Beneficiaries are actors too.pdf - Southern Institute of Peace ...

presence at the ground level as actors with an abundance of good
will generated through years of development and rehabilitation
work. Apart from creating a friendly atmosphere for negotiations,
where the prospects for such negotiations are not visible at the
level of the conflicting actors, the NGOs can play a key role in
many intractable conflicts. Peace building is now seen as a part of
sustaining agreements reached. Very few organizations if any are
perhaps more equipped than NGOs in undertaking this task.
However, in order to play a more effective role in conflict
management, the NGOs may have to reorient themselves with the
appropriate attitude and skills, which of course should be seen as
an additional element of their development work. So far NGOs
have been playing mixed roles which make them friends on one
extreme end and foes on the other. It is through the
implementation of the recommendations cited that NGOs may
extricate themselves from the controversies that have
surrounded their involvements in conflict resolution.
References
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Barr, A and Fafchamps, M. (2006) A Client-Community
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Development Studies, forthcoming.
De Beer F, Swanepoel, H. (2005) Community development and
beyond: Issues, structures and procedures. Pretoria: van Schaik.
Fruttero, A. and Gauri, V. (2005) The Strategic Choices of NGOs:
Location Decisions in Bangladesh. Journal of Development
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Gary, I. (1996) Confrontation, co-operation or co-optation: NGOs
and the Ghanaian state during structure adjustment. Review of
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Gauri, V. and Galef, J. (2005 NGOs in Bangladesh: Activities,
Resources, and Governance. World Development, 33 (12): 2045-
2065.
Hudock, A. (1999) NGOs and Civil Society: Democracy by Proxy?
Cambridge: Polity Press.
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