The powers that be... : cooperation between Dutch humanitarian NGOs and local government structures
Document type: report
Download file(s):
145441 (66 KB)
Abstract:
The collaboration of humanitarian NGOs and INGOs with governments is an important aspect of aid, even though it is not often fully discussed. It could be said that the position of local governments is the crucial starting point for any relief operation. It is primarily the responsibility of governments to ease the suffering of its own citizens, so if governments were willing to do this and capable of it, there would be no need for international humanitarian aid. Hence, the very presence of international humanitarian aid agencies denotes that local governments lack the capacity or the political will to meet this responsibility.
The paper deals primarily with the relationship between INGOs and their local partner NGOs, with local governments. United Nations organizations and donor governments often play a role in the issues discussed, but this will only be referred to in passing. The paper thus presents the practices and experience of Dutch humanitarian agencies and their partners in cooperating with local governments. The paper was prepared by Disaster Studies, partly on the basis of interviews with representatives of 12 Dutch humanitarian NGOs. In some cases, due to the sensitive nature of the information provided, the names of the interviewees and organizations have not been included. The paper forms part of a series of three, the other two discuss the relationship between INGOs and their local partners, and the relationship between NGOs and their target groups. This paper formed the input for a PSO seminar on 5 February on ''Cooperation with local governments in Humanitarian Assistance''.
Authors:
Hilhorst, D.
,
Jansen, B.
Category:
Research
Keywords:
non-governmental organizations
,
government
,
communication
Language:
eng
Organization:
PSO - Capacity Building in Developing Countries
PAGE:
10
Place:
[The Hague]
Publisher:
PSO
Year:
2003
Right:
© 2003 PSO
Subject:
Development Cooperation General
Title:
The powers that be... : cooperation between Dutch humanitarian NGOs and local government structures