Paper short abstract:

The NGO sector has been widely criticised for their failure to demonstrate the ideas of partnership in practice, especially between INGOs and SNGOs. The paper argues that local NGOs are empowered through partnership to have more influence on the agendas and encourages accountability to local NGOs

Paper long abstract:

The NGO sector has been widely criticised for their failure to demonstrate the ideas of partnership in practice, especially between INGOs and their Southern NGO partners. Previous literature argues that the conventional partnership principles often fail in practice because INGOs wield power and influence over their local NGO partners based on funding system. Based on a case study of ActionAid Nigeria and its local NGO partners, this paper investigates whether the meaning and interpretation of NGO partnership can vary due to the position and status of partner organisations. It also examines whether some of the key aspects of partnership are undermined in actual practice. The study employed semi-structured interviews, focus group interviews, documents analysis, and a direct observation of ActionAid's Partnership Forum, 2014. Empirical observations show that there is a common understanding of the key partnership principles and values between these sets of NGOs. All the informants claimed that they strive to demonstrate the ideas of partnership in practice based on their commitment to rights values. This can possibly promote a genuine/effective engagement between INGO donors and their local NGO partners. The result has shown that local NGOs are empowered through partnership to have more influence on the development agendas, which encourages downward accountability to local NGOs, and the ultimate beneficiaries of aid.