Description
Abstract
Partnership relationships between Northern-based International Non-governmental Organizations (INGOs) as donors and Southern-based Local Nongovernmental Organizations (LNGOs) as grantees, working together on peacebuilding intervention projects in the Global South is a subject of heavy debate, both in academics and in practice. Some scholars contend that this arrangement is characterized by unequal power structures and impositions which tend to silence local voices and concerns. The literature recognizes the challenge of power imbalance in the relationship but seems not to have sufficiently explored empirically how it manifests and impacts funded projects. It has also neglected to explore the role of the INGO's institutional funders and examine the tripartite power dynamics their inclusion creates. Thus, the overarching questions driving this study are how power asymmetry manifests in the relationship between INGOs and LNGOs, to what extent it impacts on funded projects, and how much of this is traced back to the INGO’s institutional funders. The research uses the case study of an anonymized INGO involved in building peace in the farmer-herder conflicts in Nigeria’s North Central region. It adopts a qualitative approach and the tools for data collection include semi-structured in-depth and key-informant interviews (IDI and KII), and critical review of operating documents. Interview participants include management staff of the case study INGO, their institutional funders, LNGOs, project host community leaders and civil society development experts. The study uses Alan Fowler’s “authentic partnership” (1998) and French and Raven’s “power bases” (1969, 1965) as analytical prism; while relying on Resource Dependence Theory (RDT) and Principal-Agent Theory (PAT) as theoretical grounding. This work is an empirical contribution to the body of knowledge on power relationship between INGOs and LNGOs in the Global South, with an emphasis on funded projects. It seeks to address INGO – LNGO power relations empirically with a view to retooling and strengthening the relationship and engendering better value for peacebuilding projects for local communities.
Keywords: Power polarity, Peacebuilding, Aid decoloniality, Post-conflict rebuilding, Funding pyramid