ABSTRACT
This chapter evaluates the role of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) headquartered in the North that raise funds there to spend on projects in the South (called International NGOs) and local NGOs and civil society organizations based in the South that are too often reduced to project implementers for Northern NGOs or other donors. This is despite calls for ‘shifting the power’ from the North to the South discussed in the chapter. Shifting the power is about transformation towards effective, locally-led and owned development approaches that challenge the managerialism of the aid chain. The chapter also explores a Dutch government initiative for partnership-based funding of political action, which demonstrates both potential for change and the extent of transformation that is required to get beyond the managerialist mindset.
