ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the backdrop of the institutions and policies of international development assistance, against which many NGOs seeks to manage their work. For many people, the concept of ‘NGO’ has become inseparably linked with the business of international development – to the multilateral institutions such as the World Bank and the United Nations, to the bilateral donors such as the UK Department for International Development (DFID) or the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and to a raft of specialized, development-focused international third sector organizations which channel funds from Northern governments and publics.
