Bearers of change: the field workers of NGOs in Bangladesh

The importance of NGOs (Non-Governmental Organisations) m development to most 'aid' agencies is said to have been generated by the failure of the state in reaching and providing certain basic services to the poor and the disadvantaged Although many NGOs in Bangladesh have shown some success in reaching the poor, organising them to raise awareness of education and providing microcredit, the vast majority of the poorest in Bangladesh have remamed beyond their reach The dependency of the NGOs on donors, lack of accountability and loss of quality in service provision during scaling up are the major problems for the NGOs in Bangladesh Except for missionary NGOs like MCC most NGOs m Bangladesh are preoccupied with microcredit which is mainly driven by NGOs search for self-reliance and for good performance indicators Field workers could be the movers and shakers of NGOs They implement the policies of NGOs but unfortunately they are rarely consulted during the making of these policies Above all their problems and opinions remain unheard and unaccounted for Very little research has been conducted on them in both North and South and even less m Bangladesh The research has a multiple methodology which includes questionnaire survey semi structured interviews, securing life histories in order to address the interfaces between the field worker with his/her clients and superiors Most field workers come from the rural middle or lower middle class Most wanted government jobs and fell back on NGO work when they failed to obtain them Most of those who by the time they reach the age of 40 have failed to get promoted either leave voluntarily or are made redundant Field workers of small NGOs try to switch over to large and international NGOs in search of higher job security and salary and benefits Due to high unemployment in the country instead of creating a stable and more skilled workforce NGOs often abandon then: long service field workers in order to recruit cheaper younger field workers The personal problems of field workers include job insecurity financial difficulties and risks associated with accommodation, child-care and children s education These problems are more severe for women field workers and are associated with issues related to their gender The professional problems of these field workers include poor or incorrect training heavy workloads, corrupt and limited promotion opportunities, irregular and undesirable transfers, low status at work, difficult external relationships, etc Again there are gender differences in these problems Yet with all these personal and professional problems, field workers are central to NGO performance It is the strengths of the field workers which make this possible This study calls for better utilisation of these strengths by the NGOs The poor relationship between field workers and their superiors can be tackled by better management in the NGOs A major challenge for the NGOs in Bangladesh is to become less bureaucratic, this supposed to be one of their comparative advantages over the state I also found that there is a big gap between what NGOs do and what then- field workers think ought to be done This underscores the necessity of more discussion with fieldworkers in policy making implementation and evaluation of the activities of NGO

Lessons in management effectiveness : Ziphilele Youth Projects (ZYP)

Includes bibliographical references.This dissertation focuses on understanding the development philosophy and standards of practice that contribute to the organisational effectiveness that mark Ziphilele Youth Projects (ZYP) as an effective and professional non-governmental organisation (NGO)

The Paradoxes of Aid Work

This book explores what attracts people to aidwork and to what extent the promises of aidwork are fulfilled. 'Aidland' is a highly complex and heterogeneous context which includes many different occupations, forms of employment and organizations. Analysing the processes that lead to the involvement in development cooperation, emergency relief and human rights work and tracing the pathways into and through Aidland, the book addresses working and living conditions in Aidland, gender relations and inequality among aid personnel and what impact aidwork has on the life-courses of aidworkers. In order to capture the trajectories that lead to Aidland a biographical perspective is employed which reveals that boundary crossing between development cooperation, emergency relief and human rights is not unusual and that considering these fields as separate spheres might overlook important connections. Rich reflexive data is used to theorize about the often contradictory experiences of people working in aid whose careers are shaped by geo-politics, changing priorities of donors and a changing composition of the aid sector. Exploring the life worlds of people working in aid, this book contributes to the emerging sociology and anthropology of aidwork and will be of interest to professionals and researchers in humanitarian and development studies, sociology, anthropology, political science and international relations, international social work and social psychology

Strengthening family resilience during accompanied humanitarian assignments

This qualitative study identifies the dominant challenges faced by accompanying families in the humanitarian INGO sector and proposes recommendations that organisations and families can implement to promote greater family resilience. An under-researched population, the study advocates for greater acknowledgement and supports for expatriate humanitarian families in recognition of the significant impact they have on employee performance, retention, and organisational commitment. A model of factors influencing humanitarian expatriate family adjustment and enhanced resilience is also proposed

El discurso de El Otro en la publicidad social de ONGD y las relaciones de poder. Análisis comparativo de la representación en la creatividad publicitaria gráfica en redes sociales de ONGD españolas y guatemaltecas

Este estudio trata sobre el Discurso de El Otro en la publicidad Social de las ONGD y las relaciones de poder. En su contenido se determina si los discursos mediáticos, incluyendo el publicitario, legitiman relaciones de poder en sus contenidos. Incluye una primera parte que refiere la construcción del discurso de El Otro desde el enfoque de la modernidad, su representación actual en los medios de comunicación, y su divulgación a través del discurso publicitario de las ONGD. Describe el discurso de El Otro en las representaciones mediáticas como legitimadoras de relaciones de poder en el contenido de sus mensajes, tomando en cuenta representaciones culturales, de género y de grupos periféricos o minoritarios que son referidos dichos contenidos. Finalmente, la segunda parte muestra un análisis crítico-empírico del discurso de El Otro aplicado a la publicidad de las ONGD, así como una propuesta para dicho discurso desde enfoques posmodernistas y posdesarrollistas.Departamento de Historia moderna, contemporánea y de América, Periodismo y Comunicación Audiovisual y PublicidadDoctorado en Español: Lingüística, Literatura y Comunicació