Examining the Contribution of Ngos Towards Enhancing the Wellbeing of Orphans and Other Vulnerable Children in Uganda Case Study: Compassion International (Katovu Cdc) in Malongo Sub-County, Lwengo District

Abstract

An overwhelming body of literature claims that Non-Governmental Organizations are an important engine of development. They are considered to be the “third sector” to the State and the Market. Analysts argue that NGOs not only improve local people’s participation in development processes but also use appropriate approaches to development.

The motivation for this study was therefore to investigate whether these theorized phenomena apply to developing countries like Uganda. The study aimed at examining the contribution of NGOs interventions towards the wellbeing of OVCs in Uganda with specific reference to Katovu CDC, Compassion International in Malongo sub-county. It examined the different interventions set up by the project to enhance wellbeing of OVCs, the contribution of compassion through Katovu CDC to socio-economic development and the challenges facing Katovu in implementation of its programs the findings indicate that NGOs do promote education and training, health, environmental conservation, and protection against child abuse.

However, NGOs are not panacea to poverty reduction in the country. Instead, NGOs are becoming puppets of foreign donors on whom they rely for funding opportunities. They are dependent, elitist, corrupt, less accountable to the beneficiaries and more answerable to their foreign financial benefactors. These flaws lay the foundation for religious strictness, over-concentration in urban areas, passive and pseudo-participation, and inadequate monitoring and evaluation of projects. These findings prove that NGOs are less capable of reducing poverty than has been theorized and idiosyncratically propagated, because they come with pre-planned agendas with strings attached, under the camouflage of poverty reduction.

The study therefore, recommends a paradigm shift: use locally available resources to fund NGOs and to sustainably and accountably induce development. This could be followed by empowering and training the beneficiaries with life skills instead of giving them tangible gifts that do not last but instead force them to develop a dependency syndrome. Granting full educational support, involving beneficiaries in all decision making and demanding for accountability and greater partnership with local government authorities would also create synergy between Non-governmental and governmental development interventions in the district and indeed the whole country.

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