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Donor Policies and the Financial Autonomy of Development NGOs

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Abstract

The financial autonomy of NGOs has not received much attention either from the donors' side or from NGOs themselves. Britta Sadoun argues that it is necessary to track the flows of aid money in particular when considering how NGOs from the North are often used by donors as intermediaries to reach local populations. She suggests that it is important to bring rhetoric about empowerment and partnership in line with practice that would enable a more honest development cooperation.

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Notes

  1. Statistical data on donor policies towards NGOs in development aid have not been collected systematically. Neither the Development Co-operation Directorate (DAC) of OECD has detailed information regarding the involvement of NGOs in the funding process, nor does the UN offices responsible for any kind of FfD dialogues that hold it; in this regard, it is not surprising that also in the Millennium Development goals, and there in particular under Goal 8. Develop a global partnership for development and the respective targets and indicators (targets 12–18, indicators 33–48); no relevant data with respect to NGOs roles is collected (http://millenniumindicators.un.org/unsd/mi/mi_goals.asp). For the purposes here, two sources are used. Secondary sources help to gain a broader picture over the scenery, while primary sources of agencies help to illuminate some details.

References

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  • BMZ (n.y.) ‘Federal Ministry for Economic Co-operation and Development’, ‘Guidelines for the funding of projects of importance to development implemented in developing countries by private German executing agencies’, unpublished guidelines, Bonn: BMZ [cited as BMZ n.y.: section].

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Authors
  1. Britta Sadoun
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Tracks the flows of aid money channelled through NGOs from the North

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Sadoun, B. Donor Policies and the Financial Autonomy of Development NGOs. Development 49, 45–51 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1057/palgrave.development.1100256

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/palgrave.development.1100256

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