This research was aimed at establishing the contributions of developmental nongovernmental organisations (NGOs) to social welfare service delivery in Gauteng, South Africa, and to examine the challenges they have faced since the transition from Apartheid social welfare to a developmental welfare paradigm. This study revealed how developmental NGOs function to meet the needs of citizens, especially the marginalised and vulnerable class of the society. It also examined the contributions of developmental NGOs in terms of capacity building, physical infrastructure development and their sustainability. The research was qualitative and exploratory in nature, and a multiple case study design was applied. The research sample of 15 participants was drawn from three developmental NGOs registered with the Department of Social Development, Gauteng, South Africa. Five employees from each developmental NGO were interviewed using a semi-structured interview schedule. A face to face interview was the method of data collection. The data collected was analysed. The main findings showed that there is evidence of positive contributions to capacity building and infrastructural development at the grassroots level. However, funding remains the biggest challenge, which then affects the sustainability of development.

This study sought to explore the perceptions of stakeholders on the role and effectiveness of networking forums in promoting partnerships and integrated service delivery between government and non-profit sector organisations using the Nelmapius forum as a case study. The research adopted a qualitative research method and a case study research approach was utilized. The research population consisted of social workers and social work supervisors in both government and NGOs who participated in the Nelmapius forum. Purposive sampling which is a type of non-probability sampling was utilized to draw participants for the study. The sample consisted of 11 social workers and 4 social work supervisors who participated in the Nelmapius forum. Data was collected using semi-structured interviews. Thematic content analysis was used to analyze the data. The findings reveal that participants understood the primary reason behind the establishment of the Nelmapius forum as to strengthen the relationship between the government and the NGOs in Nelmapius. It was also revealed that the Nelmapius forum was a platform for NGOs and the DHSD to share service delivery information. Findings of the study show that the forum is an effective platform for enhancing partnerships’ among organisations which enhanced integrated service delivery. The forum created a platform which enabled organisations to work cooperatively. This led to capacity building among participant members and their organisations. The forum also enabled organisations to work together to share service delivery channels and processes as well as demarcation areas of service which benefitted the community members. The forum did experience few challenges in its later stages of functioning such as poor attendance, lack of new member integration, and failure to honour commitments by some organisations which led to low of morale amongst forum members. As a way of invigorating the forum participants suggested that: All stakeholders should participate actively in the forum, facilitation of the forum should rotate among members, the forum must be open to all stakeholders, the forum must be attended by senior officials, meeting venues should rotate in different organisations and that there should be monitoring and evaluation systems in place. It is hoped the study will have impact positively on the functioning of networking forums.

This study describes and reflects on the partnership between Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) and Community-Based Organisations (CBOs) in implementing development projects in Mozambique. This is a qualitative case study, whose methods of data collection were in-depth semi-structured interviews and document analysis. The study was conducted with two NGOs (one international and one national) and with four CBOs and it took place in Nampula and Gaza provinces and the capital Maputo. The data were analyzed using quantitative method. NGOs and CBOs are different entities in terms of their levels of actuation, responsibilities, nature, and also differ in terms of resources, such as access to information, funding sources and human resources. These differences have raised questions around the possibility of the establishment of an equitable and properly functioning partnership between entities that differ so much in na}ure. The NGOs depend majorly on external funds to support the CBOs; however they also rely on their own funds or funds made available by local funders' institutions. Equally, the CBOs also undertake, some income activity generation, whose income is used for their own institutional expenses and also to support some community needs, though they rely mostly on funds provided by the NGOs. The central idea of this study is that despite the differences between NGOs and CBOs they can establish a balanced partnership based on the recognition of the contribution of each partner and on the significance both attribute to the partnership. The differences constitute the basis of the partnership which in turn allows the acquisition of mutual benefits, recognition and sharing of power. In terms of theoretical framework, I have used Agency theory wherein the NGO is the "Principal" which in a relationship governed by a contract delegates the CBOs as the "Agent" of the implementation of projects in the communities. vii The results showed that the partnership between NGOs and CBOs is characterised by complementarities, mutual benefits, exchange, contribution, and sharing of power by both. The partnership is also based on recognition of the weaknesses, strengths and value of each pa1iner which give place to a balanced partnership. However being a balanced partnership it is also characterised by conflicts that result from the difference of interest between NGOs and CBOs. Risk constitutes another element that characterizes this partnership since the NGOs delegate the CBOs the implementation of the project and not always the CBOs will perform as it is advocated in the contract. Though, as the partnership is valuable for both, NGOs and CBOs will engage in developing strategies for minimising the potential risk in order to maintain and maximise the partnership. The data also showed that the locus of conflict and risk are essentially linked to misusage of money. Since the CBOs implement the project and are institutionally independent from the NGOs, the NGOs develop some strategies of control to ensure that the CBOs will act in accordance of what the contract advocates. It is within these strategies wherein the conflict arises, especidlly because the CBOs do not always understand some of the strategies adopted by NGOs to ensure the accomplishment of the contract what led the CBOs also to adopt some strategies of resistance. In terms of power and decision-making the data showed that both exercise different kind of power and the CBOs influence the decision-making process, though the NGOs showed to have greater control over the process. The contribution of this study to the existing literature lies in the fact that it brings a different approach to the power relations between NGOs and CBOs, which is usually seen as a relationship of the exercise of power by the NGOs over the CBOs. The study seeks to show that the strategies of resistance, counter power and negotiation developed by the CBOs constitute a different form of exercise of power and influence. It also shows that the CBOs are not passive actors in the partnership because they develop strategies to influence and attract the NGOs in the establishment of partnership and decision-making throughout the project cycle.

The first essay considers the relative effectiveness of government and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) as channels to allocate resources. I use a catastrophic climate-related shock--Hurricane Mitch--to examine the political economy of these channels of aid distribution at the micro level. I combine extensive data on aid received by Nicaraguan households with data on municipal election outcomes and an exogenous, precipitation-based measure of hurricane impact. I find that the hurricane had long-lasting effects on the aid received by households from both NGOs and the government. In the short term, however, the government did not provide aid according to the objective measure of hurricane damage but instead provided aid along political lines. The second essay presents estimates of a relationship between extreme hot temperatures during gestation and a child's subsequent physical well-being in a sample of children in Peru, thus extending existing evidence constructed from U.S. data. Estimates are constructed using high-resolution gridded climate data and geo-coded household surveys. The results suggest that a period of extreme heat (a month whose average temperature is more than 2 standard deviations above the local average) in the period 1 to 3 months before birth is associated with lower weight at birth and a reduction in height (measured 1 to 59 months after birth) that cannot be fully explained by birth weight. There is no evidence of differential maternal investment, as measured by duration of breastfeeding, according to a child's exposure to extreme heat during gestation. The third essay asks whether improved treatment of HIV/AIDS in Africa can be achieved simply by paying health workers to do more. I present estimates of the impact of financial incentives paid to individual workers at public health facilities in Mozambique. The results suggest that piece-rate incentives increased the delivery of five out of fourteen health services for which treatment effects can be identified, with estimated increases ranging from 34 to 157 percent, depending on the particular service. I find no evidence of a corresponding decrease in the delivery of services that are not financially incentivized, suggesting that there is no "crowding out" of intrinsic motivation.

Magister Artium (Development Studies) - MA(DVS) / The study sought to evaluate the challenges and opportunities for effective community participation in rural development projects in Zimbabwe through one case-study, and in turn to test the credibility of the popularized supposition that almost all contemporary development efforts characteristically embrace local participation. This matters as public participation is widely assumed to be an essential ingredient for the fruition of rural development efforts. The case examined was to achieve this aim. The research made use of quantitative and qualitative research methodologies in which various data gathering instruments were used. Among them were unstructured interviews, focus group discussions and questionnaires. The discussion and analysis of data was enabled by the use of People-Centered Development (PCD) as a conceptual framework. Among other findings, a key insight of the research was that the level of community participation in this case is not only minimal, but it is also top down. This has much to do with the negative perceptions by facilitating agents of local people as passive recipients of externally crafted models of development and other factors such as the power dynamics within and between the community and other stakeholders. The research also found out other obstacles that militate against effective participation such as preferential treatment of other tribal groups by the facilitating agent, intra group conflicts and bureaucratic and political influence. Based on these findings, and consistent with the wider literature, a key recommendation of the research is that the nature of community engagement should be based on the principle of equal partnership among all stakeholders as this would encourage full cooperation and thus effective participation.

Mainly from the perspective of transformative learning (TL), the thesis explores how the rights-based approach (RBA) by a Cambodian NGO has influenced rural citizens' agency in fulfilling their rights to development and, consequently, has brought about social change. The study was conducted in particular contexts where for the last decade there have been decentralisation reforms and land grabbing, both of which have come into existence as a result of the conjunction of neo-patrimonialism (as a patronage-based practice by the Cambodian government) and such global forces as the influences of aid donors and the increase in global resource demands. The literature indicates that RBA as a western-conceptualised and confrontational approach is not likely to work, especially in relation to the often authoritarian governments of developing countries. Hence, this study has chosen a Cambodian NGO—which has modified RBA to fit the rural context of Cambodia—as a case, so as to explore the potential and limits of RBA in a highly repressive and complex context. In order to explore the context-specific yet multi-scalar phenomenon of the agency and structure relationship, I utilised a grounded theory ethnographic study inspired by critical realism and employed the expanded framework of the TL theory, further complemented by the Freirean approach and Gramscian thought. Furthermore, in order to delve into how the exercise of citizens' agency is constrained by structures, this study also situates TL's rather active view of agency in the critical realist's moderate view of agency. This thesis argues that the Cambodian NGO, by working closely with government, has made full use of and further widened the democratic spaces made available through decentralisation, in order to create spaces conducive to TL, and has harnessed its multi-faceted and process-oriented rights-based empowerment approach in order to enhance citizens' agency to claim their rights. However, the thesis critiques the fact that the NGO has not enabled citizens to become aware of and to contend against the deep-seated practice of neo-patrimonialism that is hidden behind the democratic façade of the decentralisation process and that has engendered land grabbing, with the result that the NGO has been promoting 'thin' rights. Finally this study reveals the possibilities of TL through RBA in the highly oppressive and resource-scarce context of rural Cambodia, yet casts doubt on its replicability as it appears to demand the mobilisation of a number of enabling factors in order for TL to occur within such a context.

No description available.

Wong, Wai Man Natalie. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2009. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 120-128). / Abstract also in Chinese. / Notes --- p.vii / Lists of Figures and Tables --- p.viii / Chapter CHAPTER 1 --- INTRODUCTION --- p.1 / Chapter 1.1 --- Background of the Study - Transboundary movement of electronic waste (e-waste) --- p.1 / Chapter 1.2 --- Definition of Structure of NGOs Networks --- p.8 / Chapter 1.3 --- Transnational Advocacy Networks (TANs) --- p.11 / Chapter 1.3.1 --- Variables in TANs --- p.12 / Chapter 1.4 --- Organization of this Study --- p.18 / Chapter 1.5 --- Methodology --- p.18 / Chapter CHAPTER 2 --- REVIEWING TRANSNATIONAL ADVOCACY NETWORKS IN TRANSNATIONAL ACTIVISM --- p.20 / Chapter 2.1 --- Overview: Expansion of INGOs --- p.20 / Chapter 2.1.1 --- Debates: State-centric vs. Non State-centric in World Politics --- p.22 / Chapter 2.2 --- Transnational Activism in World Politics --- p.25 / Chapter 2.3 --- Networks in Transnational Activisms --- p.28 / Chapter 2.3.1 --- Linkages in Transnational Activism between the North and the South --- p.30 / Chapter 2.3.2 --- NGOs Networking: Two Levels Analysis --- p.32 / Chapter 2.4 --- TANs in Transnational Activisms --- p.34 / Chapter 2.5 --- Transnational Activism in Asia --- p.43 / Chapter CHAPTER 3 --- WHAT HAS THE GREENPEACE DONE IN ANTI TOXIC E-WASTE CAMPAGINS IN CHINA AND THE PHILIPPINES? --- p.49 / Chapter 3.1 --- Problems of e-waste --- p.49 / Chapter 3.2 --- The Greenpeace China in Anti-toxic e-waste Campaign --- p.54 / Chapter 3.3 --- The Greenpeace Philippines in Anti-toxic e-waste Campaign --- p.64 / Chapter CHAPTER 4 --- COMPARISON OF THE STRUCTURE OF GREENPEACE NETWORKS IN CHINA AND THE PHILIPPINES --- p.76 / Chapter 4.1 --- History of INGOs in China and the Philippines --- p.76 / Chapter 4.1.1 --- History of INGOs in China --- p.76 / Chapter 4.1.2 --- History of INGOs in the Philippines --- p.79 / Chapter 4.2 --- Greenpeace - National Government Relationship --- p.92 / Chapter 4.3 --- Greenpeace - Local Governments Relationship --- p.95 / Chapter 4.4 --- Greenpeace - Local NGOs Relationship --- p.96 / Chapter 4.5 --- Greenpeace - Others INGOs and Greenpeace International Relationship --- p.101 / Chapter 4.6 --- Unique factor: “Clan´ح in the operation of TANs --- p.105 / Chapter CHAPTER 5 --- CONCLUSION --- p.108 / Appendixes --- p.118 / Bibliography --- p.120

The annual budget process is a primary financial control mechanism over community resources. However, in New Hampshire, some business school leaders do not have effective strategies for proper budget creation and execution. Using agency theory to frame this study, the purpose of this explanatory case study was to explore strategies for proper budget creation and execution in local school administrative units (SAUs) in New Hampshire. The targeted population was comprised of New Hampshire SAU business administrators who had operational responsibility for the administration of the yearly public budgets in each school district. Data were collected from SAU document review and semi structured interviews of seven SAU business administrators. Through a data extraction process, 6 themes emerged, which included appropriate accounting controls, risk management, enhancing the procedures, usefulness of fund balance information, use of governmental standards to develop more decision-making information, and improved operation procedures. The implications for positive social change may include the potential to establish accounting controls in the SAUs to complete balanced budgets. The results of the study indicate the potential impact of property tax revenue collected from the citizens of New Hampshire to balance local SAU school budgets.

Thesis (M.Dev.) --University of Limpopo, 2010 / This study was undertaken in the Limpopo province, South Africa. Its aim was to assess the capacity of the NGOs that benefitted from Masibambane which is a donor funded programme and to examine the contributions that they are making towards addressing the water and sanitation challenges. This programme made funding available to capacitate the NGOs with the hope that they will assist the sector. Five NGOs which are operating in various districts in the province were included in the study. This was a qualitative study. Purposive sampling was used to select participants from NGOs, municipalities, Department of Water Affairs and communities. Primary data were collected through interviews, focused groups and observations in the field while secondary data were obtained from NGO and Water Affairs documents. The findings of this study revealed that The Mvula Trust and Tsogang Water and Sanitation NGOs have the capacity to implement both water and sanitation infrastructure projects at a village level. Operation Hunger‟s expertise regarding water infrastructure projects is on digging boreholes and installing hand pipes even though it diversified to include water conservation. Akanani Rural Development Association has the expertise of building sanitation facilities while Thlavhama Training Initiative is still learning. It was also discovered that NGOs are good at mobilizing communities and also have the capacity to impart skills to the communities. Participants from NGOs confirmed that learning occurred through Masibambane programme even though some felt that the needs of the NGOs were not adequately addressed.