NGO Responses to Urban Poverty: Service Providers or Partners in Planning?

DESPITE A LONG history of NGO activity, there have been relatively few overviews of the work of NGOs that address urban poverty. This recently published volume, based on recent research, offers some insights into the work of NGOs in five cities in the South. The book begins with a summary of the problems that the poor face in urban areas, and follows this with a discussion of approaches to poverty reduction. The authors identify three main development roles adopted by NGOs (service delivery, social development, institutional development) and a number of “programme types” within each role. Chapter 3 describes the NGO sector in the five cities that were researched (Addis Ababa, Ahmedabad, Dhaka, Johannesburg and Lima), and concludes that this sector is relatively small. The following chapter also keeps a city focus, and discusses the historical development of the NGO sector in each of the cities. The authors emphasize why local NGOs came into being (relief, service delivery and/or community development, and social justice) and discuss the nature of the state, at both national and local level.

The following four chapters each discuss a specific theme in the light of the research findings. Chapter 5 looks at approaches to community participation and empowerment. Chapter 6 considers relationships with municipalities, and the nature and extent of the collaboration that has taken place. Chapter 7 examines issues related to advocacy and more substantive policy change. Chapter 8 examines some of the emerging themes, including the relative lack of NGO activity, the difficulties in developing urban-specific approaches that address the needs of households within a broader strategy for urban change, and the need for collaboration to address the needs of the urban poor.