Beneficiaries’ participation in development organizations through local partners: A case study in Southern Africa

Abstract

AbstractIn a case study of one European non‐governmental organization (NGO) (data obtained from 10 staff members in Europe and Southern Africa, and 19 representatives of local partner organizations) we investigate whether the involvement of the partners in local and ‘northern’ policy‐making affects their perception of the governance quality of their organizations and that of the European donor organization, as well as the perception of the NGO's staff members.The answer is positive as to the local organizations, but local partners (as representatives of the eventual beneficiaries) are hardly involved in decision‐making at donor level.Finally, the presence of specific participation mechanisms seems to be more affected by beneficiary country factors than by activity‐related influences.