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NGOs and Socioeconomic Development

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International Encyclopedia of Civil Society

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Introduction

Nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) are acknowledged to be critical to socioeconomic development in developing countries where government capacity and revenues are often very limited. The last decade has been marked by a rapid growth of NGOs and an increased involvement of these organizations in the process of development (Werker and Ahmed, 2008; Anheier and Salamon, 2006). Not only have they become an important policy lobby, leading campaigns on development issues – such as debt relief, universal provision of primary education and HIV/AIDS awareness – but they have also increased their contribution to pro-poor service delivery.

Aid to NGOs has increased dramatically according to commentators and observers. Estimates of aid routed via NGOs are hard to come by, but Riddell et al. (1995) ventured a ballpark figure. According to their calculations total development funds channeled via NGOs has increased from $0.9 billion in 1970 to $6.3 billion in 1993 (in 1970 dollars)....

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Economics, Stellenbosch University, Apt. 16, The Lace Mill, Wollaton Rd., Stellenbosch, South Africa

    Ronelle Burger

  2. University of Nottingham, School of Economics, Sir Clive Granger Building, Nottingham, UK

    Trudy Owens

Authors
  1. Ronelle Burger
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  2. Trudy Owens
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany

    Helmut K. Anheier

  2. Hertie School of Governance, Berlin, Germany

    Helmut K. Anheier

  3. George Mason University, Arlington, VA, USA

    Stefan Toepler

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Burger, R., Owens, T. (2010). NGOs and Socioeconomic Development. In: Anheier, H.K., Toepler, S. (eds) International Encyclopedia of Civil Society. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-93996-4_565

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-93996-4_565

  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-0-387-93994-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-0-387-93996-4

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