Becoming an effective agent of development in the challenging and complex context of the development NGO in Sub-Saharan Africa necessitates prioritizing learning and adaptation. But NGOs are often not characterized by such a strong learning culture and commitment; and Christian NGOs are no exception. Reforming both the commitment to learning and the structures that support it is a pressing challenge facing Christian NGOs committed to being effective agents of development. Such reform requires careful analysis of the context of Sub-Saharan Africa, special consideration of the complex broader socio-political structure of the NGO world, and systematic research into understanding organizational dynamics that facilitate learning. Data from this research contributes to building an integrated learning model. Applying this model through a case study of specific Christian NGO—World Vision Burundi—leads to both identifying factors that undermine learning and proposing a set of recommendations that will help this NGO become a more effective learning organization.

Becoming an effective agent of development in the challenging and complex context of the development NGO in Sub-Saharan Africa necessitates prioritizing learning and adaptation. But NGOs are often not characterized by such a strong learning culture and commitment; and Christian NGOs are no exception. Reforming both the commitment to learning and the structures that support it is a pressing challenge facing Christian NGOs committed to being effective agents of development. Such reform requires careful analysis of the context of Sub-Saharan Africa, special consideration of the complex broader socio-political structure of the NGO world, and systematic research into understanding organizational dynamics that facilitate learning. Data from this research contributes to building an integrated learning model. Applying this model through a case study of specific Christian NGO—World Vision Burundi—leads to both identifying factors that undermine learning and proposing a set of recommendations that will help this NGO become a more effective learning organization.

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This study investigates how waqf officers in two State Religious Councils (SRCs) in Malaysia undertake their responsibilities and duties of accountability to inform and improve the management of waqf properties for the benefit of beneficiaries and the public. The thesis uses the concept of holistic accountability by O'Dwyer & Unerman (2008) to conceptualise the relationship between waqf officers (accountors) and waqf stakeholders (accountees). Two key components of holistic accountability are identified, i.e., hierarchical upward and downward accountability. The religious setting of waqf presents an opportunity to examine how Islamic values influence the way holistic accountability is enacted and experienced. The thesis uses the concept of felt accountability to assess the extent to which this occurs. Semi-structured interviews are employed to understand the waqf officers' perception of the extent to which they discharge their responsibilities and duties of accountability. This data collection method is complemented by non-participant observation and documentary analysis. The study finds that Islamic values, such as belief in the Day of Judgement, encourage the officers to undertake their responsibility and duty of accountability in a proactive and creative way. This is explained in the thesis as felt accountability, an individualised . perception of accountability that provides a powerful motivation for waqf officers to discharge their downward accountability. However, the study also finds that the impact of felt accountability on holistic accountability is influenced by the organisational Structure of the SRC. Hierarchical structures may constrain officers' felt accountability whilst decentralised structures may offer too much flexibility to waqf officers.

This study sets out to understand how international development projects supporting labor activism work in contemporary China. It focuses on the lived experiences of and relationships among a group of grassroots⁠ labor NGOs in the province of Guangdong, South China; intermediary NGOs in Hong Kong; and Western funding agencies that try to bring about social change in postsocialist China where the political climate is still highly restrictive and the limits of the state’s tolerance for activism are ambiguous and uncertain. Foregrounding the notion of uncertainty, this study investigates how state control is exercised by examining a specific logic of practices, discourses, and a mode of existence that constantly mask and unmask the state. More specifically, this study explores how the uncertainty about the boundaries of permissible activism is generative of a sociopolitical realm in which variously positioned subjects mobilize around the idea of the state, which in turn leads to articulations and practices conducive to both self-censorship and a contingent space of activism. Viewed as such, the idea of uncertainty becomes an enabler through which certain kinds of practices, relationships, and networks are made possible and enacted, and through which a sociopolitical realm of intimacy is constituted by and constitutive of these relationships, networks, and practices. Situated in the domain of uncertainty, this study examines the ways in which uncertainty, both as an analytical idea and an ontological existence, produces an intimate space where labor activists not only effectively self-censor but also skillfully map the gray zone between the relatively safe and the unacceptably risky choices.

La riche contribution de la SC et des ONG palestinienne à travers son histoire, leurs contributions aux efforts en faveur de la construction de l'Etat et à la fourniture entre autres choses des services sociaux, et la recherche d'une solution autre que la solution à deux Etats qui s'effondre– ont présidé le choix du sujet de ma thèse : « La SC et la construction d'un Etat : Tendances passées, dilemmes actuels et défis futurs posés aux ONG ». En tant que concept théorique, la construction de l'Etat a connu un intérêt accru durant les dernières décennies avec le nombre croissant de sociétés touchées par des conflits. Cependant, le point focal de notre thèse n'est pas tant les théories abstraites de la construction de l'Etat que son histoire et ses aspects pratiques en conjonction et/ou à l'intersection de l'évolution de la SC et des ONG. La compréhension de la construction de l'Etat telle que promue par l'OCDE « Concepts et dilemmes de la construction de l'Etat dans des situations fragiles » imprègne et la rationalité et la méthodologie de notre recherche. / The richness of the contribution of CS and NGOs to Palestine on its history, their contribution to state-building efforts and the provision of social services among other things, and the search of an alternative solution to the flawed two-state solution to the conflict – governed the choice of the topic of my dissertation “CS & State-Building: Past Trends, Current Dilemmas and Future Challenges Faced by NGOs”.As a theoretical concept, state-building has gained prominence during the past decades with the growing number of conflict-affected societies. Yet, the focus of our dissertation was not so much on abstract theories of state-building as on its history and practicality in conjunction and/or in intersection with the evolution of CS & NGOs. The perspective on state-building as promoted by the OECD entitled “Concepts and Dilemmas of State-Building in Fragile Situations” impregnates both the rationale and the methodology of our research.

Les organisations non gouvernementales étrangères(ONG) étaient présentes pendant la guerre contre les États-Unis dans la province de Quảng Nam pour aider des victimes de la guerre. Cependant, après la libération du Việt Nam en 1975, elles ont stoppé toutes les activités en raison de la politique de l'embargo américain. Elles ont commencé à se retourner au Việt Nam à partir de la mise en œuvre de l'innovation de "Đổi mới-renouveau" en 1986. De 1991 à ce jour, les ONG se développent fortement en nombre d'organisations et en projets d'aides. Ces ONG réalisent non seulement les opérations d'aides humanitaires mais aussi elles jouent un rôle actif dans le développement durable de la province. Etant l'auteur de cette étude, avec plus de 20 ans d'expérience et de contacts de travail avec des centaines d'ONG de différents pays. Cette étude est menée avec une méthodologie de recherche: documentation, analyse des rapports; évaluation des résultats des financements des ONG; organisation de séminaires, conférences et dialogues entre les partenaires; élaboration et distribution des formulaires d'enquête auprès des bénéficiaires, des autorités locales et des représentants des ONG; travail d'enquête sur des localités dans de nombreux domaines. Les résultats de l'étude ont montré que ces organisations fonctionnent dans la plupart des domaines tels que la santé, l'éducation, la protection de l'environnement, le déminage, les aides aux victimes affectées par l'Agent Orange/Dioxine, le soutien pour les handicapés, la formation professionnelle, le développement du tourisme communautaire, les aides urgentes en cas des catastrophes naturelles, adaptation aux changements climatiques. Les ONG jouent un rôle positif au développement durable au niveau local et répondre aux besoins réels des habitants. Cependant, dans certains cas, elles mènent des activités négatives ceux qui causent des difficultés dans la gestion d'état. D'autre part, cette étude souhaite montrer la bureaucratie, la lourdeur des procédures administratives au Việt Nam. / Foreign non-governmental organizations have come to Quảng Nam province during the American War to help victims of the war. However, after the Liberation Day (1975), they ceased their operations due to the US embargo against Việt Nam. They resumed their operations in Vietnam when the Doi Moi (Renovation in 1986) was implemented. From 1991 until now these organizations have grown in terms of quantity and numbers of aid projects. They have not only performed humanitarian activities but also played an active role in maintaining sustainable development of the province. The author of this research has over 20 years of experience in meeting and working with hundreds of foreign non-governmental organizations from a number of countries. The research methods conducted for this topic include documenting, analyzing reports; evaluating aid results; organizing seminars, conferences, dialogues between partners; handing out questionnaires to beneficiaries, local authorities and representatives of foreign NGO; conducting field surveys in many areas. The results of the research show that these organizations have their operations in almost the areas such as healthcare, education, environmental protection, demining, helping Agent Orange/dioxin victims, supporting disabled people, vocational training, community based tourism development, recovery from natural disaster consequences and climate change responses. They made positive contributions to the project localities in sustainable development and meeting the practical needs of the local people. However, in some cases, their activities also cause negative impacts and difficulties in management. Addionally, the research also points out the bureaucracy, negativity, and cumbersome procedures of paper-like administration existing in Việt Nam.

The research outlined in this thesis explores the practice of providing humanitarian aid to refugees and displaced persons in Bangladesh. This aid, offered in a limited way by international non-governmental organizations (INGOs) is similar to aid provided to refugees in many other parts of the world, however my research reflects the specificities of research in Bangladesh, the particular conditions of Rohingya refugees from Myanmar (Burma) and the practices of aid work in a Muslim-identified aid organization. The purpose of this study was to investigate the strengths and weaknesses of this kind of aid as a response to protracted refugee situations. Rohingya refugees, the recipients of this aid, fled to Bangladesh in successive waves beginning in the 1970s, leaving villages in Myanmar where they faced extreme levels of persecution, violence and discrimination. Although the government of Bangladesh initially welcomed the Rohingya, in subsequent years, the government has sought to return Rohingya refugees to Myanmar. Approximately 28,000 refugees remain in two camps run by the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), and another approximately 60,000 refugees (without official refugee status) live in camps run by INGOs. The bulk of my fieldwork was conducted conducted between June 2011 and September 2012 using participant observation, interviews and focus groups in one of these INGO-run camps. Other research on humanitarian aid tends to focus on either the practical challenges of aid work or the philosophical and ethical shortcomings of the system. In this thesis, I examine the day-to-day practices of aid workers, the challenges they face, the contributions they make and the conflicts that arise from their work. This dissertation argues that humanitarian intervention, as it is currently practiced in Bangladesh, while marked by inefficiencies, corruption and conflict, does improve the material lives of the refugees it seeks to assist. I also argue that humanitarian aid, as currently practiced, is fundamentally weakened by the premise that humanitarian crises are short term and by the shared understanding that host countries can set absurdly impossible restrictions on refugees and aid workers. One key contribution I make is to examine the experiences of expatriate aid workers, situating their work as migrant laborers who cope with precarity and the instability of humanitarian crises.

This thesis will use three case studies to test the existing research on civil society and authoritarian regimes. By using concrete data from Putin’s previous decade in Russia, the post-Mubarak government’s control over transitional Egypt, and the Hun Sen regime in Cambodia, this thesis is an attempt to analyze under what conditions will authoritarian governments not only create, but enforce controls and restrictions against their NGO communities. This thesis expands O’donnell & Schmiiter’s existing theory: Government policy makers will increase restrictions when NGOs and civil society represent too strong of a threat, to include both real and perceived threats. Unfortunately, this thesis cannot conclude on the true power of NGOs, however one does not need to answer this question to examine why governments restrict them.