Rise of Philippine NGOs in Managing Development Assistance
By Consuelo Katrina A. Lopa | August 2003 | View Full Text | Email Link

Abstract

In recent years, official development assistance (ODA) agencies have been increasingly exploring avenues for supporting community development initiatives more directly. 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. Little analysis has been conducted, however, of what has been working, including the how and why, and few attempts have been made to share examples more widely. This paper seeks to address this gap by looking at the case of the Philippines in detail and follows on the general overview of ODA-NGO collaboration presented by David Winder in his paper Options for Financial Sustainability: Collaboration Between Civil Society and Development Agencies in Southeast Asia.

Various stakeholders in the Philippine development community have warmly received the practice of NGO management of ODA. NGO management of ODA funds transfers traditional decision-making powers over allocation and use of funds, from donor representatives and host government agencies to collegial bodies comprised of or influenced by NGO representatives. This paper explores this rise of Philippine NGOs in managing ODA, looking at the different forms of NGO-managed mechanisms and challenges and opportunities for NGOs and ODA agencies moving forward.

In view of the ODA options and opportunities discussed in this paper, the following general recommendations made by CODE-NGO to the donor community need to be seriously considered: 1) Pursuit of a continuing dialogue between NGOs and donors 2) Prioritization by donors for NGO capacity building and building of social capital that can come in the form of support for NGO initiatives on transparency and accountability 3) Support research, documentation, and monitoring activities pertaining to key NGO concerns, such as subcontracting relationships with governments.

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 | Regulatory & Policy Environment | The Philippines | Southeast Asia