Accountability of NGOs in Bangladesh A critical overview

NGOs in Bangladesh have been recognized as effective change agents in the socio-economic arena throughout the world. Their contributions in micro credit, non-formal education and primary health care are widely known. NGOs play a significant role in society. NGO accountability, as a result, has become a critical issue. NGO accountability in Bangladesh has been examined here in relation to patrons, clients and themselves. Of the three relationships only accountability to patrons is in a near satisfactory state. Accountability to clients is handicapped by lack of opportunities of beneficiaries to participate meaningfully in NGO policy making. Accountability to themselves is adversely affected due to the adherence to a strictly hierarchical system and the influence of founding and charismatic NGO leaders.     

RIGHTS AND DEVELOPMENT

Political campaigning may be a more effective means for NGOs to tackle poverty than practical work such as providing clean water and building new schools and clinics. The extension of ‘rights’ to the poor – including rights to education, health and sanitation – is central to this approach.     

Plantations,Resistance and the Greening of the Agrarian Question in Coastal Ecuador

Worldwide, industrial tree plantations are at the origin of a growing number of conflicts between local populations and commercial planters. Such conflicts – which often turn out to be ‘environmental’– have largely remained understudied. By focusing on the establishment of an industrial eucalypt monoculture in a coastal Ecuadorian canton, this paper investigates the effects of the penetration of capital into the rural sphere, emphasizing the resulting resistance campaign of a local NGO originating from a peasant organization. We analyse the evolution of land conflicts in the region – historically as well as operationally during the latest eucalypt campaign. We find that displacement of local peasants is a recurrent theme, while environmental issues have recently been incorporated into the resistance to landowners. We thus argue that the agrarian question also includes – now perhaps more than ever – an environmental dimension, thereby providing space for a fruitful dialogue between political ecologists and students of agrarian conflicts.     

社会转型中非政府组织与政府的和谐共进

在以现代化为基础的中国全方位的社会转型过程中，非政府组织因其独特的角色和功能，以及相对于政府的比较优势，理应在提供特定的公共服务、推进公民自治和参与意识、沟通公众与政府关系、激发创新精神以及推进民主化进程、孕育公民社会等各个方面发挥重要作用。但在我国政府主导政府与社会关系的权利分配格局中，非政府组织的功能受到局限，非政府组织和政府组织之间的良性互动与功能互补不足。实现非政府组织与政府的和谐共进，一方面需要政府放松管制，加强监督，为非政府组织开辟运作空间，提供制度支持；另一方面需要非政府组织提高治理水平、参政能力以及自身的公信力。     

Institutional Pluralism and Housing Delivery: A Case of Unforeseen Conflicts in Mumbai, India

This paper demonstrates how institutional pluralism in the delivery of housing can evoke major disagreements and ultimately conflict between different stakeholders. The case study focuses on a case of slum redevelopment in Mumbai and shows how a major nongovernment organization (NGO) became involved in conflicts with the other stakeholders, including private market actors, government agencies and even the community group. But, these conflicts did not necessarily have only negative impacts. Under certain conditions, such as when property values were booming in Mumbai, communities can actually benefit from such conflicts.