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Periodical article | Leiden University catalogue | WorldCat |
Title: | The Role of NGOs in Fostering Development and Good Governance at the Local Level in Africa with a Focus on Kenya |
Author: | Oyugi, Walter O. |
Year: | 2004 |
Periodical: | Africa Development: A Quarterly Journal of CODESRIA (ISSN 0850-3907) |
Volume: | 29 |
Issue: | 4 |
Pages: | 19-55 |
Language: | English |
Notes: | biblio. refs. |
Geographic terms: | Kenya East Africa |
Subjects: | NGO development basic needs Development and Technology politics Non-governmental organizations Political leadership Political development economic development |
External link: | https://www.jstor.org/stable/24484550 |
Abstract: | NGO's have since the colonial period played a major role in socioeconomic development in Africa. This role has increased in the postindependence period, especially from the 1980s, following the demonstrated failure of the State all over the continent, as a credible provider of basic needs services to the poor both in the rural and urban slums. As a result, instead of channelling development assistance through the State, some donor agencies have during the last two decades or so, opted to do so through non-State actors - especially NGOs. The Kenyan experience demonstrates that the NGO sector has since the 1980s emerged as a major player in the design and implementation of projects as well as the actual provision of basic needs services to the disadvantaged groups both in rural and urban areas. Although NGOs are individually engaged in diverse activities, the Kenyan data suggests that the concentration of their activities is in the social sector (education, health, general welfare). The operational strategies employed to reach the intended beneficiaries vary between direct and indirect interventions depending on the service to be delivered and the institutional configuration on the ground. Where NGOs have opted for direct linkage with service recipients, their activities have tended to elicit negative response from the State as the latter usually prefers to act as intermediary between non-State actors and the service recipients. The impact of NGOs has varied both in terms of quality and quantity of service provided. The Kenyan case study demonstrates that the sector has emerged as a major player in the provision of basic needs services. Ann., bibliogr., sum. in English and French. [Journal abstract] |