Local Fundraising
Mobilising Support
Shifting the Power
Whereas diversity can be observed in the type of North–South partnerships, overall the call for equality in the partnerships between Northern-based development organizations to their Southern-based counterparts, has hardly been successful. To come to an encompassing understanding of both this diversity and stagnation, in this study we combine two explanatory lines of reasoning: one focused on financial resources and one on racial perceptions. We study partnerships of Dutch-based
development organizations working in Ghana, Burkina Faso and Kenya through this analytical lens.
The research finds that there are three different narratives held by Northern organizations on citizens of countries where they work and their partner organization: a negative one, an internally inconsistent one and a reflective one. The data also shows there is a relation between the narratives and the type of partnerships: the negative narrative leads to repression, the internally inconsistent narrative to confusion and the reflective narrative to more inclusion. We conclude that histories of perceptions, including racial ones and systems of financial domination and dependence interact in
multiple reinforcing ways, leading to different levels of equality in partnerships.
This study was conducted in close cooperation with Wilde Ganzen.
The Dutch ‘development organizations’ are the so-called Private Development Initiatives (PDI), who received from Wilde Ganzen a contribution topping-up their own local fundraising for specific projects in the Global South. In this study, Kenya, Ghana and Burkina Faso.
A total of 26 partnerships between Dutch PDIs and their counterparts in one of these three countries were studied: 11 partnerships operating in Kenya, 9 in Ghana and 6 in Burkina Faso. In-depth interviews and a survey were held with representatives of both the Dutch and the Kenya, Ghana, and Burkina based organizations.
It is important to note that these PDIs should be distinguished from much larger scale professional development NGOs, with formal offices, paid staff, and the like. The Conceptual framework section focuses mainly on this kind of NGOs.
PDIs, on the other hand, are mainly small groups of enthusiastic people, very committed to make ‘their’ (often small) project a success and striving very hard to raise money for it. Taking this distinction into account, especially the Findings section of the article is very interesting reading. And especially useful for local initiatives in Africa and elsewhere, when considering entering into a relationship with a Dutch PDI. Does this PDI have a negative, an internally inconsistent or a reflective narrative?
Shift The Power Partnerships and networking
Author: Sara Kinsbergen, Frédérique Been, Junru Bian, Mieke Molthof, Clémence Honings & Dirk-Jan Koch
Publisher/source/organization: Canadian Journal of Development Studies / Revue canadienne d'études du développement, DOI: 10.1080/02255189.2024.2436146
Place and year of issue: Canada 2025
Type: Article Research report [Unkown]
Country/region: Worldwide
Resources or race? Explaining (un)equalit in international development partnerships >>