Public, Constitutional and International Law / LL. M.

Non Governmental Organisations have been operating in Africa since the 1940’s; then, their work was heavily biased towards relief work. From the 1980s however, the role of NGOs evolved to include development; understandably, African governments were finding it increasingly difficult to provide adequate levels of basic services for their people. To this effect and initially; NGOs got involved in development as short term "gap fillers" in the provision of basic services; health and education amongst others. As Africa’s development discourse continued unabated, NGOs were recognised by donors and host governments alike, as indispensible to the provision of such services; in time however, they became the subject of criticism for allegedly failing to irreversibly ameliorate the conditions of the poor. In delivering services, NGOs work in a complex partnership characterised by power imbalances. The partnership involves donors who own the means of production which facilitate NGOs’ work and host governments who “own” the humanitarian space which NGOs need to fulfil their humanitarian mandate. While seemingly poor and powerless, the communities served wield the power to facilitate or block the success of NGO interventions through their commitment and/or lack thereof; respectively; NGOs’ contribution is their skills and humanitarian spirit. The success of NGO interventions is a function of resources, humanitarian space and the goodwill that donors, host governments and the communities served bring to the partnership table respectively. The study sought to establish why between 2001-2006; NGO post-drought rehabilitation through to development interventions failed to irreversibly reduce vulnerability against drought in communities in Machakos District and the extent to which power imbalances which characterise “partnerships for development” contributed to the failure by NGOs to fulfil their mandate. The study revealed that NGOs are unwaveringly committed to their humanitarian mandate however; the power imbalances that characterise “partnerships for development” and in particular, that between NGOs’ and donors militated against the fulfilment of their mandate in Machakos District. When NGOs fail to deliver on their mandate; they lose credibility amongst the other partners and this reinforces the power imbalances; it’s a vicious cycle. “Caught at Crossroads...” NGOs are indeed. / Development Studies / D.Litt. et Phil. (Development Studies)

Power, and how it is exercised within social relations is pivotal in explaining policy change. Hence, this dissertation explores policy change in Kenya by examining the transfer and subsequent adoption of social protection policies in the form of cash transfer schemes. Instead of the current analytical frameworks drawing from political settlements, political institutions, and ideational approaches in explaining policy uptake, the research studies policy making from a policy transfer and power nexus. The study examines power relations among multiple actors in the national context to explain the adoption of social protection policies. Hence this dissertation articulates power dynamics and asymmetries inherent in policy-making involving national and transnational actors as underpinning policy transfer processes. The thesis is premised on the following interrelated arguments; firstly, I show how transnational actors created and manipulated interests and incentives based on their resource base in three significant ways: controlling the policy agenda, constraining the agency of other actors and influencing the preferences of actors in the policy space. The interaction of interests and resources – financial, and ideas and knowledge – converged to bring about policy change. Secondly, I focus on the role of ideas and knowledge within policy space to show how the creation of a discursive hegemony and a structure of knowledge, social construction and policy narratives played a significant role in shaping learning and influencing national actors. Thirdly, I argue that transnational actors used structural mechanisms based on financing and coerced government to adopt social protection policies through a catalysing mechanism and imposition of conditionalities. The study depicts how transnational actors conditioned and manipulated national context and institutions to align with the idea of cash transfers. This thesis employs a qualitative approach to study policy transfer and subsequent adoption of two cases of transfer schemes in Kenya, the Cash Transfer for Orphans and Vulnerable Children (CT-OVC) and the Hunger Safety Net Programme (HSNP). / Sociology / D. Phil. (Sociology)

Non Governmental Organisations have been operating in Africa since the 1940’s; then, their work was heavily biased towards relief work. From the 1980s however, the role of NGOs evolved to include development; understandably, African governments were finding it increasingly difficult to provide adequate levels of basic services for their people. To this effect and initially; NGOs got involved in development as short term "gap fillers" in the provision of basic services; health and education amongst others. As Africa’s development discourse continued unabated, NGOs were recognised by donors and host governments alike, as indispensible to the provision of such services; in time however, they became the subject of criticism for allegedly failing to irreversibly ameliorate the conditions of the poor. In delivering services, NGOs work in a complex partnership characterised by power imbalances. The partnership involves donors who own the means of production which facilitate NGOs’ work and host governments who “own” the humanitarian space which NGOs need to fulfil their humanitarian mandate. While seemingly poor and powerless, the communities served wield the power to facilitate or block the success of NGO interventions through their commitment and/or lack thereof; respectively; NGOs’ contribution is their skills and humanitarian spirit. The success of NGO interventions is a function of resources, humanitarian space and the goodwill that donors, host governments and the communities served bring to the partnership table respectively. The study sought to establish why between 2001-2006; NGO post-drought rehabilitation through to development interventions failed to irreversibly reduce vulnerability against drought in communities in Machakos District and the extent to which power imbalances which characterise “partnerships for development” contributed to the failure by NGOs to fulfil their mandate. The study revealed that NGOs are unwaveringly committed to their humanitarian mandate however; the power imbalances that characterise “partnerships for development” and in particular, that between NGOs’ and donors militated against the fulfilment of their mandate in Machakos District. When NGOs fail to deliver on their mandate; they lose credibility amongst the other partners and this reinforces the power imbalances; it’s a vicious cycle. “Caught at Crossroads...” NGOs are indeed. / Development Studies / D. Litt. et Phil. (Development Studies)