Efforts to strengthen the capacity of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and develop civil society in general are increasingly undertaken both as ends in themselves and as a means of achieving other goals. These goals can include making poverty reduction programmes more effective and improving governance. But what does NGO capacity-building entail, and does support for NGOs necessarily mean stronger civil society and better government?

Amid increasing interest in the subject from aid agencies and researchers, there is often confusion over what exactly is meant by NGO capacity-building, and over how NGOs interact with the rest of civil society and with government. Researchers at the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) have set out to clarify this picture, reviewing recent studies of NGO capacity-building and organising (with the Overseas Development Institute) a workshop on the links between NGOs, civil society and governance.

The studies reviewed in the report examined efforts to strengthen the capacity of individual NGOs, and at NGOs' own capacity-building work with community groups. The review concludes that in both cases capacity-building should be seen not only as a means or an end, but as a process. For individual NGOs, a process approach means focusing on institutional coherence as well as effectiveness. As NGOs adapt to their 'gap filling' role in taking over tasks formerly left to the state, coherence becomes more important - since the demands of this role not only require new operational skills, but make it harder to ensure that each organisation's structure and activities continue to match its mission.

In the case of civil society, treating capacity-building as a process means focusing on improved communication and conflict resolution. Individual NGOs can play an important part in this. However, some may be distracted from the task by the demands of 'gap filling' work, while others may lack the necessary legitimacy, skills or interest to undertake it in the first place.

Workshop participants agreed that individual NGOs do not necessarily strengthen civil society, and that an important but neglected area is the need to support network building and improved dialogue among NGOs, governments, community groups, funding agencies and other actors in order to strengthen the capacity of civil society as a whole. At the same time, it concluded that stronger civil society does not necessarily mean better governance: in some cases, strengthening government as well as (or instead of) civil society may be a more effective strategy.

The review and workshop emphasised a core set of general lessons, including:

• the need to focus on community-based organisations as well as NGOs
• the need to know the history and character of civil society and the state in each country before defining assistance strategies
• the need for more theoretical work linking capacity-building to wider social and political issues in development.

More specifically, they concluded that:

• There is a need not only for more research, but for research with a longer time-frame and for more effort to include Southern perspectives.
• Research can itself support capacity-building, by generating useful tools and helping NGOs focus on their strategies.
• Donor insistence on the use of tools such as logical frameworks can hinder rather than help NGOs' capacity-building work.
• Donors should recognise that the best capacity-building work can be resource-intensive, and that 'good development does not necessarily mean cheap development'.

Source(s):
1. NGO Capacity and Capacity Building. Summary of report to ESCOR, A. Bebbington and D. Mitlin, IIED (1996)
2. The NGO sector and its role in strengthening civil society and securing good governance. Report on a workshop organised by IIED and ODI at the request of ESCOR, by A. Bebbington and D. Mitlin, IIED, London (1996)

Funded by: ESCOR (DFID) UK (1995-1996)

id21 Research Highlight: 1998-Apr-11

Further Information:
Tony Bebbington and Diana Mitlin
IIED
3 Endsleigh Street
London
WC1H 0DD
UK

Tel: +44 (0)171 388 2117
Fax: +44 (0)171 388 2826
Contact the contributor: Diana.Mitlin@iied.org

International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED), UK

Other related links:
Overseas Development Institute (ODI), UK