The environmental and human health benefits of urban forests have been well documented. In the United States, volunteers conduct 5% of municipal tree care-related activities in urban forests. A literature review related to urban forestry volunteers in the United States was conducted and it was concluded that urban forestry volunteers are often organized via a committee or non-governmental organization (NGO) and that there is limited understanding around many of these entities. Following Dillman’s methods, an electronic qualitative survey with a primary objective of better understanding their characteristics was disseminated to urban forestry NGOs throughout the temperate forest region of the United States. Private citizens are significant partners that are essential in forming and funding urban forestry NGOs. More than 40% of organizations were established to extend limited municipal resources and improve urban tree canopy cover. Nearly 80% of responding NGOs had helped develop, shape, or implement local urban forestry-related policy in their community.

Yes

Thesis (MPhil (Sociology and Social Anthropology))--Stellenbosch University, 2008. / The NGO sector is continuing to diversify, experiencing increasing competition from the for-profit market and pressure from the state looking for support through service delivery. There are growing internal and external calls for the development of appropriate evaluation methods within NGOs, intended to provide a much needed transparency, and to monitor and evaluate the sector’s accountability, legitimacy, and credibility – the very politics of its image and identity. As a result many NGOs are adapting their strategic behaviour to increase their efficacy to meet these new challenges. Professionalization or corporatization is said to be transforming NGOs into new regimes of efficiency, leading to their absorption of increasingly commercial practices. How professional NGOs go about their business has become as important as what they do. Using an ethnographic approach and participant observation, this study reveals the many constraints and opportunities one such NGO faced as it employed strategies to professionalize, and the various forms of organising it exhibited in its political, economic and social context. I explore the social interface between the organisation and its environment, and again between the staff members and the organisation itself. The study explores the connectedness between the broader context and the local experience, which in turn informs the NGO’s shifting strategies. An ‘embedded’ understanding provides insight into the evolution of social processes behind the production of everyday life within the professional NGO, exploring how it arrives at a certain coherence in the face of multiple realities at the local level. Development literature is used as a point of departure before applying anthropological theory as a lens through which to interpret the research questions. I place the NGO in a historical context and depict the political nature of the state-NGO relationship within a contract culture and competitive market. Discourses around surviving the embedded contradictions within accountability and legitimacy are explored. I reveal the pains of institutional and cultural evolution within the organisation under the push to professionalize as staff search for meaning and agency in everyday practice. And finally, I describe how the professional NGO negotiates an identity through both the external and internal politics of representation. There is no simple trajectory for professional NGOs. I find instead a competitive fight for survival and increasing dependence on political and economic savvy. The professional NGO has to constantly re-define and re-affirm its mission, while staff members weather the effects of this ongoing change and are forced to continually reconcile the very meaning of their work and identity to make sense of this experience. As an organisational study this contributes to an understanding of one professional NGO’s survival strategies in context, its organisational culture as an activity, and individual sense-making and identity formulation in the local setting. This study hopes to reveal what is gained and lost through employing the strategy to professionalize, and add to a growing body of research narrating the evolution within the NGO sector, informing questions currently being asked by state, business, and civil society groups.

In South Africa, HIV/AIDS takes the lead, and this is a serious health concern. Being a country that is mostly affected by this epidemic, various stakeholders such as international organizations, Non-governmental organizations, private organizations and government organizations have come up with a collaborative effort to manage the epidemic. Through various interventions, it has been noted that monitoring and evaluation of HIV/AIDS remains underdeveloped. The purpose of this study was to investigate the monitoring and evaluation process implemented on HIV/AIDS programmes by the Non- Governmental Organizations (NGOs) in a specific municipality in KwaZulu-Natal province. A quantitative, explorative and descriptive design was used. A self-developed questionnaire was used as data collection instrument. Data was collected from November 2017 to March 2018. Seventeen (17) NGOs and a total of 83 respondents who met the inclusion criteria participated to the study. The results revealed that the NGOs in this specific municipality had some inconsistency in implementing and delivering M&E process on the HIV/AIDS programme. The results of the study indicated that the challenges and issues identified by the respondents affected the way they monitored and evaluated the projects they implemented. It was recommended that through training of staff to acquire skills for designing monitoring and evaluation plan for all projects and development of comprehensive M&E plan document that detailed the programme’s objectives, developed the interventions to achieve these objectives, the NGOs in this specific municipality will be able to improve their current monitoring and evaluation process implementing on HIV/AIDS management programme. The need for communication between programme planners and various funders on how to put in place a structured M&E plan for all the projects to be implemented in future and adequate resources to implement M&E processes and functions were highly recommended. / Health Studies / M. P. H.

This thesis focuses on developing a comprehensive framework for understanding the challenges NGOs face with in-kind donations in disaster relief. The overwhelming problem of inappropriate material donations, often referred to as the second disaster, has plagued disaster relief operations for decades now in both domestic and international disaster response. Despite efforts to promote ``cash only'' giving in disaster relief, unsolicited and mostly inappropriate in-kind giving continues to challenge NGOs in every major disaster. Researchers have identified this as one of the most pressing yet understudied challenges in disaster relief to date. This thesis is divided into three parts. In the first part, we conduct a multidisciplinary literature review from philanthropy, economics, public policy, corporate philanthropy and corporate social responsibility to understand why donors donate in-kind and why NGOs accept those donations. We describe the roles of the various players involved and explain the structure of the distribution channels in-kind donations follow both in disaster and non-disaster contexts. We then explain the challenges NGOs and their donors face with in-kind donations in the context of these channels. We identify systemic issues in the distribution channels and highlight current policies and practices that contribute to the second disaster. In the second part of this thesis, we propose a comprehensive framework to help donors, NGOs and policy makers comprehend the scope of the problem and identify strategies to address the challenge of unsolicited donations in disaster relief. Our framework provides a succinct representation of the main issues and players involved in the process in a format that is simple to work with and easy to understand. It supports comprehension of the many related issues and can help NGOs and policy making bodies (e.g., FEMA, NVOAD, USAID) assess current strategies and devise new approaches and solution strategies. In the third part of the thesis, we exploit our framework to propose a tiered strategy consisting of a set of solutions ranging from decision tools to help NGOs better screen in-kind donation offers to entire new channels for more productive in-kind giving in disaster relief. Each of these solutions may deter only a small fraction of the inappropriate flows, but together they can dramatically diminish the problem. Our proposed NGO decision tools both allow quick screening of donation offers in disaster relief and provide a framework for strategic management of corporate in-kind donations in the long term. We also propose a ``retail donation model" which can transform a portion of the current stream of unwanted and unusable in-kind donations from individuals and community groups into a valuable source of needed relief supplies through an entirely new donation channel. We document a successful implementation of an on-line retail donation model in the 2012 Sandy response.

Submitted in fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of Masters in Public Management, Durban University of Technology, Durban, South Africa, 2016. / South Africa is facing a universe challenge in managing HIV/AIDS epidemic as it is the worst affected country in the world with the largest number of people affected and infected with HIV/AIDS. While significant numbers of stakeholders have come on board to help the South African government fight the disease, the setting up of effective and efficient Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) systems has been a challenge. The study focussed on Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) systems of Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) managing HIV/AIDS in the uMngeni Local Municipality. NGOs normally operate using resources from funders who in turn requires robust accountability of their fund utilisation. Robust accountability can only be achieved by reporting with the aid of an effective and efficient M&E system. The aim of the study was to evaluate the current M&E systems of NGOs implementing HIV/AIDS programs in the uMngeni Local Municipality; investigate the reporting mechanism of NGOs implementing HIV/AIDS programmes; identify monitoring and evaluation challenges faced by NGOs implementing HIV/AIDS programmes in the uMngeni Local Municipality, KwaZulu Natal; and to make recommendations for the improvement of M&E implemented by NGOs. A questionnaire was distributed to senior managers at NGO’s in the uMngeni Local Municipality, KwaZulu Natal, South Africa. The data collected were analysed with SPSS version 22.0.The results were presented in the form of graphs and cross tabulations, with other figures being used for data collected from open ended questions. The study revealed that NGOs managing HIV/AIDS in the uMngeni Local Municipality face a number of challenges including a lack of statistical skills; a shortage of qualified staff; a lack of M&E knowledge; a dearth of M&E systems within organisations; inadequate resources; a lack of commitment by staff members; poor stakeholder involvement; poor quality data; and a lack of appropriate M&E tools. The results of the study also revealed that NGOs managing HIV/AIDS programmes in the uMngeni Local Municipality were not referring to best practices when managing M&E systems for their programmes. Recommendations were drafted using the findings of the research, literature reviewed and best practices for monitoring and evaluating HIV/AIDS programmes. It is highly recommended that through more effective capacity building, NGOs managing HIV/AIDS programmes in the uMngeni Local Municipality will be able to improve existing M&E systems. Designing of the M&E plan along with stakeholder involvement is also crucial in managing HIV/AIDS M&E systems. The allocation of adequate resources for M&E activities should be prioritised for approximately ten percent of the total programme budget. Indicators should be carefully selected and aligned to collect relevant data. NGOs managing HIV/AIDS in the uMngeni Local Municipality could also monitor and evaluate programme activities on a regular basis. They should also have a standard of operation procedure (SOP) for data quality management. Emphasis on programme data quality could also be an action point for effective management of HIV/AIDS M&E system and this can be further strengthened by conducting data quality audits. Finally, NGOs managing HIV/AIDS programmes in the uMngeni Local Municipality should disseminate M&E findings to stakeholders and use data to make informed programme decisions. / M

Thesis (DPhil)--Stellenbosch University, 2015. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Urban agriculture (UA) has always been practised in African urban centres. Only since the turn of the twentieth century, however, have development researchers turned their attention to its potential as a sustainable source of food security. Notwithstanding the initial optimism in this regard, many have questioned whether UA is viable and whether it does deliver the benefits that many espouse. This is because most of the benefits are evaluated in terms of their economic viability or amount of produce grown to sustain a family, and often ignore what benefits may be found beyond this. What this dissertation argues is that there are a range of physical and social benefits that accrue from UA that cannot necessarily be measured. Research on the ground suggests that the benefits of UA are more complex than supposed, as confirmed by a number of qualitative case studies on UA in Africa. Much attention is given to the food security and income dimensions of UA. There are, however, also ecological, empowerment and gender dimensions. Throughout Africa, UA is used primarily for food and economic security, through eating produce and trading it on the informal market. The economic benefits of UA, however, are least available to the poor and to women, due primarily to resource limitations, tenure insecurity and patriarchal cultures. While such findings suggest that the benefits of UA bypass those who need them most, it is found that these limitations may be overcome with support from non-governmental organisations (NGOs). NGOs play a key role in promoting sustainable livelihoods. This is achieved through injections of resources and investing in human and social capital. In Cape Town, UA has been supported by NGOs for many years. More recently, local government has supported this effort with a UA policy that legitimises public support through resource donations and the provision of land. The question this dissertation sought to investigate was to what extent UA is contributing to the livelihoods of those living in Cape Town‟s largest low-income area, the Cape Flats. As many of the UA projects in Cape Town are run by NGOs, the focus was on a selection of these projects. In-depth interviews and focus group discussions were held with NGOs and cultivators throughout the Cape Flats. Four different types of cultivation feature, namely home cultivators, cultivation groups, institutional cultivators and garden centres. Home cultivators operate on a small scale on the property around their dwelling, while cultivation groups and institutional cultivators use larger tracts of land. Cultivation groups operate independently, usually on council land, while institutional cultivators cultivate on behalf of the institution whose land they use. All cultivators are supported by the NGO‟s garden centres, the administrative hub of their UA programme. The findings show that some benefits of UA relate largely to the type of UA being practised. For home cultivators, UA strengthens relationships and expands networks. Institutional plots teach children to care for the environment. The economic and food security benefits of UA are evident in formal groups, and NGO-led local garden centres play a supportive role for all cultivators. Other benefits are felt by all cultivators. For example, cultivators from all types stated that UA had taught them to eat healthily and to care for the environment, and all cultivators felt an increased sense of self-worth. Furthermore, all cultivators gave produce away to those around them. A prerequisite for these benefits, however, is successful cultivation, which is only possible with the training and support offered by the NGOs. The findings suggest that NGOs are vital both for ensuring that UA has the greatest impact in low-income areas and for avoiding the limitations of UA that are evident throughout Africa. Nevertheless, the uptake and sustainability of UA in Cape Town are limited by bureaucratic hurdles to land access, limitations of donor funding and widespread attitudes of dependency in its target areas. It is therefore likely that the expansion of UA in Cape Town will remain slow until such limitations are addressed. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Stedelike landbou (SL) is nog altyd in die stedelike sentrums van Afrika beoefen. Dis egter eers sedert die begin van die twintigste eeu dat ontwikkelingsnavorsers aandag geskenk het aan SL se potensiaal as ‟n volhoubare bron van voedselsekerheid. Ondanks die aanvanklike optimisme in hierdie verband, het baie bevraagteken of SL moontlik is en of dit die voordele wat baie voorstaan, oplewer. Dit is omdat die meeste van die voordele geëvalueer is in terme van hul ekonomiese potensiaal of die opbrengs om „n familie te onderhou en ignoreer dikwels watter ander voordele daar mag wees. Wat hierdie proefskrif betoog is dat SL 'n verskeidenheid fisiese en sosiale voordele inhou, wat nie noodwendig gemeet kan word nie. Navorsing op grondvlak dui daarop dat die voordele van SL meer kompleks is as wat veronderstel word, soos bevestig deur 'n aantal kwalitatiewe gevallestudies van SL in Afrika. Baie aandag word aan die voedselsekerheid en inkomste dimensies van SL gegee. Daar is egter ook ekologiese, bemagtigings- en geslagsdimensies. Regdeur Afrika word SL hoofsaaklik vir voedselsekerheid en inkomste gebruik, deurdat die produkte geëet word en op die informele mark verhandel word. Arm mense en vroue put egter die minste ekonomiese voordele uit SL, hoofsaaklik as gevolg van hulpbronbeperkings, verblyfregonsekerheid en patriargale kulture. Terwyl sulke bevindinge daarop dui dat die voordele van SL diegene omseil wat hulle die meeste nodig het, is daar gevind dat hierdie beperkings deur ondersteuning van nieregeringsorganisasies (NRO‟s) oorkom kan word. NRO‟s speel ‟n belangrike rol in die bevordering van ‟n volhoubare lewensbestaan. Dit word bereik deur middel van skenkings van hulpbronne en belegging in menslike en sosiale kapitaal. In Kaapstad is SL vir baie jare al deur NRO‟s ondersteun. Onlangs het die plaaslike regering hierdie poging ondersteun deur ‟n SL-beleid wat openbare steun deur helpbronskenkings en die voorsiening van grond legitimeer. Die vraag wat hierdie proefskrif ondersoek het, is in watter mate SL bydra tot die lewensbestaan van diegene wat in Kaapstad se grootste laeinkomstegebied, die Kaapse Vlakte, woon. Omdat baie van die SL-projekte in Kaapstad deur NRO‟s bestuur word, was die fokus op ‟n seleksie van hierdie projekte. Diepte-onderhoude en fokusgroepgesprekke is met landbouers en NRO‟s dwarsoor die Kaapse Vlakte gehou. Vier verskillende tipes landbou kom voor, naamlik tuislandbouers, landbougroepe, institusionele landbouers en tuinsentrums. Tuislandbouers werk op ‟n klein skaal op die grond rondom om hulle woning, terwyl die landbougroepe en institusionele landbouers groter stukke grond bewerk. Landbougroepe werk onafhanklik, gewoonlik op grond wat aan die standsraad behoort, terwyl institusionele landbouers namens die instansie wat se grond hulle gebruik, verbou. Alle landbouers word deur die NRO-tuinsentrums ondersteun. Hierdie tuinsentrums dien ook as die administratiewe sentra van die NRO‟s se SL-program. Die bevindinge toon dat die voordele van SL verband hou met die tipe SL wat beoefen is. Vir die tuislandbouers versterk SL verhoudings en brei dit netwerke uit. Institusionele tuine leer kinders om vir die omgewing te sorg. Die ekonomiese en voedselsekerheidsvoordele van SL was duidelik in formele groepe, en die NRO-tuinsentrums speel ‟n ondersteunende rol vir al drie tipes. Die landbouers het ook ander voordele ervaar. Byvoorbeeld, alle soorte landbouers het genoem dat SL hulle geleer het om gesond te eet en vir die omgewing te sorg en ook dat hulle ‟n verhoogde gevoel van eiewaarde ervaar. Verder het al die landbouers van hulle oes aan mense rondom hulle weggegee. ‟n Voorvereiste vir hierdie voordele was egter suksesvolle verbouing, wat net moontlik was met die opleiding en ondersteuning wat deur die NRO‟s aangebied is. Die bevindinge dui daarop dat NRO‟s noodsaaklik is om te verseker dat SL die grootste impak in lae-inkomstegebiede kan hê, en om die beperkings van SL wat dwarsdeur Afrika duidelik is, te vermy. Nogtans word die opname en volhoubaarheid van SL in Kaapstad beperk deur burokratiese prosedures met betrekking tot toegang tot grond, beperkings van donateurs op befondsing en ‟n wydverspreide staat van afhanklikheid in die teikengebiede. Dit is dus waarskynlik dat die uitbreiding van SL in Kaapstad stadig sal bly totdat sodanige beperkings aangespreek is.

Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2000. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This study is aimed at exploring mental health services for low-income women in the West Coast I Winelands Region of South Africa. In order to understand the extent to which such services are empowering, the accessibility and theoretical underpinnings of these services are investigated. It was found that although services appear to be available, they are often not very accessible. They also often lack a specific gender focus. In certain instances, services need to increase their accessibility in order to accommodate the restrictive environments of women in this region. As such, it is believed that services require greater integration in their approach to intervention concerning both gender and the origins of mental health problems. Results of this study also highlight areas on which future research could focus. These areas include language of service provision, how organizations understand available theories surrounding service provision, and the service needs of women in this region themselves. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie studie is gemik op die ondersoek van geestesgesondheidsdienste vir vroue van lae-inkomste groepe in die Weskus I wynverbouingstreek van Suid Afrika. Die toeganklikheid en teoretiese onderstuttngs van hierdie dienste word ondersoek in In poging om die graad waarin delke dienste bemagtigend is, te verstaan. Bevindinge toon dat dienste, albeit beskikbaar voorkom, dikwels nie baie toeganklik is nie. Dienste toon ook meestal 'n gebrekkige fokus ten opsigte van 'n spesifieke geslag. In sekere gevalle behoort die toeganklikheid van dienste verbeter te word in 'n poging om die beperkende omstandighede van vroue in hierdie streek tegemoet te kom. As sulks benodig dienste 'n hoër mate van integrasie in hul benadering tot intervensie, beide wat geslag en die oorsprong van geestesgesondheidsprobleme betref. Bevindinge lig ook areas uit waarop toekomstige navorsing kan fokus. Hierdie areas sluit die volgende in: die taal van diensvoorsiening, hoe organisasies beskikbare teorieë ten opsigte van diensvoorsiening verstaan, en die behoefts van die vroue in hierdie streek self ten opsigte van dienste.

published_or_final_version / Public Administration / Master / Master of Public Administration

This dissertation examines the role of nongovernmental public action (NGPA) in the controversial field of adolescent fertility in Buenos Aires (Argentina), Santiago (Chile) and Montevideo (Uruguay). Embracing a comparative perspective the study investigates the modes in which national policy and institutional environments shape the role of civil society organizations and their margins of autonomy vis a vis other powerful actors such as the State and the Catholic church. Forty one organizations whose mission includes the prevention of teenage pregnancy or the support of teenage parents were studied using a multi-method approach to explore cross national similarities and differences. An exhaustive account of national and subnational policies and programs in this field demonstrates the existence of isomorphic trends in the treatment and framing of adolescent reproductive behavior as a critical issue of public policy in each country. Similarly in all three countries women’s rights organizations play a critical role in the legal recognition and enforcement of adolescents’ sexual and reproductive rights while pro-poor organizations are fundamental actors in addressing the specific needs of teenage mothers and their children. However, important cross national differences were found regarding the modes in which NGPA engages with governmental agencies. As distinctive national marks, the study reveals a strong presence of NGOs in the role of rights watchdogs and monitors in Argentina, a strong alliance between central government structures and technical NGOs to confront resistances to reforms in Chile, and the utilization of NGOs as service providers in detriment of their participation in phases of policy design in Uruguay. Although the language of rights has colonized most of the surveyed organizations, adult-centric practices and discourses are still defining the interaction with adolescents. Adolescent’s demands are rarely voiced and only a few organizations favor their engagement in contentious politics and community activism. Nongovernmental autonomy is severely curtailed as a result of the influence of religion, and the lack of state modernization or financial opportunities, in the three countries. On theoretical grounds, the study highlights the importance of public policy as the arena where the potential of civil society can be maximized. / text