The use of local organizations to deliver aid has increasingly been at the top of the international development agenda. A recent workshop at Devex International Development Partnerships Forum in Nairobi has given donor organizations and local NGOs a valuable opportunity to exchange ideas and experiences of local capacity development and reinforced the need for a paradigm shift in relationships between international and local.
The theme of the workshop was “sustainability,” defined by Janet Mawiyoo, CEO of Kenya Community Development, as ensuring local organizations have the resources and skills to continue operating after the iNGO’s project has ended, rather than simply acting as a vehicle for delivering aid.
Here are four ways iNGOs can help their local partners build their capacity and become sustainable institutions in their own right.