The 1990s have seen a marked expansion in governmental aid to voluntary development organisations (NGOs). After analysing reasons for and objectives of such growth, this paper identifies nine policy problems facing official aid agencies as they continue to increase their finance to the voluntary sector and goes on to suggest how each can be resolved. An important conclusion is that the goals which governments wish to achieve by allocating greater support to NGOs will not be realised unless official aid agencies significantly modify their existing funding perspectives and practices.
This paper was prepared for an international conference on Strengthening Financing for the Voluntary Sector in Development: The Role of Official Development Assistance sponsored by The Synergos Institute and the Overseas Development Council.