Options for Financial Sustainability: Collaboration Between Civil Society and Development Agencies in Southeast Asia
By David Winder | August 2003 | View Full Text | Email Link

Abstract

In their recent efforts to increase the impact of bilateral aid on poverty, inequality, and injustice, official development assistance (ODA) agencies have sought ways to directly support community level initiatives. This search for more effective ways of delivering financial and technical assistance has been driven by increasing dissatisfaction with the failure of many governments to provide adequate opportunities for the poor. In some cases it has also been initiated in response to pressures from constituencies in the home countries, particularly from non-governmental organizations (NGOs). The result has been the creation of a diversity of new funding channels, many of them involving NGOs, both in the host and donor countries.

The approaches range from ad hoc small grants programs directly managed by ODA agency staff in country to carefully crafted strategies that seek to build strong civil society-managed funding institutions that are sustainable and act as a buttress against arbitrary and authoritarian governments. As awareness of the complexities of delivering resources directly to communities has increased, ODA agencies have come to appreciate the role that local independent intermediary organizations in civil society can play. In their most advanced form, such organizations have been given endowments through debt swaps and other mechanisms and have become institutions with capacity to have a lasting impact in a given field. Specifically, these are local organizations that can successfully bridge between communities and resources (financial, intellectual, human, and other) and are thus distinct from any NGO. As a bridging organization, they mobilize and facilitate the transfer of financial resources to NGOs and other more informal associations while also convening stakeholders around critical issues and building the capacity of civil society.

This study addresses the lack of analysis by examining a range of different ways ODA agencies and civil society have collaborated in Southeast Asia and specifically in Thailand, Indonesia, and the Philippines. ODA agencies have been active in this region for more than a decade. In the wake of the Asian economic crisis, several increased their commitments to these countries, established unique partnerships with emerging organizations, and some even seeded the start of new organizations. For its analysis, Synergos selected six ODA programs and assessed the degree of decision-making autonomy on funding matters delegated to the NGO or NGO community by the ODA agency as well as the sustainability of the funding mechanisms developed between the ODA agency and NGO(s) involved

Out of this analysis, three broad categories -- or options -- emerged for how ODA agencies and civil society can collaborate. In addition to laying out each option, the challenges and advantages of each are explored. Suggestions are made to ODA agencies and civil society to inform current dialogue on further strengthening the impact of aid programs.

This paper is part of the collection Financing Development in Southeast Asia: Opportunities for Collaboration and Sustainability produced with support from the Sasakawa Peace Foundation.

View Full Text

See More In:

Philanthropic Actors & Issues | Social Justice & Community Development | Governments & Intergovernmental Agencies | Resource Mobilization | Grantmaking | Foundation & Philanthropy Case Studies | Americas | Canada | United States | East Asia & Pacific | Japan | Indonesia | The Philippines | Southeast Asia | Thailand | Europe | Switzerland