Key findings include: 88% of respondents believe that INGO partnerships are very important to their work; 82% believe that partnerships with international NGOs provide key resources; NGO partnerships ‘challenging’.
International organizations provide local groups with funding and resources, technical advice, advocacy and policy support, and networking. But the report authors have been told repeatedly that the way they work with local organizations can create significant barriers to the development of truly effective partnerships.
domineering
Challenges reported by local organizations include confusion about the role of international organizations, differences in expectations between the two sides, poor communication, complex and inflexible bureaucracies, and failure to share credit for success.
Nearly two-thirds (64%) of reporting sources agree that top-down approaches in international organizations are a significant barrier, with 82% saying ensuring clear roles are necessary for meaningful and effective partnerships.
Ewi Lamma, an environmental and climate justice advocate at Forest Resources and Peoples in Cameroon, told the report authors: “Every organization should try to build more partnerships, because this can elevate the organization, the individuals within the organization, , also empowers organizations to expand their scope and address more areas within their mission and vision.”
She added, however, that international NGOs should “remove the domineering atmosphere and work as partners, as teams, not as bosses and subordinates.”
implement
Jonathan Yiah of the Liberia Institute for Sustainable Development said: “As much as possible [INGOs] It should be dominated by local civil society groups who can support us in the background. ”
The short-term involvement of INGOs is often tied to specific projects, meaning that the trust, respect and understanding that could form and sustain effective partnerships over time cannot take hold. At the same time, investing in local production capacity is also key.
“You can’t empower people in six months or a year. They want you to tell them that these communities are experts now … in six months or a year. It’s impossible.”
“We know international NGOs from the West are coming here with their plans and how to implement them,” said John Kamanga of the Kenya Southern Rift Valley Landowners Association.
accountability
“But that doesn’t work here because we know how we do things. We ask donors to co-create projects, and then we implement them. We’re moving away from agency relationships where clients implement.”
The report highlights a series of steps that international NGOs and local conservation organizations can take to address the challenges.
International NGOs should: Be wary of trying to implement their own ideas, but instead be led by local organizations, valuing local knowledge and approaches; Recognize that partnerships are more than just funding, and approach their relationships more broadly and holistically, and Simplify administration and bureaucracy.
The report recommends that local organizations in Africa should: outline and articulate needs, build ownership and recognize their own strengths; build support for their overall mission, rather than seeking funding for individual Be professional.
the author
Brendan Montague is ecologist. This article is based on a press release issued on behalf of Malaliasili.
