1st Edition

Government and NGOs in South Asia Local Collaboration in Bangladesh

    288 Pages 6 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    288 Pages 6 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    This book analyses efforts of Bangladeshi government and NGOs to strengthen local governance, and identifies the challenges posed by collaboration with NGOs.

    Presenting a dominantly qualitative study, the analysis explores whether engagement between the Sharique project to strengthen local governance and the Union Parishads has translated into success. In doing so, it argues that evidence points to a positive impact on institutionalising good governance and fiscal autonomy through widening participation in planning and decision-making, reinforcing accountability of functionaries and enhancing tax collection. Furthermore, this book demonstrates that the collaboration has aided the process of development of social capital between officials of councils and NGOs, as well as amongst the community members, encouraging future partnership governance. However, with the phasing out of the project as a propelling force, it also shows that the results fall short of being sustainable and, as such, that statuary support, unequivocal political commitment, and incentivising engagements are required to stabilise outcomes.

    Bridging a gap in the Development Studies literature, this book presents new findings on the collaboration of NGOs at the local level. It will be of interest to academics working in the field of South Asian Studies, Development Studies, and Asian Politics.

    1. Introduction  2. Strengthening Local Governance: A Conceptual Lens for the Study of GO-NGO Collaborative Programmes  3. Government Initiatives for Strengthening Local Governance in Bangladesh  4. Collaborative Programmes: Collective Measures of GO-NGO  5. Shepherding Capacity Building in Collaboration of GO and NGO  6. Roles of GO-NGO Teamwork for Increasing People’s Participation in Local Governance  7. Collaboration Between an NGO Project and Local Government: An Effort to Improve Accountability and Transparency  8. Do Do GO-NGO Collaborative Efforts Bring Fiscal Autonomy of Local Government Units? A Scrutiny  9. Mainstreaming Gender in the Local Governance: The Outcomes of Collaboration between Local Government and an NGO Project  10. NGO’s Collaboration with Local Government Institutions and its Challenges  11. Conclusion: Insights for Theory, and Policy Implications and Modelling of GO-NGO Collaboration

    Biography

    Mohammad Jahangir Hossain Mojumder, PhD, is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Science at Chowmuhani Government SA College, Noakhali, Bangladesh. His main areas of academic interest include (local) governance, NGOs, service-delivery, women’s empowerment, and remittances.

    Pranab Kumar Panday, PhD, is a Professor in the Department of Public Administration at the University of Rajshahi, Bangladesh. He was a senior Fulbright fellow at the Department of Development Sociology at Cornell University, USA, in 2012. Panday's main areas of research include political participation, social movements, NGOs and civil society, governance, and gender studies.