(/articles/war-

on-the-

poor-

oshiomole-

fashola-

and-the-psychology-

of-nigerian-

leaders.html)

Lawrence

Chinedu

Nwobu

(/articles/2015-we-must-
http://www.nigeriavillagesquare.com/articles/2015-we-must-get-involved.htmlhttp://www.nigeriavillagesquare.com/articles/war-on-the-poor-oshiomole-fashola-and-the-psychology-of-nigerian-leaders.htmlhttp://www.nigeriavillagesquare.com/articles/war-on-the-poor-oshiomole-fashola-and-the-psychology-of-nigerian-leaders.htmlhttp://www.nigeriavillagesquare.com/articles/boko-haram-killing-and-maiming-of-citizens-in-northern-nigeria-a-time-for-collective-action-not-politicizing.html


26/27

get-involved.html)

2015: We

must get

Involved

(/articles/2015-

we-must-

get-

involved.html)

Bobby Udoh

(/columnists/boko-haram-

and-a-nation-at-

war.html)

Boko Haram

and a

Nation at

War

(/columnists/boko-

haram-and-

a-nation-at-

war.html)

Olusegun

Adeniyi

(/articles/dame-patience-

goodluck-jonathan-and-

critics.html)

DAME

PATIENCE

GOODLUCK

JONATHAN

AND

CRITICS.

(/articles/dame-

patience-

goodluck-

jonathan-

and-

critics.html)

Emeka

Oraetoka
http://www.nigeriavillagesquare.com/articles/dame-patience-goodluck-jonathan-and-critics.htmlhttp://www.nigeriavillagesquare.com/articles/dame-patience-goodluck-jonathan-and-critics.htmlhttp://www.nigeriavillagesquare.com/columnists/boko-haram-and-a-nation-at-war.htmlhttp://www.nigeriavillagesquare.com/columnists/boko-haram-and-a-nation-at-war.htmlhttp://www.nigeriavillagesquare.com/articles/2015-we-must-get-involved.htmlhttp://www.nigeriavillagesquare.com/articles/2015-we-must-get-involved.html


27/27

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