NGOs and Development Assistance: a Change in Mind-set?

Abstract

This essay asks five basic questions about non-governmental organizations (NGOs) working in development and emergency situations. The first has to do with the basic usefulness of the term ‘nongovernmental organization’. Many have struggled with the appropriateness — or otherwise — of this expression, creating many new terms in the process. None has caught on. Even the distinction between organizations working primarily as service providers and those whose role is primarily in advocacy does not work very well. Oxfam, for example, works in development and in emergencies, and has been a fierce advocate over the years for specific political action in such places as South Africa, Cambodia and Rwanda. It might well be asked if an organization that receives more than half its funding from government sources — as many northern NGOs today do — can actually be considered a ‘non’-governmental organization. The same question, of course, could be asked about ‘private’ universities and some of the largest ‘private’ sector firms. Could Boeing survive without government contracts? Is it less part of the private sector than, say, the Sony Corporation because of this ‘dependency’? For convenience, therefore, the term ‘NGO’ will be used throughout this chapter, although it will refer mainly to the larger organizations working primarily in development. These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.

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