Structures, values, and interaction in field-level partnerships: the case of UNHCR and NGOs (original) (raw)
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Difficult Partnerships: The World Bank, States, and NGOs
Latin American Politics and Society, 2008
Since the early 1990s, World Bank officials in many countries have pressed their government borrowers to include nongovernmental organizations as development partners. What impact has this new partnership norm had in the bank's borrower countries, and why? This article investigates these questions through longitudinal analysis of three cases: Guatemala, Ecuador, and the Gambia. In their first iteration in the 1990s, these bank-sponsored efforts generally failed to take root; yet by the 2000s, NGOs and state actors were engaged in multiple partnerships. This article suggests that over time, bank officials' repeated efforts to embed these new ideas fostered a social learning process that led NGOs to adopt more strategic partnership practices and government officials to see NGO partners as useful. Several factors may affect this learning process: levels of professionalism and the growth of professional networks, the presence of effective "bridge builders," and the level of historical conflicts. 150 LATIN AMERICAN POLITICS AND SOCIETY 49: 4
Partnership' is a buzzword for agents delivering policy solutions, funding and implementation strategies for effective international development. We call such an ensemble of policies and practices the 'partnership discourse'. We explore the value of the term 'partnership' in international development with an empirical focus on the African context and issues of equality in relations between international and national non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that are routinely characterized as partnerships. The results of our research in Uganda indicate that a hiatus exists between the rhetoric and reality of such partnerships. Partnerships on the ground reproduce relations of inequality characterized by subordination and oppression. The retroductive explanation we offer for such an emergent picture is to recast partnerships not as neutral management tools, but as political processes actualized in a terrain that is contested and uneven. Our theoretical contribution is to develop a political theorization of interorganizational relations that allows us to explore the social consequences, specifically on inequality, associated with the partnership discourse. Our substantive contribution is to elaborate the value of the term 'partnership' in the international development domain. Its value is to smooth over antagonism and co-opt dissent by proposing a solution to effective development that is both ethically and managerially good. Downloaded from Contu and Girei 3 NGOs managers) by management scholars (Murphy and Zhu, 2012). Finally, we elaborate the substantive implications of our theorization of IORs as a political process. The substantive final contribution suggests that the discourse of partnership is better understood with reference to the notion of inclusive neo-liberalism , hence as a strategy for building consensus around the neo-liberal transnational historic bloc, that is, the historical conjuncture of material/ideological/organizational forces shaping the ID domain . While potentially progressive, the discourse of partnership − mostly driven by institutions such as the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development/ Development Assistance Committee (OECD/DAC) − reproduces in subtle ways, which we show, the entrenched unequal political-economic North/South relations.
A Comparative Study of Partnerships Between Northern and Southern NGOs
Kyungjin Oh , 2013
This research explores partnerships between NGOs of the global North and South (N-S NGOs), focusing on the issue of whether or not ideal partnership modes can be identified in terms of core principles for partnership effectiveness. The factors that determine the nature of partnerships can be classified into four categories: organizational, relational, resource-related, and contextual. An analysis of the sampled literature demonstrates that the core principles extracted from these categories are equality, mutuality, credibility, transparency, solidarity, similarity, capacity, clarity, openness, diversification, long-term commitment, democratic participation, global perspective, and flexibility. These core principles are not independent of each other but are rather loosely interconnected. Moreover, a comprehensive examination of the framework surrounding the determinants of partnership effectiveness concludes that organizational factors may be the key elements forming the nature of partnerships between N-S NGOs. Therefore, the capacity of each NGO may serve as a starting point to achieve core principles for partnership effectiveness. Ultimately, this study suggests that the capacity building of SNGOs should be the first priority among a variety of action plans for enhancing the effectiveness of N-S NGO partnerships; additionally, NNGOs should apply this same principle to their own organizations through mutual learning."
International Review of Administrative Sciences, 2004
This article examines partnerships between international donors and non-governmental development organizations (NGDOs). Following a discussion of partnership's rationale and presumed benefits, the article provides a general overview of selected donors' partnership experience and describes four illustrations of donor-NGDO partnership. Opportunities and constraints are identified, illustrating gaps in oratory and practice. Identified challenges include constraints related to donorinitiated partnerships, addressing the legacy of past relationships, the insufficiency of relying on personal relationships, and the limits of good intentions. The article stresses the importance of recognizing the political and economic realities that frame donor-NGDO relationships and condition incentives on both sides of the partnership.
The State of Partnerships Report 2011 - NGOs
2011
Print Printed on FSC certified paper This report was prepared by Rob van Tulder, academic director, Anke Hoekstra, research associate and Marieke de Wal, network coordinator of the Partnerships Resource Centre. Ward Ripmeester and Waldo Dirks provided research assistance. This report is part of an ongoing research project by the Partnerships Resource Centre (PrC) to monitor the patterns and effectiveness of cross-sector partnerships between companies, NGOs and governments. A parallel report has been released on the state of partnerships reporting within corporations. Financial support for the research was provided by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Power in partnership? an analysis of an NGO’s relationships with its partners
This paper analyses partnership relationships between NGOs and donors. Using a framework adapted from to explore issues of power in the relationships of a US-based development NGO, it questions whether the current emphasis on organisational partnership is useful or whether, in practice and in theory, greater recognition should be given to the importance of relationships between individuals.
NGO – Government Collaboration: An Uneasy Alliance
NGO-Government Collaboration: An Uneasy Alliance
This is paper is part of a series of working paper: To cite: Sillah, Aminata (2016), NGO-Government Collaboration: An Uneasy Alliance An important but often overlooked consideration in NGO understanding is why NGOs choose to collaborate with government. Collaboration with NGOs in developing countries has been linked to an increase in failed states and the inherent lack of capacity to provide basic social services to citizens. Thus, NGOs are left to fill in the service delivery gap. NGO and state relations has never been an easy one in Africa; each is suspicious of the other, yet their collaboration is essential for the effective redevelopment of a failed state. The distrust and suspicious is attributable to differences in organizational structure, culture, forms, work style, and motivations of each actor. For collaborations to be successful, it must span power perspectives, values, resources, norms and cultures (Brown and Ashman, 1996). Despite the promise and benefits of NGO and government collaboration in developing countries, not much attention has been given to factors that affect NGO state collaboration. This paper attempts to answer the question: what are the factors that affect collaboration between NGOs and the state in developing countries?
Factors Influencing Effective Management of NGO Partnerships
Humanities and Social Sciences
Partnership is an emergent and dynamic process and working in collaboration with others is never easy especially when it involves organizations with diverse and sometimes conflicting mandates, cultures, capabilities and aspirations. However, local NGOs in developing countries experience difficulties in effectively achieving their mandates without collaborating with others. Effective management of partnerships is important because a failed partnership process can be disastrous and ruin an organization's viability and legitimacy. The purpose of this paper is to highlight obstacles that hinder effective management of partnerships between Local NGOs (LNGOs) and International NGOs (INGOs). The study results indicate that NGO partnerships added value to development efforts at community level however this good work may be affected if obstacles that hinder effective management of partnerships are not consistently addressed during the partnership lifecycle. The following obstacles were highlighted; minimal involvement in decision making, inadequate technical and organizational capacity, inadequate resources to support partnership objectives, minimal participation in project design, inadequate communication and low levels of commitment. In conclusion the study findings suggest that NGO partnerships still operate at a transactional level. It would be ideal if those who initiate, engage and manage these partnerships progressively shift to more transformational forms of engagement in-spite of the funding aspect.
NGOs, States, and Donors Revisited: Still Too Close for Comfort?
World Development, 2015
Serious questions remain about the ability of NGOs to meet long-term transformative goals in their work for development and social justice. We investigate how, given their weak roots in civil society and the rising tide of technocracy that has swept through the world of foreign aid, most NGOs remain poorly placed to influence the real drivers of social change. However we also argue that NGOs can take advantage of their traditional strengths to build bridges between grassroots organizations and local and national-level structures and processes, applying their knowledge of local contexts to strengthen their roles in empowerment and social transformation.