NGOs and the State: A casestudy from Uganda

Abstract

The hypothesis was that research findings would support a critical analysis of the view that NGOs are increasingly compensating for inadequate government provision in such sectors as social welfare, education, or health, traditionally seen as the responsibility of governments. This view appeared to neglect the involvement of NGOs in the African health sector, particularly missions, for over a century: nongovernmental support to such services is not a new phenomenon. The paradigm also implies a functioning public sector with minor gaps which can be filled by NGOs, a situation far removed from reality in most African countries; and posits a government-like role for NGOs which NGOs may be reluctant, and indeed unable, to accept. In Uganda, the motivations and actions of donors and government do, however, follow an approach to some extent consistent with such a paradigm. As in many African countries, the Ugandan health sector is largely dependent on external support, of which Northern NGOs contribute an integral, albeit modest, portion. Donors increasingly ‘contract out’ work to NGOs. Governments, working with constrained budgets, may view NGOs as a useful resource. In Uganda, policy-makers NGOs and the State: a case-study from Uganda