LOCAL NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANISATIONS’ ACTIVITIES AND POVERTY REDUCTION IN SELECTED DISTRICTS IN SOMALILAN D A Thesis Presented to the School of Postgraduate Studies and Research Kampala International University Kampala, Uganda In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirement for the Degree Of Masters of Arts in Development Studies iS i’>~1 _______ otl By: Dahir Abdi Ahmed January, 2011
89
Embed
LOCAL NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANISATIONS’ ACTIVITIES AND ...
This document is posted to help you gain knowledge. Please leave a comment to let me know what you think about it! Share it to your friends and learn new things together.
Transcript
LOCAL NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANISATIONS’
ACTIVITIES AND POVERTY REDUCTION
IN SELECTED DISTRICTS IN
SOMALILAN D
A Thesis
Presented to the School of
Postgraduate Studies and Research
Kampala International University
Kampala, Uganda
In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirement for the Degree
Of Masters of Arts in Development Studies iS i’>~1_______ otl
By:
Dahir Abdi Ahmed
January, 2011
DECLARATION A
“This thesis is my original work and has not been presented for a
Degree or any other academic award in any University or Institution of
Learning”.
Name and Signature of the Candidate
fI ~ ?~61JDate
II
DECLARATION B
“I confirm that the work reported in this thesis was carried out by
the candidate under my supervision”.
Name and Signature of the Supervisor
Itf~,i• ~cte
IDate
HI
APPROVAL SHEET
This thesis entitled “Local Nongovernmental Organizations’
Activities and Poverty Reduction in Selected Districts in
Somaliland” prepared and submitted by Dahir Abdi Ahmed in partial
fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Masters in Development
Studies has been examined and approved by the panel on oral
examination with a grade of PASSED. ____
~~
Name and Signature of Chairman
• rf~ CAi~1PJ5 ~U~tiM~
Name and Signature of Supervisor Name and ig ature of Panelist
Name an’ ignature o Panelist Name and Signature of Panelist
Name and Signature of Director, SPGSR
Name and Signature of, DVC, SPGSR
Iv
DEDICATION
I dedicated this thesis to my father, my mother, my brother
Mohamed, my uncles Haji Mohamed Haji Abdullahi Abusite and Mohamed
Sheikh Yusuf Hassan.
V
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
My gratitude first goes to almighty Allah who gave me the strength
and courage to undertake this thesis. Without Allah, I could not be able to
successfully complete this thesis.
I would like to express my gratitude to my uncle Haji Mohamed Haji
Abdullahi Abusite for sponsoring my master’s degree and for his caring,
financial support and inspiration during my stay in Kampala International
University (K.LU). It is impossible to leave behind my talented uncle
Mohamed Sh. Yusuf Hassan whom without him I would have not been in
Uganda.
I also owe a lot of appreciation to all those assisted me in carrying out
this thesis. I am grateful to my supervisor Mr. Ssekabira Kassim, the
Resident Director of Kampala International University and my advisors Dr.
Otanga Rusoke and Dr. Stanley Kinyata who tirelessly went through my
work and inspired me to dig deeper into the core of the matter. Their kind
criticism, patience and understanding, assisted me a great deal.
I am indebted too, to my parents, sisters, brothers, relatives and
friends especially my talented brother Mohamed Abdi Ahmed who gave
me encouragement in time of difficulties. Thanks also go to all those
lecturers and management in the School of Postgraduate studies and
research, who really worked for the expense of my knowledge.
Finally, I would like to thank all my respondents and those within a
short notice without which this work would not have been possible.
VI
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Chapter Page
One THE PROBLEM AND ITS SCOPE 1
Background of the Study 1
Statement of the Problem 3
Purpose of the Study 4
General Objective 4
Research Objectives 4
Research Questions 5
Hypothesis 5
Scope 5
Significance of the Study 6
Operational definitions 7
Two REVIEWOF RELATED LITERATURE 8
Introduction 8
Concepts, Ideas, Opinions from Authors/Experts 9
The concept and the rise of the NGOs 9
The Causes of NGOs Proliferation 10
VII
The Advantages of NGOs over Governments 11
The concept of poverty and Poverty reduction 12
The theoretical Perspectives 14
Related Studies 16
Poverty Status and Dynamics in Africa 16
Poverty levels in Somaliland 17
The challenges of NGOs in reducing poverty 18
NGOs Approaches in Poverty Reduction 20
The contributions of NGOs on Poverty reduction 22
The Effects of NGOs activities on the poor people 23
Beneficiaries of NGOs Programs and challenges 25
The Historical Perspectives of Somaliland NGOs 26
Three METHODOLOGY 29
Research Design 29
Research Population 29
Sample Size 31
Sampling Procedure 31
Research Instruments 31
Validity and Reliability of the Instrument 33
VIII
Data Gathering Procedures 33
Data Analysis 34
Ethical Considerations 34
Umitatlons & the study 35
Four PRESENTATION, ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION
OF DATA 36
Five FINDINGS, CONCLUSIONS, RECOMMENDATIONS 49
IntroductIon 49
Findings 49
Conduslons 58RecommendatIons 59
REFERENCES 61
APPENDICES 65
AppendIx I - Transmittal Letter 65
AppendIx II e Research Instruments 66
AppendIx III- CalculatIon of context validity Index 72
Appendix IV- InterpretatIon of means 73
Appendix V- Researche?s Curriculum VItae 74
Ix
LIST OF TABLES
Table Page
Table 3.1 LNGOs in Hargeisa and Gabiley that were sampled 29
Table 4.1 Distributions of the Respondents 37
Table 4.2 The contributions of LNGOs on Poverty reduction 40
Table 4.3 The challenges of LNGOs during their activities 43
Table 4.4 Poverty reduction 46
Table 4.5 Spearman’s correlations (rs) between the LNGOs & poverty
reduction 48
x
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
DHF Doses of hope foundation
GARDO Gabiley Area Relief and Development Organization
LNGOs Local Non-governmental organizations
MDG5 Millennium Development Goals
MPNC Ministry of planning and National Coordination
ORSOD Organization of Research and Social Development.
SONYO Somaliland National Youth Organization
SPSS Statistical package for social sciences
XI
ABSTRACT
The study investigated Local Non-governmental Organizations’
Activities and Poverty Reduction in selected Districts in Somaliland.
The study were guided by these objectives; to find out the level of
contributions and challenges of LNGOs activities in poverty reduction, to
determine the level of poverty reduction and to establish the relationship
between the LNGOs activities and poverty reduction in selected districts in
Somaliland.
The study used descriptive correlation quantitative design.
Questionnaires and interview guides were used to collect primary data
from a sample size of 47 respondents out of a population of 467
respondents. Cross tabulation (frequencies and percentages), mean and
Spearman’s correlation coefficient (rs) were used in data analysis.
The results obtained showed that there is a positive relationship
between LNGOs activities and Poverty reduction in selected districts in
Somaliland, Thus the alternative hypothesis is accepted. The study
recommended the development of a partnership between the government
and the LNGOs to reduce poverty, through capacity building LNGOs must
develop community capacities such as their ability, skill and knowledge of
mobilizing resources, planning and evaluating community initiation and
solving problems, for example training the personnel to achieve poverty
reduction.
XII
CHAPTER ONE
THE PROBLEM AND ITS SCOPE
Background of the Study
Since the early millennium, poverty remains to be the biggest problem
of the world. “One-sixth of the global population or about one billion
people live in an extreme poverty” (Sachs, 2005). They struggle daily for
survival. They suffered from lack of nutrition, health, water and sanitation,
shelter and other basic needs for survival.
In order to end the poverty, the 191 UN members signed the United
Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDG5) in 2000. The first goal of
the MDGs is to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger. To achieve this
goal, a target has been set that is, to reduce by half the proportion of
people living on less than a dollar a day by 2015. If the target can be
realized, there will be an opportunity to end the extreme poverty by 2025
(Sachs, 2005). It means that poverty is the greatest challenge of global
society.
The greatest challenge to alleviate poverty can be reflected through
the contemporary poverty situation in Africa and particularly in Somaliland
where a huge number of people lives below the poverty line. However,
during the last ten years there has been no significant achievement in
reducing the number of poor people, and even since 2005 the number of
the poor has significantly increased. In regard to the first goal of MDGs,
Somaliland aims to reduce the proportion of people below poverty line, in
1
order to achieve the first goal of MDGs; it is broadly assumed that NGOs
have important roles.
According to Riddell & Robison (1995), the role of NGOs in reducing
poverty is not a new issue. Especially since the post World War II, NGO
involvement in poverty reduction has become a mainstream. They have
been engaged in relief, emergency or longer-term development work or
the mixture of all three. Although the evidence on NGO performance in
poverty alleviation is mixed, up to now, it is generally assumed that NGOs
have the institutional capacity to reduce poverty. It is also frequently
argued that compared to the government, NGOs have comparative
advantages, their ability to deliver emergency relief or development
services at low cost, to many people, in remote areas; their rapid,
innovative and flexible responses to emerging financial and technical
assistance needs at the grass roots level; their long-standing familiarity
with social sector development and poverty alleviation; their experience
with small-scale development projects as well as with those requiring a
high degree of involvement by, and familiarity with, the concerned target
groups.
As part of their commitment to realize the targets of MDGs in 2015,
the NGOs have greater opportunity to increase their roles in reducing
poverty especially in the developing countries particularly Somaliland. The
involvement of NGOs in alleviating poverty has changed the life of the
poor in Somaliland. In conclusion the aim of the study was to establish the
kind of relationship between Local NGOs’ activities and poverty reduction.
2
The Statement of the Problem
Nowadays in the context of Somaliland, LNGOs sector is emerging but
the nature of LNGOs relationships with communities, and the real impact
of their work, are little understood. Here, LNGOs refer to the social
organizations (associations and foundations) that are formal, non
profitable and involved in pro-poor. Civil society organizations have built
developed and maintained a wide range of social services for vulnerable
groups.
According to a report released by CRD (2009) More than 50 per cent
of Somaliland’s population lives below the poverty line, and 75 per cent of
these, lives in rural areas. The report laments that 60 percent of
Somalilanders live on a daily income of 1 to 2 dollars only Unemployment
rate is also rising. There is no research yet to find the LNGOs activities
and poverty reduction in Somaliland and the factors influencing the LNGOs
to select poverty reduction programs. LNGOs are active actors in
Somaliland but the community is in doubt their ways of reducing poverty
and selecting poverty reduction programs in contemporary poverty
situation and whether they are active in reducing the poverty situation in
Somaliland.
Therefore, this study intended to establish the kind of relationship
between the Local Nongovernmental Organizations’ activities and poverty
reduction in selected districts in Somaliland.
3
The Purpose of the Study
The purpose of this study was to establish the kind of relationship
between LNGOs activities and poverty reduction in selected Districts in
Somaliland, as well as to examine the extent to which LNGOs programms
are important to the poor.
Genera~ Objective
The general objective of this study was to establish the relationship of
Local Non-governmental organizations’ activities and poverty reduction in
selected districts in Somaliland.
Research Objectives
The research objectives were:
1. To determine the profile of respondents
2. To find out the level of contributions of LNGOs activities on poverty
reduction in selected districts in Somaliland.
3. To find out the challenges LNGOs face during their poverty
reduction activities in selected districts in Somaliland.
4. To determine the level of poverty reduction in selected districts in
Somaliland.
5. To establish the relationship between poverty reduction and LNGOs
activities in selected districts in Somaliland.
4
Research Questions
1. What is the profile of respondents?
2. What is the level of contributions of LNGO5 on poverty reduction in
selected districts Somaliland?
3. What are the challenges LNGOs face during their poverty reduction
activities in selected districts in Somaliland?
4. What is the level of poverty reduction in selected districts in
Somaliland?
5. What is the relationship between the poverty reduction and LNGOs
activities in selected districts in Somaliland?
Hypothesis
HA: There is a significant relationship between Local Non
governmental Organizations’ activities and Poverty reduction in selected
districts in Somaliland.
The Scope of the study
The Content Scope of the study concerns the Local Nongovernmental
Organizations’ activities and poverty reduction in selected districts in
Somaliland (Hargeisa and Gabiley), the study was aimed to find out the
kind of relationship between the Local Nongovernmental Organizations’
activities and poverty reduction.
5
On the other hand, in regard with the theoretical scope the study
covered the Local Nongovernmental Organizations’ activities and poverty
reduction, the contributions and the challenges of Local Nongovernmental
Organizations during their activities and the level of poverty reduction in
selected districts in Somaliland.
Geographical Scope: the study was conducted in two districts of
western Somaliland especially Hargeisa and Gabiley; each district was
selected from a sample of respondents which were from thirteen Local
Nongovernmental Organizations who operate in those areas. Somaliland is
located in the horn of Africa, it shares borders with Somalia in the east,
Ethiopia in the south, Djibouti in the west and the Gulf of Aden in the
north.
Significance of the Study
The study provided sufficient information for LNGOs and the
organizations may adopt the recommendations to address issues
pertaining to the poverty reduction. The government can use the findings
to regulate the activities of the LNGOs in order to carry out their activities
effectively; the study can be used by the public to understand the exact
position of LNGOs in poverty reduction in Somaliland.
In addition researchers and students conducting their academic
research who have interest in the area of LNGOs and their role on poverty
reduction may use as a base of their research. The study also opened up
areas for further research.
6
Operational definitions
Poverty: Poverty was used in this context as the lack of basic
necessities, for example food, shelter, medical care, and safety.
Local non-governmental Organizations: this term was used in this
report as an NGO based in one country. It is a misnomer as most
countries are multi-national, but use of this standard term cannot be
avoided.
Civil society: A complex contested term, usually referring to all people,
their activities and their relationships that are not part of the process of
government. It may also be used to cover all processes other than
government and economic activity.
Poverty ilne: the estimated minimum level of income needed to
secure the necessities of live or the official level of income which is
needed to achieve a basic living standard with enough money for things
such as food, clothing and a place to live.
7
CHAPTER TWO
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
Inuction
This chapter addresses three broad areas, the first section addresses
the concepts, ideas, opinions from authors/experts, other issues under
this section are the concept and the rise of the NGOs, the causes of NGOs
proliferation, the advantages of NGOs over governments, the concept of
poverty and poverty reduction, the second section of the chapter
discusses the theoretical Perspectives of the study.
The third section addresses the related Studies, sub-topics discussed
under this section are poverty status and dynamics in Africa, poverty
levels in Somaliland, the challenges of NGOs in reducing poverty, NGO5
approaches in poverty reduction, the contributions of NGOs on poverty
reduction, the effects of NGOs activities on the poor people, beneficiaries
of NGO5 programs and challenges and the historical perspectives of
Somaliland NGOs.
8
Concepts, Ideas, Opinions from Authors/Experts
The concept and the rise of the NGOs
The term NGO is broad and ambiguous. It covers a range of
organizations within civil society from political action groups to sports
clubs. However, it can be argued that all NGO’s can be regarded as civil
society organizations though not all civil society organizations are NGO’s.
The concept of NGO came into usage in 1945 following the establishment
of the United Nations Organizations which recognized the need to give a
consultative role to organizations which were neither government nor
member states (Willetts, 2002) NGOs take different forms and play
different roles in different continents, with the NGO sector being most
developed in Latin America and parts of Asia.
The roots of NGOs are different according to the geographical and
historical context. They have recently been regarded as part of the “third
sector” or not for profit organizations. Although there is contestation of
the definition of an NGO, it is widely accepted that these are organizations
which pursue activities to relief the suffering, promote interests of the
poor, protect environment, provide basic social services and undertake
community development (Cleary, 1997). Such organizations should have
certain fundamental features which distinguish them from others (Willetts,
2002). For such organization to be recognized as not for profit, they
should satisfy the following criteria:
First, an NGO should be privately set up and sufficiently autonomous
in its activity that is independent of direct government control. Secondly,
9
an NGO should be non-profit making, which clearly defines its voluntary
character. Thirdly, it is not constituted as a political party with the aim of
attaining political power. Fourthly, NGO should support development that
is demonstrating its public interest character (Schiampo-Campo &
Sundaram,2001).
According to Turner and Hulme “NGOs are generally registered
organizations, community Groups, professional associations, trade unions,
cooperate Charity organizations whose aim is to improve the well Being of
their members and of those areas in which they Exists” (Turner and
Hulme, 1997).
The World Bank on the other hand sees NGO’s as private
organizations that pursue activities to relief suffering, promote the interest
of the poor, protect the environment, provide basic social services, or
undertake community development (Willets, 2002).
The Causes of NGOs Proliferation
There are a mix of forces which has fuelled the rapid rise and
prominence of NGOs. The prevalence of weak states and declining
markets in Africa has led to the proliferation of NGOs as the only
alternative to promote grassroots development. Thus, the development
oriented NGOs are not only located between the state and the market in
terms of institutional space, but are emerging as what Levy calls critical
‘third sector’ in fostering the development of the marginalized groups. The
received wisdom is that NGOs are more flexible and adaptive than
governments, are quick to respond to people’s needs and are cost
effective. According to Salamon (1993), the ascendancy of neo-liberalism
10
in the late twentieth century also created a global environment to this
third sector. The poor performance of the public sector in developing
countries has led to a search for more effective and efficient
organizational forms for the delivery of public services.
There are certain features which differentiate NGOs from government
agencies even if they are performing similar roles. NGOs have capacity to
experiment and learn from experience, linking processes to outcomes and
are also able to enlist the energies and commitment of intended
beneficiaries. Fowler (1988) has identified two key distinctive
characteristics of NGOs.
Firstly, the relationship of the NGO with intended beneficiaries is
based upon principles of voluntarism rather than those of control which is
typical of government. This means that intended beneficiaries are
involved in programme design and management and if this happens, the
programmes stand a better chance of success as they are more likely to
be relevant and attractive. (Korten, 1980). Secondly, it is argued that
NGOs have a task oriented approach that permits them to achieve
appropriate organization development, which encourages change and
diversity rather than control and uniformity which may hamper progress.
The Advantages of NGOs over Governments
The growth of this third sector is therefore informed by its
comparative advantage over governments. The more specific claimed
advantages of NGOs or not for profit organizations over governments
include some of the following:
11
I) achieving the correct relationship between development
processes and outcomes;
ii) reaching the poor, targeting their assistance on chosen groups;
iii) obtaining true meaningful participation of the intended
beneficiaries;
iv) working with the people and then choosing the correct form of
assistance for them, i.e. not being dominated by resources as
the basis for the relationship;
v) being flexible and responsive to their works;
vi) working with and strengthening local institutions;
vii) achieving outcomes at less cost (Tvedt, 1998)
According Tvedt (1998), to It should however, be noted that although
NGOs in the eyes of the International donor community are cost effective
and are better placed to reach the poor, there is very little evidence that
support this assertion.
The concept of poverty and Poverty reduction
According to Sen Amartya (1987), Poverty is the lack of basic human
needs, such as clean water, nutrition, health care, education, clothing
and shelter, because of the inability to afford them. This is also referred to
as absolute poverty or destitution. Relative poverty is the condition of
having fewer resources or less income than others within a society or
country, or compared to worldwide averages. Amartya concluded that
about 1.7 billion people live in absolute poverty; before the industrial
revolution, poverty had mostly been the norm.
12
Gareth (2004), Poverty reduction has historically been a result of
economic growth as increased levels of production, such as modern
industrial technology, made more wealth available for those who were
otherwise too poor to afford them. Also, investments in modernizing
agriculture and increasing yields is considered the core of the antipoverty
effort, given three-quarters of the world1s poor are rural farmers.
Poverty has become endemic among developing countries and affects
a sizeable number of people around the world. It remains a serious
problem in sub-Saharan Africa. According to Gareth (2004), World Bank
said “Probably 250 million people (about 45% of the population) are
surviving on less than the equivalent of $1 a day”.
13
Theoretica’ Perspectives
A theoretical framework for a study of this nature was of critical
importance, because it served as a fulcrum for the gathering and
analyzing of data. Therefore a theory position - specifically social
development theory of Thomas Malthus was adopted as the analytical
framework for the research. “It was recognized in this examination that
such a perspective envisions social analysis as ultimately concerned with
people’s well-being and the main objective of planned development. In
this way, social development becomes a multi-institutional Endeavour,
whether pursued by the state, through local NGOs or international NGO5”
(Fowler, 2007).
According to Fowler (2007), Social development theory attempts to
explain qualitative changes in the structure and framework of society that
help the society to better realize its aims and objectives and to overcome
the problem of poverty. The basic mechanism driving social change is
increasing awareness leading to better organization. Life evolves by
consciousness and consciousness in turn progresses by organization.
When society senses new and better opportunities for progress it
accordingly develops new forms of organization to exploit these new
openings successfully. Fowler recommends that the new forms of
organization are better able to harness the available social energies and
skills and resources to use the opportunities to get the intended results.
According to the social development theory, development and poverty
reduction is governed by many factors that influence the results of
14
developmental efforts. There must be a motive that drives the social
change and essential preconditions for that change to occur. The motive
must be powerful enough to overcome obstructions that impede that
change from occurring. In fowlers’ view development also needs
resources such as capital and technology and the availability of supporting
infrastructures.
Therefore, in regard to poverty reduction, actions may take the form
of one or a combination of either social welfare interventions and/or
broader social and economic interventions designed to promote livelihoods
strengthening (Fowler, 1997).
15
Related Studies
Poverty Status and Dynamics in Africa
According to Sachs (2005) Poverty in Africa is a sad reality. It is also an
oversimplified image created in our minds, which hides much the mixture
of joys and pains, the hopes and sufferings that are part of all human
lives. Above all poverty is a complex phenomenon and has many faces,
causes and consequences. Who is poorer, the African child in rags eating
one meal a day, yet smiling in the midst of many playmates and caring
mothers, or the European child sitting alone listless and bored surrounded
by heaps of gadgets while father and mother are away at work?
Sachs points out that it been has created more objective indicators of
poverty like infant mortality, aiphabetisation or calorie intake and
according to these criteria most African countries rate bottom of the list.
Whereas Asia and Latin America have made much progress there is little
chance that African countries will reach the Millennium Development Goals
by 2015 on most scores.
Sachs says that 150 years the average African would have feel
insulted to be called poor. Unless there was famine or war, they had all
they needed for a contented life: enough food for their families and even
for lavish feasts, a house they had built and simple clothes they had
produced themselves. They felt respected members of their enlarged
families and their clan gave them identity and support in times of need.
The life of the African was short due to malaria or other sicknesses for
which there was no effective herbal medicine. But that was simply part of
life. The same person living today would feel poor because he has no
16
money to educate his children, no television, no mobile phone, and no
means of transport. The World Bank would classify him as one of the
millions of poor who live on less than two dollars a day. The most
Europeans for whom Africa and poverty are almost synonymous would
place him with the people living in the squalor of slums or dying of wars
or aids, whom they sees occasionally on their TV screens.
Poverty Levels in Somaliland
According to CRD (2009) Somaliland was fifth from the bottom of the
UNDP human development index (2005), reflecting its poor social and
economic indicators. It is estimated that 50 per cent of the population are
living in general/extreme poverty. Somaliland also has one of the highest
infant, child, and maternal mortality rates in the world. One in four
children dies before reaching the age of five. The three main causes of
death are diarrhoea, respiratory infection, and malaria, which account for
half of all child deaths.
“Reproductive health is a major problem, with a maternal mortality of
rate of 1,600 deaths for every 100,000 live births. Fewer than one in four
Somalilanders have access to clean water and fewer than one in five
children are enrolled in primary school. Of the few children who finish
primary school, only one in eight are girls. These statistics are extremely
bleak and indicate the depths to which this nation has fallen. The most
vulnerable populations are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance”
(CRD, 2009).
“The high level of poverty incidence and the poor human
development index rating require an urgent response. A comprehensive
17
strategy for revival of productive sectors and pro-poor policy to increase
income and employment opportunities is essential. This would also include
private-sector development, enhanced access to social services, and
efforts to strengthen productive opportunities for women. In addition,
downstream, community-based initiatives are required to meet immediate
needs and strengthen community and local administrative structures.
(CRD, 2009).
CRD (2009) recommends that the natural resources and environment
management are needed to address rapid environmental degradation,
which also heavily impacts on poverty levels. CRD demonstrated that the
position of women in Somaliland society has changed, more women seek
income-earning opportunities as the sole family breadwinner, and the
political participation of women has increased. Awareness of women’s
rights and access of women to many spheres in society are still low.
Increasing access to justice for women is a priority. Somaliland currently
has an HIV/AIDS prevalence rate of approximately 0.9 per cent, which is
low by global standards. This is one of the highest rates in the Arab States
region. Addressing HIV/AIDS early is vita! in order to prevent a rapidly
escalating epidemic.
The challenges of NGOs in reducing poverty
In general, NGO5 still suffer from a lack of sufficient financial
resources and the state offers only limited support. “Dependence on
foreign donors, which are gradually pulling out of the region, complicates
the situation even further. Many of the NGOs develop imported programs,
which are not very well connected to the community they are serving.
18
Despite the high degree to which NGOs depend on foreign financing
resources, respondents consider that donors’ policies play a less important
role in determining the organizations’ activities” (Sachs, 2005).
On the other hand Robyn (2003) says a number of NGOs are engaged
in projects aiming to eradicate poverty, either by directly supporting the
poor, or by creating opportunities for disadvantaged or marginalized
categories of people to escape poverty. Although some of the NGOs do
not have a well defined poverty definition, on average they have a clear
strategy for addressing poverty. Robyn (2003) added that the main
appropriate way to define poverty for NGOs is a baseline study based on
survey research in the area. However the number of NGOs which use a
baseline study is very low; NGOs’ poverty perception is influenced mainly
by international NGOs, main donors, or the government’s definition.
The internal and external forces are very important aspects of
defining poverty and choosing programs by NGOs. Internal factors are the
individual and group beliefs of the employed professional staff,
occasionally the opinions of beneficiaries, the ideology and vision of the
NGOs. External forces are the other NGOs, donors, funding agencies, or
the NGOs’ policy. In many cases NGO5 have launched their programs in
response to available funding. They first identify the preferences of the
likely donors, and only afterward they seek the local need. despite the fact
that NGOs try to design programs keeping fit with the guidelines of
donors, they do not consider the needs of the poor, their programs are
19
appreciated by the target group as being successful, which are reaching
those in real needs.
NGOs Approaches in Poverty Reduction
What kind of strategies should be developed to alleviate poverty? At a
macro level, pro-poor growth combined with social development is now
promoted by scholars, especially economists. At a micro level, promotions
of small scale enterprises and microfinance including the Grameen Bank
model have been recently referred to by various agencies.
In this context, it is worth referring to Jeffrey D. Sachs’s strategy for
alleviating poverty. According to Sachs (2005), a ‘poverty trap’ must first
be solved in combating poverty. Although the poor have willingness to
overcome their ill-being, they are not able to do it by using their own
resources. There are so many factors that trap the poor until they are in
powerless conditions, such as diseases, climate stress, environmental
degradation, physical isolation, and also extreme poverty itself. Sachs
states:
“The world’s poor know about the development ladder: they are tantalized
by images of affluence from halfway around the world, But they are not
able to get a first foothold on the ladder, and so cannot even begin the
climb out of poverty” (Sachs, 2005).
Essentially, the poor must be helped to exit from the poverty trap. If
it can be reached, there will be an opportunity to get a first foothold on
the ladder of development.
20
In helping the poor to climb out of poverty, NGOs use two
approaches: supply-side and demand-side (Robyn, 2003). In a similar
sense, Fowler (1997) identifies two types of NGO tasks: micro-tasks and
macro-tasks. From the supply-side or micro-tasks approach, NGOs provide
various basic public services to the poor. It is argued that especially in
countries where government lack public services, NGO5 play a significant
role in the direct provision of social and economic services. In general,
NGO5 emerge and play the roles as service providers.
Unlike the supply-side approach where NGO5 directly provide services
to the people, the demand-side NGOs play indirect roles. The demand-
side role of NGOs can be seen as being an articulator of the people’s
‘voice’. NGOs mobilize and clarify the demand for services, from both the
government and the market, so that the people are able to achieve its
development goals. In the context of service delivery, generally, NGOs
seek to improve the access of the people to the services provided by the
state. NGOs also engage in policy advocacy to influence public policies
concerning the poor people. In line of this approach, NGOs have
developed various strategies to influence the process of public policy
making and to control the implementation of development programs or
projects. This is also an area into which NGOs have been moving during
the 1990s when they revised and re-strategized to move away from direct
service delivery and prioritized policy advocacy and lobbying (Robyn,
2003).
Robyn (2003) identifies some potential NGO contributions by
employing the demand-side approach as follows:
21
“Such NGOs assist citizens in finding out about activities of the
government and others which might affect them; they use advocacy and
political influence to hold local officials accountable for activities (or
inactivity) which are damaging to the poor; they help communities
mobilize and form societies to express their concerns, and help guard
against reprisals; they construct fora in which officials can consult people
about development plans and listen to alternatives presented by the
people; and they help ensure that individuals disadvantaged by
government decisions receive just compensation, negotiates with affected
parties” (Robyn 2003).
The contributions of NGOs on Poverty reduction
NGOs or voluntary agencies have a history of involvement in a wide
range of social welfare and development work. They have existed and
played various roles since the colonial period. Given diversity in types,
scale of activities, approaches, and so forth, it is very difficult to count the
number of NGOs in the Developing countries. In regard to the type of
activities, almost all NGOs are engaged in education and campaign
activities, with one-third involved in advocacy activities (Saifuddin, 2006).
Most NGOs are also active in economic activities aimed at low-income
groups, such as income generation, appropriate technology, agriculture,
and micro-credit besides activities in social sectors especially in the issues
of health, education and environment (Erin, 2001).
Given the development of NGOs, and the apparent limitations of
government poverty reduction programs, there is a widespread agreement
22
among development scholars that NGOs play an important role in helping
to alleviate poverty, complementary to that of government, both in terms
of providing additional resources and in making government programs
more effective (Riddell & Robinson, 1995).
“The involvement of NGOs in alleviating poverty has changed the life
of the poor in developing countries. By designing and implementing
innovative program interventions, they have enhanced the quality of life
of the poor. They have facilitated the poor to reach a first foothold on the
development ladder. At the local level, NGO5 have intensively engaged in
poverty reduction. For example the poverty reduction programs, the NGO5
appear to have performed reasonably well. The conditions of the poor
have improved, sometimes quite significantly, as the result of the NGO
intervention. Given their valuable experiences and the development of
their organizational capacity, it is most likely that their contributions to
poverty reduction will increase in the future” (Saifuddin, 2006).
The Effects of NGOs activities on the poor people
In reference to Dhakal (2002) When the NGOs are going to fight
against poverty, they are to identify the causes of poverty of the region
where they are going to work and thus define what poverty is. Most of the
NGOs argue that poverty is showing a growing tendency due to the
growing unemployment rate, low incomes, low level of education and
inappropriate governmental policies. According to them, those with low
income and not having a job, live in extreme poverty. So the NGOs
23
perception of poverty do not varies largely, in spite of the fact that some
of the NGOs do not have a well defined poverty definition.
Dhakal says NGOs’ activities cover a large scale of social problems.
Most common social service activities offered are: social canteens,
temporary shelters for persons, leaving institutions, day care centers,
home care services, temporary housing centers for counseling, training
and education, package distribution (food, cloth and medicaments). In
many cases organizations launch their programs in response to available
funding.
Erin (2001) demonstrated that local NGO executives acknowledge and
design their programs to capture Western funds rather than to address
local issues needed to be resolved. Even when NGO programs are geared
toward addressing particular local issues, such process puts priorities
upside down: local NGOs first identify the preferences of the likely donors,
and only after that they do seek the local need that may be satisfied from
such cooperation. In other words, they tailor projects to fit Western
concerns, rather than appeal to Western donors to respond to local needs.
This sequence (first find the funds, than. seek the need to be fulfilled)
stands contrary to the expected logic of civil society development and
representation. Normally associations derive their power and legitimacy
from civil society rather than from Western sponsors.
Western donors often have their own agendas that are clearly
beneficial for social change, but not necessarily reflecting local needs. As
24
Dhakal (2002) state, each initiative for reducing poverty has different
funding requirements and different patterns largely because people’s
poverty is rooted in the specifics of their own city and its economy, the
political system and so on. In addition, in each city, circumstances are
constantly changing and external funding must be able to respond to such
changes.
Beneficiaries of NGOs Programs and challenges
According to Thomas (2000), NGOs are active in empowering groups
who are economically and socially marginalized, such as children, elderly
and disabled and play a particularly strong role in meeting the poor’s
needs. However, the overall impact is rather limited and it is not very
visible on a larger scale. NGOs’ activities continue to remain invisible to
the majority of the population, and the majority of NGOs are more
oriented to the donors’ priorities and unable to build local constituencies.
In general, NGOs still suffer from a lack of sufficient financial
resources and the state offers only limited support. Dependence on
foreign donors, which are gradually pulling out of the region, complicates
the situation even further. Many of the NGOs develop imported programs,
which are not very well connected to the community they are serving.
Despite the high degree to which NGOs depend on foreign financing
resources, most of the NGO5 consider that donors’ policies play a less
important role in determining the organizations’ activities.
25
According to Saifuddin, (2006) a number of NGOs are engaged in
projects aiming to eradicate poverty, either by directly supporting the
poor, or by creating opportunities for disadvantaged or marginalized
categories of people to escape poverty. Although some of the NGOs do
not have a well defined poverty definition, on average they have a clear
strategy for addressing poverty. The main appropriate way to define
poverty for NGOs (mainly for those working in local or regional level) is a
baseline study based on survey research in the area.
The Historica’ Perspectives of Somaliland NGOs
The Somaliland NGOs have been involved in development activities
since 1991 when Somaliland declared and regained its independence from
Somalia. However, NGOs significantly grew after 1997 when the new
government at that time was elected and the government consistently
encouraged the participation of sàciety in development activities. Most
NGOs were established as a counterpart agency to initiate an alternative
development of the government development model. They generally used
a bottom-up approach and stressed on participatory mechanisms.
According to MPNC (2008/2009) many new NGOs have been
established in Somaliland, it is estimated that there are around three
hundred and fifty NGOs throughout Somaliland concerned with community
development and empowerment, advocacy, and litigation. In the light of
democratization process, the majority of new NGOs are usually engaged
in specific issue and policy advocacy, such as the issues of good
governance, electoral system reform, development watch, civil and
26
political rights, civil society, and other specific issues. In relation to the
issue of development or specifically the issue of poverty, up to now, the
number of development-oriented NGOs is most likely stable. Majority of
them are old and established NGOs, such as Candle Light, NAGAAD,
GARDO, DHF, SONYO, ORSOD and so forth. From the beginning, these
established NGOs have continuously developed various development
initiatives to provide basic services and to increase the livelihoods of the
poor (MPNC, 2008/2009).
Like in other countries, Local Non-governmental organizations and
civil society actors are visible on the overall institutional landscape of
Somaliland society. Because of the specific contexts, compared to many
other African countries, the Somaliland LNGOs community is not that
developed in terms of diversity, size and capacity. During the last two
decades the community has had, in relative terms, some opportune
moment for growth in size, diversification in make-up and self
organization for active participation in the national soclo-economic
process.
LNGOs in Somaliland have been extensively engaged in and
significantly contributed to agricultural and rural development. Their major
engagements in the area include strengthening rural institutions
(cooperatives, micro finance institutions, self-help and other grassroots
associations), environmental rehabilitation, promoting conservation based
sustainable development (promotion of small-scale irrigation, fruits and
vegetables, etc.), addressing chronic food insecurity, water supply and
sanitation, pastoralist livelihood development, market development, and
strengthening government capacity.
27
In general LNGOs engagement in agricultural and rural development
contributed significantly to the emergence and development of rural
institutions for facilitating access to finance, market, potable water supply
and the likes. Moreover, their engagement has contributed immensely in
transforming agricultural practices towards intensification, diversification
and market-orientation.
Promotion of human development or provision of social services has
been another major area where LNGOs in Somaliland have been
extensively engaged. LNGOs engagement in the area of human
development covers promotion of health services, education, child
protection and welfare, and institution building and empowerment. In
particular, LNGOs introduced innovative approaches such as community-
based approaches to health services and alternative basic education,
which are eventually adopted by the government and which have
significantly contributed to the achievements attained in the health and
education sectors.
Currently LNGO5 are primarily engaged in addressing the root causes
of poverty and vulnerability, as well as helping to build institutions for
good governance and democracy-building. In rural areas, short-term relief
distribution is not any more an important part of their program activities.
Instead, they are concerned mainly with strengthening of awareness,
transfer of skills and technologies, supporting institutions, and promoting
linkages. It is convinced that further facilitation of these engagements
would create grounds for achieving even more useful contributions to the
national effort of addressing poverty, vulnerability and promoting good
governance and democratic practice.
28
CHAPTER THREE
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Research design
This research employed descriptive correlation quantitative design.
The researcher used quantitative approach to quantify incidences in order
to describe current conditions to investigate the Local Non-Governmental
Organisations and poverty reduction in selected districts in Somaliland
from the questionnaires and from the interview guide. The descriptive
correlation quantitative design was used to enable establish the
relationship between the independent variable and the dependent variable
through quantifiable results.
Research Population
The target population of the study consisted of a total of 467 people,
from thirteen Local Nongovernmental Organizations working in Hargeisa
which is the capital city of Somaliland and Gabiley, the area was selected
because of the LNGO5 in Somaliland are mostly based on those areas. A
target population is the population to which the researcher ultimately
wants to generalize the result. Each LNGO was selected from a sample of
respondents, so that it represented the total population (Table 3.1).
29
Tablel: LNGOs in Hargeisa and Gabiley that were sampled
Name of the LNGOs Sample
1. SONYO Umbrella 4
2. ORSOD 4
3. Humanitarian Activities MGT Org. 3
4. GARDO 4
5. Candle light 3
6.DHF 3
7. Dareen Rural Relief & Dev’t Org. 3
8. Barwaago Voluntary Org 4
9. Save Community Survive 4
10. Community Relief Association 4
11. Tusmo Development Association 4
12. Tabantaabo Community Dev. Org 4
13. Horn of Africa Voluntary Org. 4
Total 47
30
Sample size
In this study, the researcher selected 47 respondents, from the
LNGO5 in Hargeisa and in Gabiley. Respondents were selected on
purpose; the managers and executives involved in the decision-making of
the organizations were targeted.
Sampling procedure
This study employed purposive sampling technique. Purposive
sampling was used, because the study targeted the manager, executive
director, project coordinator and the Finance officer of the LNGO5. The
study s&ected those people because they have more experience and
knowledge about the role of LNGOs activities on poverty reduction, and
even they are carrying out the day to day activities. Purposive sampling is
suitable for the respondents because information or data collected from
those people were conveniently available and they were willing to co
operate and give the needed information.
Research Instruments
The study used questionnaires and Interview Guides as the main tools
for collecting data. The collection of this tool has been guided by the
nature of the data to be collected, the time available as well as by the
objectives of the study. Questionnaires was used since the study
concerned with variables that cannot be directly observed such as views,
opinions, perceptions and feelings of the respondents such information
are best collected through questionnaires. The target population was also
31
largely literate and is unlikely to have difficulties responding to
questionnaire items.
In this study structured interview guide were used which develops a
schedule in which the questions, their wording and their sequences are
fixed and are identical for every same category of respondent. The
interview guide is one the most used techniques of obtaining information,
it is a way of obtaining data about a person, the interview guide of this
study was served for a two purpose: firstly, it translated research
objectives into specific questions whose answers was provided the
necessary information, secondly, it aided the interviewer in motivating the
respondents. Interview guide was used in order to ensure the validity and
the reliability of the questionnaires.
The research instruments were developed by the researcher. These
are including questionnaires about the level of contributions of LNGOs to
poverty reduction (QCOLNGOsPR), questionnaires about the challenges
LNGOs face during the poverty reduction activities (QCHLNGOsPR) and
questionnaire about the level of poverty reduction in selected districts in
Somaliland (QLPR). The first section of the Questionnaires was dealing
with the Bio data on Gender, age, level of education, and marital status.
Finally the researcher developed a structured interview guide.
32
Vaildity and Rellabiity of the Instruments
The instruments were pretested and pilot tested to groups of outside
the population to improve their validity and reliability coefficients to at
least 0.70. Items with validity and reliability coefficients of at least 0.70
are accepted as valid and reliable in research.
The average content Validity index of this study is 0.795 that means
the instruments are valid. Validity is the extent to which research results
can be accurately interpreted and generalized to other populations. It is
the extent to which research instruments measure what they are intended
to measure. On the other hand reliability is the dependability or
trustworthiness and in the context of measuring instrument it is the
degree to which the instrument consistently measures whatever it is
measuring.
The instruments are reliable because they produced the same results
when they have been repeatedly used to measure their traits or concepts
from the same respondents by the researcher (see Appendix IV).
Data Gathering Procedures
The research activity of this study started immediately when an
introductory letter was secured from the School of Postgraduate Studies
and Research of Kampala International University. Thereafter, copies of
the letter were used to introduce the researcher to the respondents and
interviewees. The researcher introduced himself to the beneficiaries and
employees of the LNGOs and due their acceptance; started collecting for
33
research. After receiving the questionnaires back, the researcher analyzed
the collected data by using SPSS package.
Data Analysis
The study used cross tabulation (frequencies and percentages) to
analyze the profile of the respondents. Mean (look at Appendix IV how the
mean is computed) was used to analyze the level of LNGOs contributions,
the Poverty reduction and the challenges of LNGOs during their poverty
reduction and correlation analysis using Spearman’s correlation values was
used to analyze the relationship between the independent and dependent
variables which are the LNGOs and poverty reduction.
Ethical Consideration
The major ethical considerations of this study were the privacy and
the confidentiality of the respondents. Obtaining a valid sample was
entailed gaining access to specific lists and files which itself is an
infringement on the privacy and the confidentiality of the respondents.
However the respondents had the freedom to ignore items that they do
not wish to respond to.
Due to the nature of this study confidentiality, nonjudgmental
principle and individualism was given due to consideration plus any other
form of anonymity among respondents was attended to. An introduction
letter from the school of post graduate studies backed by the identity card
was used for identification throughout the research.
34
Limitations of the Study
Since the Local Nongovernmental Organizations’ management and
other respondents were busy with other schedules, so that the research
did not get as much time from them as anticipated, This challenge was
solved by seeking appointments with them at their convenient places and
time.
Secondly, some respondents was not willing to concentrate on giving
the needed information that would be crucial to the researcher due to
negligence and some of them might get difficult with the English
language, so that translating the instruments from English to Somali
consumed more time than expected.
35
CHAPTER FOUR
DATA PRESENTATION, ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION
Introduction
This chapter presents data analysis, presentation and interpretation.
The data analysis and interpretation was based on the research questions
as well as research objectives, the presentation was divided in to two
parts. The first part presents the respondent’s profile or demographic
information, while the second part deals with presentation, interpretation,
m and analysis of the other research objectives. Below are the data
presentations and analysis of research findings.
Profile of the Respondents
This first objective of the study presents the background information
of the respondents who participated in the study. The purpose of this
background information was to find out the characteristics of the
respondents and show the distribution of the population in the study.
Their distribution is established as it follows in Table 4.1.
36
Table 4.1: Distributions of the Respondents (n=47)
Profile of the respondents Frequency Percentage (°!o)
Gender
Male 32 68.00
Female 15 32.00
Age
20-30 16 34.00
31-40 23 49.00
41 and above 8 17.00
Qualifications
None 4 8.50
Primary/Intermediate 8 17.00
Secondary 25 53.20
University 10 21.30
Marital status
Single 22 47.00
Married 19 - 40.00
Widow(er) 6 13.00
37
Findings from Table 4.1 indicates that different categories were
involved in the study 68% of the respondents were male and 32% were
Female, based on Table 4.1, 34% of the respondents were at the age of
20-30; 49 % of the respondents were at the age of 31-40 and the
remaining 17% were the age of 41 and above. Among the sample
respondents, 17% hold intermediate certificate, 53.2% hold secondary
leaving certificate, 21.3 hold university degree and the remaining 8.5%
were hold none. 47% were single, 40% of the respondents were married,
and the remaining 13% were widows or widowers.
38
The Contributions of LNGOs on poverty reduction
The second objective of this study was to find out the contributions of
Local Non-Governmental Organizations’ activities in reducing poverty in
selected districts in Somaliland.
Mean values on the contributions of Local Non-Governmental
Organizations on poverty reduction are shown in Table 4.2 the mean
values ranged between 2.8 and 3.38.
Community groups, government institutions, international institutions,
religious institutions and private Sector were the major actors in poverty
reduction in selected districts in Somaliland with a mean value of 3.38.
This is followed by the role of Local Non-Governmental Organizations’ on
women’s’ empowerment (mean value of 3.40); the Local Non
Governmental Organizations’ activities on women empowerment were
mobilization and organizing, training and capacity building, educating and
giving them health facilities.
The major activities of Local Non-Governmental Organizations on poor
people in selected districts in Somaliland were supporting the education
sector (construction of education centers), health sector (construction of
health centers), establishing micro-finance institutions; rural development,
empowering women and training (mean value of 2.90). This is followed by
the contributions of Local Non-Governmental Organizations on poor
people, which were assisting low-income groups, income generation for
the poor, advocacy, capacity building/training, fighting against corruption,
agriculture, and micro-credit, the mean score of this statement were 2.85.
39
The second last mean value is 2.83, which concerns the major
priorities that Local Non-Governmental Organizations consider during their
poverty alleviation programs, they consider the needs of the poor people
and what the poor mostly needs. Last but not least, the majority of the
respondents with mean value of 2.80 supported that Local Non
Governmental Organizations’ programms were closer to the poor people
than government programms.
To sum up, the overall mean value on the contributions of Local Non
Governmental Organizations on poverty reduction was 3.03, which verified
that the majority of the respondents agreed the contributions of Local
Non-Governmental Organizations on poverty reduction in selected districts
in Somaliland.
This interprets that the activities undertaken by LNGOs have a role for
the poverty reduction in selected districts in Somaliland. And this implies
that LNGOs are in an important position in reducing poverty in those
areas.
40
Table 4.2 The contributions of LNGOs on Poverty reduction
Contributions of LNGOs on Poverty reduction Mean
1. Contributions of LNGOs on poor people including: 2.85
assisting low-income groups, income generation for the