Potential problems limiting effectiveness of NGOs
The first issue is regarding the effectiveness of an NGO and their volunteers and leaders, who are typically outsiders to the community. How well and how much do the NGO involved know about their clients, and indeed, is there a need to know every aspect of a community in order for effective aid? On another note, how can we measure an NGO’s performance, and should we do so using quantitative methods in the first place? How true is the economic mandate that one does not spend others’ money as carefully as spending their own money, when it comes to aid practices? Is there an optimal size for a NGO, given that bureaucracy tends to become more apparent as a NGO grows, which often leads to deviation or inflexibility of the organizational practices and ideals?qq
On the intangible side, there are perhaps even more issues to address, that would understandably require the perspectives of various fields. Of these, one of the most common contention would be of the imposition of the NGO’s value system and judgement upon their beneficiaries/partners/clients/poor (indeed, the terms used by the NGOs to refer to those they are helping indicate a lot on the moral perspective and approach that they are taking). How do the NGO see its role as compared to how their clients see the NGO’s role? Many NGOs believe that they are helping their clients to achieve economic independence and helping them to “stand on their two feet”, but are the clients not already doing that through scavenging, for instance, in their old ways of life, even if it is not what the NGO’s ideal will mandate? Other NGOs may decide to tackle the “poverty of the mind”, referring to how the poverty situation prevents the poorer from seeing the deficiency arising from their stagnant economic situations, but in doing so, do they respect the dignity of these communities, and recognize the abilities of the members of the communities sufficiently? NGOs may advocate for a change in mindset of their clients, but how do
On the intangible side, there are perhaps even more issues to address, that would understandably require the perspectives of various fields. Of these, one of the most common contention would be of the imposition of the NGO’s value system and judgement upon their beneficiaries/partners/clients/poor (indeed, the terms used by the NGOs to refer to those they are helping indicate a lot on the moral perspective and approach that they are taking). How do the NGO see its role as compared to how their clients see the NGO’s role? Many NGOs believe that they are helping their clients to achieve economic independence and helping them to “stand on their two feet”, but are the clients not already doing that through scavenging, for instance, in their old ways of life, even if it is not what the NGO’s ideal will mandate? Other NGOs may decide to tackle the “poverty of the mind”, referring to how the poverty situation prevents the poorer from seeing the deficiency arising from their stagnant economic situations, but in doing so, do they respect the dignity of these communities, and recognize the abilities of the members of the communities sufficiently? NGOs may advocate for a change in mindset of their clients, but how do