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Shooting oneself in the foot: is donor-imposed bureaucracy turning civil society organizations into malfunctioning machines?
M. Huff-Rousselle1, J. Toyo2, F. Sala-Diakanda2
1Social Sectors Development Strategies, Boston, United States, 2Social Sectors Development Strategies, Inc, Abidjan, Cote D'Ivoire
Issues: Donor
agency regulations and policies attached to financial aid in international
health programs are designed to guarantee transparent financial administration,
but often serve to undermine internal systems, especially financial systems,
even in the process of strengthening them.
Description: The presentation is based on two studies
conducted 10 years apart:
1) a PhD dissertation that used qualitative methods
to study seven regional- or national-level Caribbean organizations dependent on
different donors;
2) findings from applications of a financial assessment tool
that scored seven CSOs receiving PEPFAR funding in Cote d´Ivoire, using 32
categories of questions and a 5-point scale.
Lessons learned: Although
external funding was a significant source of support for the 14 organizations
and their programs, the regulations and policies undermined efforts to unify management
systems and financial administration in the following ways:
1) fragmentation
into a patchwork of mini-systems, responding to donor/project requirements,
with no unified system;
2) internal inconsistencies in policies and procedures;
3) donor requirements taking precedence over local laws (e.g. USAID bio-data
forms completed but local payroll taxes never paid);
4) donor requirements taking
precedence over internationally recognized accounting standards (e.g. project
reporting takes priority over annual fiscal year reports;
5) project-driven
system strengthening that has become a historic artifact, filed away after the
project is completed, as it was never an "organizational" system;
and
6) double standards for local and international organizations.
Next steps: Findings highlight the
need for organization-wide strengthening of CSOs, and a review of donor
policies and practical “social justice” in the way such policies are applied to
CSOs.
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