Int'l Donors and Local Partners Need Fundamental Change

Nepal’s development is vastly dependent on International organizations/donors and their local partner, which consists of mostly NGOs, and few private organizations. The ability of international agencies and donors to effectively and creatively use their fund to produce useful and tangible results depends mostly upon the performance of their local partners because donors themselves do not implement programmes directly, at least not in principle.

International agencies and donors have been rightly promoting/advocating self-sustainability of their local partners for continuance of the programs they initiate. But such effort has only been true only on conversational and document level. None of the organizations has ever achieved self-sustainability even to a point where they can genuinely survive a day without donors’ complete support, including the cups of tea that NGO staff drinks.

There may be various reasons. But one of the key reasons obviously is the way that the donors or internal agencies consciously or unconscious view or treat their local partners. Usually, donors or international agencies who gets awarded to manage fund treat and refer their local partners as “Recipient”, not only in the document such as agreements but also in attitude, spirit and behavior. This has affected the partner organizations so much that they have learned and practically conditioned themselves merely to act as “recipient” of grants and funds, not as professional service providers. This has a very adverse connotation internally within the NGO as an organization and has affected their psyche. Its manifestation on the practical level is that the NGOs have practically limited themselves in merely doing what donors just told them to do without using their own potential and wisdom, to secure their future funding. Most NGOs I have visited as consultant confided that it is far easier just to follow exactly what donors say than to try to give them so professional advice, and risk loosing business. But if you are wondering who is the looser in this case, I would say both. Because Donors are not getting their fund’s worth, and NGOs are increasingly becoming independent on donors apart from loosing their self esteem and finally creating a situation for themselves whereby they may have t close their organization just on the day that their donor stop funding. .

What to do?

It would be beneficial for all- the funding country, the fund managing organizations, the beneficiary for whom these “ grants “ are made available, to change their practice, behavior and attitude towards one another and treat themselves more respectfully and professionally. The donor agencies as well as local partners will mutually benefit more if they adopt a business and marketing approach, whereby local NGO partners consider their relationship with donor as “ professional service provider” and donor consider themselves as “ client” and not as a recipient and donors exploiting each other’s weakness. This change in orientation will create far greater value for all, without compromising self-respect of any one partner against another.

For this little change in contractual arrangements may have to be done to ensure that the local partners improve their managerial, organizational, and marketing as well as some business financial capacity so they do not die the day after contracts ends. After all, this does not need any additional fund. All we need to ensure them are honesty, and commitment to change our mindset and the approach To check whether you as a fund managing agency or the local partner (NGOs), are in the right track or not, ask these questions

- Have you ever organized any kind of assessment or research or interaction or retreat to understand if your partners are facing genuine problems during the course of carrying out their contracts? They may be afraid to share their feelings due to fear of loosing their business? - Similarly, have you, as a service provider) local partner NGOs), ever tried to understand what your client (donor) really wants? Usually, there is lack of great lack of understanding. - Have both of you been honest and transparent enough to share each others feeling? Most of the time we are managing each other, trying to please rather than dealing with reality