Page 203 - Volume 1_Go home mzungu Go Home_merged with links

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"Veni, Vidi, Vici ",Steti - ego adduxit amicis meis

But the articles on governance, which often discussed how NGOs affected more
nebulous issues such as empowerment or accountability, gave a measurable indicator
only 16% of the time. Few of these articles included an explicit control group or

counterfactual, so it is impossible to know whether the outcomes could have been
achieved by other means, or even with no intervention at all “

"NGOs and International Development: What Have We Learned, 383
How Did We Learn It, and Where Should NGO Research Go Next?"
HistPhil (blog), October 17, 2018. https://histphil.org/2018/10/17/NGOs-and-international-
development-what-have-we-learned-how-did-we-learn-it-and-where-should-NGO-research-go-next/.
*****
These days, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) face increasing criticism. This is
something new for the global NGO movement, whose actions, campaigns, and goals

have, until recently, faced little scrutiny. How might we interpret this development? One
possible explanation is a growing unease with a double standard: NGOs demand

accountability from corporations and governments, yet exempt themselves from similar
standards of accountability.

***
Perhaps an editorial in the Far Eastern Economic Review put it best: The day can't be far

off when important sections of the public come to wonder if NGOs, who regularly
demand "reforms" in the name of this-or-that cause, "don't deserve reform themselves."

"NGO, Reform Thyself." 196
Competitive Enterprise Institute (April 2004)

*****
NGOs are also criticised for their focus on technical solutions to poverty instead of the

underlying issues. So, for example, an NGO might provide water tanks for the poor
without addressing the power imbalances that resulted in some having water, while

others don't.

Another criticism is that NGOs are more accountable to their funders than those they
serve. Because they are largely dependent on funding, their projects are crafted in line

with donor preferences instead of those they supposedly represent.

A final criticism relates to the fact that NGO workers tend to be foreigners or local elites.
Instead of empowering local populations to organise themselves, NGOs provide

employment and a sense of purpose for elites with degrees in subjects like development
studies.

"The Role of NGOs in Africa: Are They a Force for Good?" 197