ABSTRACT
In the current climate of state retrenchment and disengagement in Africa, attention has shifted to the development roles of alternative, non-governmental forms of social organisation. Indigenous or externally inspired institutions which aggregate demands and build capacities at the community level operate as empowerers and potential partners at a significant interface in the development process. Community-based organisations (CBOs) are mediators between state and society, and between donors and households. The relationships created by this intermediary position highlight two areas of analysis within the wider debate on the legitimacy of development intervention. The first concerns the relationship between the organisation and its community, which we call ‘internal’ or ‘downward’ legitimacy; the need here is to examine the claim that CBOs represent their constituency effectively and provide appropriate and accountable services. The second, ‘external’ or ‘upward’ legitimacy, assesses the relationship between local organisations, the state and other donors. The issue here is whether stronger linkages between state and civil society, or donor and community, will make governments and funders more responsive and thereby enhance their legitimacy. This chapter explores the processes through which CBOs operate as legitimate local development agents for the communities they represent, in the context of migrant associations in Sudan. In particular it examines the assumption that CBO legitimacy rests on two key features – closeness to the poor and popular support. It also analyses the relationships between CBOs and the state (the principal external donor for these groups in Sudan), and questions the frequently proposed conflictual image of state and civil society. The case studies used came from riverain groups in the north of Sudan (Ed Debba in Northern State and Shendi in River Nile State), and communities in the west (Northern and Southern Kordofan States).
