Since the mid 1970s there has been an increasing effort to adopt community participation as a necessary instrument for people driven development. NGOs and governments have come to use this participatory approach not only to empower local people, but also to give them a platform to plan and implement their own development projects. However in Zimbabwe, the government has failed to fund most projects and it has created a gap for NGOs to provide most, if not all services in rural communities. NGOs have been seen as better institutions to facilitate development projects and to engage local people to actively participate in development issues. Community participation is a central component in development projects as the projects respond to the people’s needs and that local people are in full control and ownership of these projects. This study is an assessment of community participation in NGO development projects in Zimbabwe. The study investigates the extent of community participation in development projects and it is guided by the Participatory Development (PD) theory. Research findings reveal that community participation is minimal in development projects of Bulilima and Mangwe districts in Zimbabwe. Local people are just passive participants of the development projects who are told what to do. The local people’s contributions and influences are sidelined in the planning and decision-making processes; instead these are made by the rural elite who plan and make decisions on behalf of the local people. It is the view of this study that the purpose of community participation is to create opportunities for local people to participate in planning, decision making, implementation, allocation and distribution of resources. The development projects should be responsive to the people’s needs. Similarly, participatory development just like community participation is a process whereby communities are given the opportunity to determine their future in terms of their needs and resources. In this regard, it is relevant that rural communities actively participate in planning, decision making, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of development projects. By so doing, the projects become not only successful but also sustainable.

Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements of the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy: Management Sciences (Peace Studies), Duban University of Technology, 2017. / Local peacebuilding practices require a systematic and reflective analysis in order for them to bring an impact. Successful peacebuilding pivots on the development of a set of skills to attend to the challenges presented by the conflict. The study was inspired by an observation that the emergence of CSOs working on peacebuilding in Zimbabwe was happening in a context where there was no proper training and organisational capacity development. Using an action-research design, and a case study of two CSOs operating in Bindura and Mazowe Districts in Mashonaland Central Province in Zimbabwe, the study involved a sample group of fifty-seven participants, and included a core Action Research Team (ART) of twelve participants to initiate the process of capacity development related to peacebuilding in Zimbabwe. Interviews, Focus Group Discussions, Document studies were used in a triangulation approach to enhance validity and reliability of the process. The preliminary assessment revealed that the peacebuilding environment in the two districts is highly polarised. There is a combination of both direct and indirect violence in the area. The state as well as traditional institutions are active perpetrators of both direct and indirect violence in the two district. The use of Local Peace Committees and the workshop method has not reaped the desired outcomes owing to the polarization. After a preliminary assessment of the peacebuilding environment in the area as well as a critique of the peacebuilding models being used by the two organisations, we then set out on a process of identifying strengths and weaknesses in both the programming as well as the delivery of the projects in the communities. A series of focus group discussions and organisational document analysis of the two organisations, we eventually agreed on the development of a training module for the Action Research Team. Five thematic issues were identified as forming the basis of the intervention programme. The five thematic issues were on the conceptual issues of conflict, violence and peace in a local context, conflict analysis skills, conflict sensitive programming, culture, conflict and change and lastly basic counselling skills for peacebuilders. A three-day training workshop was then held in order to develop capacity relating to the thematic issues. The short term evaluation of the intervention showed that the training was successful as the participants had already started implementing some of the new knowledge and skills. / D

Non-governmental Organizations (NGOs) have occupied a prominent role in the development of rural Zimbabwe since the time of its independence in 1980. NGO work in Zimbabwe currently takes place within the context of a tense and fluid political climate, an economy struggling to recover from crisis, international skepticism toward long-term donor investment in development, and global expectations about the methodologies and accountability measures carried out in intervention-based development work. In the light of the participatory methodologies and empowerment-based development frameworks that dominate the current global expectations for work within the NGO sector, this thesis focuses on the work of one particular NGO working in Zimbabwe, namely, World Vision. The main objective of the thesis is to understand and explain the participatory methods, accountability and effectiveness of World Vision in Zimbabwe (with particular reference to Umzingwane District) and, in doing so, to deepen the theoretical understanding of NGOs as constituting a particular organizational form. World Vision is a large-scale international NGO that has a pronounced presence in Zimbabwe and it is specifically active in Umzingwane District in Matabeleland South Province. The thesis argues that NGOs exist within a complex and tense condition entailing continuous responses to pressures from donors and states that structure their survival. Ultimately, in maneuvering through such pressures, NGOs tend to choose directions which best enable their own sustainability, often at the cost of the deep participatory forms that may heighten the legitimacy of their roles. World Vision Zimbabwe responds to donor trends, national and local expectations of the state and its own organizational expectations by building local government capacity in order to maintain the longevity and measureable outputs of its projects. In doing so, it redefines the concept of participation in pursuing efficient and practical approaches to ‘getting things done’. This compromises deep participatory methodologies and, in essence, alters the practices involved in participatory forms in order to maintain World Vision’s own organizational sustainability and presence in Zimbabwe.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of philanthropic interventions in public high schools in Mutasa district of Zimbabwe. Three research questions guided the study. The investigation focused on finding out the types of philanthropic interventions in the public high school and to evaluate their impact on the schools and students involved from an educational management perspective. The investigation was a mixed methods research using both quantitative and qualitative methods. Data was collected by questionnaire, interview and documentary sources. Principals of twenty nine high schools responded to a questionnaire. Interview data was gathered from two representatives of non-governmental organisations. One NGO also provided documents for more data. Two individual philanthropists from the district were also interviewed. The results of the study indicate that philanthropic interventions have made significant improvements to the physical infrastructure of some schools. During the 2014 study there were about 700 students from poor backgrounds on various school fees assistance programmes. School enrolment and completion rates have increased. School drop-outs have decreased. Over 6 500 former beneficiaries of fees from one donor organisation have formed an alumni association to assist other children in disadvantaged circumstances. It is strongly recommended that schools in the district and elsewhere use online social network platforms to organise alumni associations from a wider catchment area beyond national borders. Alumni associations are a potentially rich source of philanthropic revenue hardly tapped in the district. Schools should create their own websites to be exposed to a global audience of donors for possible funding of their projects. / Educational Leadership and Management / D. Ed. (Education Management)

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of philanthropic interventions in public high schools in Mutasa district of Zimbabwe. Three research questions guided the study. The investigation focused on finding out the types of philanthropic interventions in the public high school and to evaluate their impact on the schools and students involved from an educational management perspective. The investigation was a mixed methods research using both quantitative and qualitative methods. Data was collected by questionnaire, interview and documentary sources. Principals of twenty nine high schools responded to a questionnaire. Interview data was gathered from two representatives of non-governmental organisations. One NGO also provided documents for more data. Two individual philanthropists from the district were also interviewed. The results of the study indicate that philanthropic interventions have made significant improvements to the physical infrastructure of some schools. During the 2014 study there were about 700 students from poor backgrounds on various school fees assistance programmes. School enrolment and completion rates have increased. School drop-outs have decreased. Over 6 500 former beneficiaries of fees from one donor organisation have formed an alumni association to assist other children in disadvantaged circumstances. It is strongly recommended that schools in the district and elsewhere use online social network platforms to organise alumni associations from a wider catchment area beyond national borders. Alumni associations are a potentially rich source of philanthropic revenue hardly tapped in the district. Schools should create their own websites to be exposed to a global audience of donors for possible funding of their projects. / Educational Leadership and Management / D. Ed. (Education Management)