The study explored NGOs' strategies toward asset accumulation and poverty reduction in Zimbabwe using a case study of three NGOs in the Chegutu District. Despite several NGOs operating in the Chegutu ...District, asset problems are conspicuously reflected by income struggles, school children dropping out of school and the social exclusion of the communities. Thus, the study analyzed the role of NGOs in asset accumulation and the relationship between asset accumulation and poverty reduction. It emerged that NGOs are using ISALS, nutritional gardens, service provision, income-generating activities (IGAs) and vocational training (VT) to engender the accumulation of financial, social, physical and human assets. As households accumulate sufficient levels of financial assets through interventions like ISALS, VT and nutritional gardens, there is improved social wellbeing, shedding light on the nexus between asset accumulation and poverty reduction. The study was qualitative in nature with data collected through the use of in-depth interviews and FGDs.
This paper investigates the confluence of humanitarian aid, centralisation, and politics. The 7.0 magnitude earthquake in Haiti on 12 January 2010 led to more than USD 16 billion in pledges. By ...contrast, Hurricane Matthew, which made landfall in Haiti on 4 October 2016, stayed in the shadows, attracting about one per cent of the amount. While the earthquake exhibited one face of centralisation, the Category 4 storm laid bare rural vulnerabilities shaped by postcolonial state neglect, and reinforced by the influx of non‐governmental organisations in the ‘Republic of Port‐au‐Prince’. The study draws on data from four case studies in two departments to illuminate the legacies of hyper‐centralisation in Haiti. Compounding matters, Matthew struck in the middle of an extended election that the international community attempted to control again. The paper argues that disaster assistance and politics are uncomfortably close, while reflecting on the momentary decentralisation of aid after the hurricane and its effectiveness.
Although the literature is increasingly concerned with cooperation among humanitarian non‐governmental organisations (NGOs), we still lack studies that explain cooperation under conditions of ...competition. Drawing on 22 semi‐structured interviews, this article argues that trust is the driving force behind security‐related cooperation within networks of humanitarian NGOs. Which type of trust comes into play and how trust is built depends on the structure of a network. In small, stable networks, trust is typically based on experience, whereas shared identity is at the heart of trust in large, unstable networks. In the latter case, cooperation among humanitarian NGOs is exclusive and comparable to a form of club governance, because NGOs are kept out based on their identity—that is, if they adopt a different operational interpretation of the humanitarian principles.
•We examine the enactment of identities in the annual reports of development NGOs.•To this cause, we critically analyse the visual imagery deployed by these organisations.•Northern NGOs ...(unintentionally) present Southern constituents in a derogatory manner.•This enables them to construct themselves as able experts who better the lives of Southerners.•Northern NGOs also present donors and supporters as energetic and generous ‘do-gooders’.•These results question the neutral and objective role of the annual report.•They also compromise principles immanent to development NGOs and rights based development.
This paper examines the enactment of identities in the annual reports of large, prestigious Northern development NGOs who have become a key player in the social, economic and political developments throughout the world. Drawing on postcolonial theory, it analyses the visual images that these organisations use to understand critically how they represent and construct identities about themselves and their divergent constituents, namely the Southern constituents they work with, and the funders and volunteers who support their activities. The analysis suggests that on the one hand, in accordance with the accountability remit of annual reports, organisations deploy visual imagery to complement their stories of successes and achievements. On the other, however, these representations also formulate identities about the organisations themselves and their divergent constituents. Organisations frequently (but possibly unintentionally) present their Southern constituents as reliant, dependent, passive, backward, voiceless, unintelligent and needing care in accordance with the traditional charity model of development. There are also signs that they segregate Africa from the rest of the world. In accordance with postcolonial theory, these representations enable organisations to construct themselves as reliable, able and knowledgeable experts who better the lives of Southern constituents. Northern NGOs also represent and appreciate their donors and supporters as active, energetic, willing and generous ‘do-gooders’ in the development project. The varied and diverse representations not only question the seemingly neutral and objective role of the annual report, but also compromise the principles of dignity, respect, equity, solidarity and egalitarianism that are immanent to development NGOs.
As political authority shifts to the global level, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) increasingly attempt to influence policy-making within international organisations (IOs). This article ...examines the nature and sources of non-governmental organisations’ advocacy strategies in global governance. We advance a twofold theoretical argument. First, non-governmental organisation advocacy can be described in terms of inside and outside strategies, similar to interest group lobbying in American and European politics. Second, non-governmental organisations’ chosen combination of inside and outside strategies can be explained by their organisational goals and membership base. Empirically, this argument is corroborated through a large-n analysis of original data from structured interviews with 303 non-governmental organisation representatives active in relation to the United Nations (UN), complemented by 19 semi-structured interviews with UN and state officials. The article’s findings have implications for the theory and practice of non-governmental organisation involvement in global governance.
Diasporas and diaspora non‐governmental organisations (NGOs) are increasingly important as resource lifelines to their home countries, yet the resources that they mobilise, the types of challenges ...that they face, and their coping mechanisms are not well explored or understood in the context of disaster recovery. To fill this knowledge gap, this study employed an inductive qualitative methodological approach, using interviews to comprehend the role played by Haitian diaspora NGOs after the catastrophic earthquake in 2010. It found that resources take four common forms: event fundraisers; financial and material donations from supporters; remittances; and volunteer labour. Challenges include an overreliance on diaspora donors, competition among NGOs, and what is perceived as inequitable funding practices towards diaspora NGOs. The findings provide insights centred on better coordination among diaspora NGOs, as well as between diaspora NGOs and other local and international NGOs and local governments and international institutions, to ensure more efficient delivery of services to survivors.
This article examines the experiences of NGOs that represent the interests of the disabled in cooperating with municipal institutions. Applying qualitative research methods (interviews and content ...analysis), the forms of NGO cooperation with local government institutions were revealed as the most important avenue of financial support for NGO projects. The results of this study showed that NGOs face challenges – first among which is power inequality, where local authorities have little experience of working with people with disabilities. Factors that strengthen the successful cooperation of NGOs with municipal institutions were also identified. Based on the results of the qualitative study, it was found that successful cooperation is related to the commitment of the NGOs them- selves, contributing to the stronger and more active well-being of people with disabilities as well as mutual support and trust.
PurposeLiterature has widely studied the financial accountability pressures on NGOs but rarely analysed how NGOs respond to them. This paper studies one large humanitarian NGO to address this ...question. It investigates the NGO's responses to understand the extent to which NGOs are able to regain control over their own work and turn the frames of evaluation and accountability to their own advantage.Design/methodology/approachThis article draws on a case study of one of the largest French humanitarian NGOs. Interviews and observation (both participant and non-participant) were conducted in the financial department of the NGO. These data are supplemented with field-level contextual interviews.FindingsIn the NGO studied, institutional pressure is largely mediated by compliance audits. The paper thus traces the consequences of compliance audits for the NGO's central finance teams and describes how they respond. The findings detail three responses to evaluation. First, to respond to the burden of evaluation, the organisation makes itself auditable and develops preparedness. Second, to respond to the anxiety of evaluation, the organisation engages in a process of purification and succumbs to the allure of the single figure. Third, building on its newly acquired auditability and purity, the organisation performs itself as a “corporatised NGO”. Together, these three responses constitute the NGO as an “entrepreneur” competing for eligibility, and financial literacy and managerialism become crucial to respond to pressure from institutional funders.Originality/valueThis paper extends the understanding of organisational responses to evaluation. The authors show the influence of evaluation systems on NGOs, but also how NGOs can react to regain control over their work and turn the frames of evaluation and accountability to their own advantage. However, despite several decades of calls for broader conceptions of NGO accountability, the case NGO prefers to promote a very narrow view of its performance, based solely on accounting compliance. It takes some pride in its ability to comply with funders' and auditors' demands. Turning a simple matter of compliance into a display of good performance, it builds a strategy and competitive advantage on its ability to respond competently to evaluation.
This paper identifies and assesses the extent to which downward accountability mechanisms in nongovernmental development organisations (NGDOs) have had the potential in practice to contribute to the ...effectiveness of rights-based approaches to development. The paper draws on evidence gathered from a detailed documentary analysis and a series of in-depth interviews undertaken with senior individuals working in the Irish NGDO sector. The analysis indicates variations in practice with regard to the substantive implementation of key downward accountability mechanisms. The accountability-in-practice revealed suggests that challenges to substantive implementation have arisen due to: insufficient Irish NGDO attention to oversight of downward accountability within locally based partner NGDOs; a reluctance and/or inability to transfer influence to locally based partner NGDOs by allowing them some influence on Irish NGDO governance and strategy; the perceived control of locally based partner NGDOs by local elites who may be distant from, and unrepresentative of, local communities; and a perception that locally based partner NGDOs may not require downward accountability. Drawing on these findings, the paper makes some suggestions aimed at helping to transform the rhetorical NGDO commitment to downward accountability into real practices that can contribute substantively to the realisation of the key elements of the rights-based approach to development.
PDF
