Abstract
Partnership is an emergent and dynamic process and working in collaboration with others is never easy especially when it involves organizations with diverse and sometimes conflicting mandates, cultures, capabilities and aspirations. However, local NGOs in developing countries experience difficulties in effectively achieving their mandates without collaborating with others. Effective management of partnerships is important because a failed partnership process can be disastrous and ruin an organization’s viability and legitimacy. The purpose of this paper is to highlight obstacles that hinder effective management of partnerships between Local NGOs (LNGOs) and International NGOs (INGOs). The study results indicate that NGO partnerships added value to development efforts at community level however this good work may be affected if obstacles that hinder effective management of partnerships are not consistently addressed during the partnership lifecycle. The following obstacles were highlighted; minimal involvement in decision making, inadequate technical and organizational capacity, inadequate resources to support partnership objectives, minimal participation in project design, inadequate communication and low levels of commitment. In conclusion the study findings suggest that NGO partnerships still operate at a transactional level. It would be ideal if those who initiate, engage and manage these partnerships progressively shift to more transformational forms of engagement in-spite of the funding aspect.
Highlights
Despite progress on the Millennium development goals (MDGs), poverty and inequality remain the central challenges in development
The study revealed that partnerships between Local NGOs (LNGOs) and International NGOs (INGOs) are beneficial
Many NGO partnerships currently face challenges in identifying and managing expectations, opportunities and risks that emerge as a result of the engagement
Summary
Despite progress on the Millennium development goals (MDGs), poverty and inequality remain the central challenges in development. Both INGOs and LNGOs play a crucial role in promoting sustainable development at local, national and international level. Partnership is increasingly interwoven into the fabric of development work. Attention is paid to the potential of partnerships to enhance development outputs and outcomes [1]. Partnerships are identified as an effective and sustainable mechanism to addressing complex health and social problems facing diverse communities. NGO to NGO partnerships are becoming more common in the development sector
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