4 ways NGOs can work better with local government

Local governments and authorities are increasingly singled out as key to European efforts to meet the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. “We estimate that a massive 65 percent of the Sustainable Development Goals’ 169 targets can only be reached by working closely together with local and regional authorities,” Neven Mimica, European commissioner for international cooperation and development, told a conference on decentralized development hosted by the European Committee of the Regions in Brussels on Monday. He added that “localizing” the 2030 Agenda and the Consensus on Development — the European Union’s new development framework — is essential to eradicating poverty "once and for all." But what does that mean for the work of civil society groups which, some delegates pointed out, are sometimes cast as antagonists against those same local authorities? Devex asked participants at the Brussels conference for tips on how NGOs can work most effectively with local governments in developing countries. 1. Recognize when local governments want to help. In the past, NGOs “saw themselves as taking care of the local people better than the … government, and [it] appeared to most of the people like that,” according to Jean Pierre Elong Mbassi, secretary general of United Cities and Local Governments of Africa, an umbrella organisation of local governments. Then came the decentralization agenda, alongside the European Union’s 2013 Communication on Empowering Local Authorities. Mbassi said he saw in these more support for development efforts being led by representatives “chosen by the people and representing their interest” after this time. “Sometimes local authorities are local dictators,” said Michel Laloge, head of the local authorities unit at DEVCO, the European Commission’s development arm. “And sometimes, on the contrary, they are totally accompanying development, trying to answer to needs, eager to develop basic services to people.” In the latter case, it is in NGOs’ interests to work in harmony with the governing authorities, he said. 2. Align with existing plans. Given local authorities’ democratic mandate, Mbassi said NGOs must make sure that projects complement the region’s existing strategy. “If you come and say ‘I have the money, I want to do this and that,’ and it is not in line with what the people express locally, then there is a problem,” Mbassi said. “An NGO can take his things and go, but a local government cannot go — they are there to stay.” There are also practical reasons for making sure that NGO projects align with existing strategies, Laloge added. “Local development in most countries should be done by local government — they are there for that,” he said. “It’s not because you’ve got two million euros [$2.3 million] in your pocket that you should overrule what’s happening. And it’s in your interest not to overrule it because, at the end of the day, the sustainability of what you’re trying to do will be decided by the way you anchor your project in the community.” 3. Encourage transparency. Double standards is another grievance from local authorities often heard by Bernadia Irawati Tjandradewi, secretary general of United Cities and Local Governments in the Asia-Pacific. “Some argue, ‘is there any accountability of NGOs?’ In government you have key performance indicators, but in NGOs you don’t have an audit [or monitoring] sometimes,” she said. Equally, however, Mbassi said NGOs can boost their credibility with citizens by holding local governments to account. Civil society should “inform people about what is going on, challenge local government on what they say they will be doing, and bring them evidence of what they are not doing,” he said. 4. Gain trust through collaboration. “Usually when we ask local governments if they want to engage with NGOs, they already have their own NGOs that they trust,” Tjandradewi said. Part of working together to gain that trust is offering solutions rather than relentless criticism. “Not just asking asking asking, but what do you actually put on the table? You can put your resources: Not only money — because NGOs normally don’t have [a lot of] money — but you can have your own ideas, your own human resources [and] labor,” she said. Read more international development news online, and subscribe to The Development Newswire to receive the latest from the world’s leading donors and decision-makers — emailed to you free every business day.