Clues in the Labyrinth

In civil society development, several strategies have been tried to support the growth of sustainable local NGOs. In this series of posts I would like to address pros and cons of several hand-over models that you can find in development cooperation and in NGO peacebuilding.

I draw from my own experience in the Balkans, so my examples and criticism may turn out very differently in other regions of the world. If you have any examples, or counterexamples, you’re highly invited to post an answer.

Strategies

Several attempts to support emerging civil society organizations are:

• The local copy, in which the local staff of an international NGO decided to continue to set up a new organization along the lines of the old one after the the international organization has left.
• A long-term twinning between an international NGO and a local NGO by cooperating on the basis of shared ideas but without sharing personnel.
• The partner organization with a long-term international consultant that works within the context of an already existing organization.
• An independent international consultant networking between local organizations and linking them on the basis of common interests.

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