International Development NGOs: Policy Conflict and Convergence

Abstract

This chapter is concerned with UK-based voluntary organisations involved with the provision of international development assistance to poor countries – sometimes called non-governmental international aid agencies — and explores the ways in which they both shape and are shaped by development policy. It will use the term ‘development NGOs’ to refer to organisations which are neither governmental nor commercial businesses and which are linked with the international development community of organisations and institutions — the ‘aid industry’. Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) are viewed as part of a ‘third sector’ which, despite its blurred boundaries, can be seen to have local, national and international dimensions. The chapter also makes a distinction between ‘Northern NGOs’ (NNGOs) which have their roots in the industrialised countries but which undertake development or emergency relief work in aid-recipient countries, and ‘Southern NGOs’ (SNGOs) which are non-governmental organisations which have emerged locally in the countries where NNGOs are active.