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)

The Sustainable Development Goals SDGs were adopted in 2015. The contribution of FBOs in their achievement is however, not properly recognised owing partly to the historical perception of FBOs as peripheral rather than core development actors. Using the case study of one FBO in Kenya, this study examined the relevance of FBOs’ development work to the SDGs. Using Key Informant Interviews (KIIs) and a literature review for data collection, the study found that: FBOs possess a dual identity (faith and development). The faith identity gives them some comparative advantages over secular counterparts in engaging local faith communities; there was a direct link between the FBOs’ work and the SDGs. The case study organisation directly contributed to six of the 17 SDGs; the FBOs’ knowledge on SDGs and their engagement with SDG forums were found to be limited. The study recommends a renewed attention to FBOs work and more studies to increase evidence on the FBOs’ role and impact on SDGs. / Development Studies / M.A. (Development Studies)