NGOs drift towards service delivery

[Rituu B. Nanda]

In August 2025, a group of fifteen representatives from five NGOs in Nepal came together to establish a cohort, supported by the Global Fund for Children under the Addressing Root Causes (ARC) initiative. The group had an in-depth discussion on the respective roles of NGOs and communities in driving development.

Growing dependency on outsiders the discussion kicked off  with a comment from one of the participants, "When we deliver goods, people gather quickly to collect them. Yet, when we organize meetings in communities, participation is far lower." Many community members now expect NGOs to provide for them, rather than seeing themselves as architects in their own development.

Reason behind the pattern of dependency The participants said that dependency did not happen overnight. Aid agencies and international NGOs helped to create it, and the earthquake recovery deepened it further. For years, many needs in Nepal went unmet. When INGOs arrived, they offered tents, rice, and cash. At first, this met urgent needs. But it also set a rhythm of receiving. Slowly, asking replaced community action. Social media during the earthquake played a part too affecting rural areas. Rural families saw money and goods pouring and several small community based organizations were formed. Participants also added that to gain donor attention.NGOs competed to show who could give the most. Another participant said that communities began to ask questions like which brand of rice they were getting. So in this race, the voice of the community slipped into the background. Services and supplies often are not relevant for the community, the work is not sustainable.

It is time to change direction? Participants said that while services are required, but its time that  NGOs raise this awareness amongst funders, stakeholders particularly the government.  While external agencies are accountable to the the community members but they also need to act responsibly.

What can we do as Nepal ARC cohort?

1. NGO should be facilitator between different stakeholders on importance of community's role in progress
2. Creating awareness about the value of approaches like SALT 
3. Focus on identifying community resources

Conclusion- One participant said, "the scenario has completely changed. When I was a child, there were community-led actions but now it is mainly service delivery.  The competition to receive services also causes conflicts. Its not easy to change this mindset which has become very deep rooted in communities and NGOs as aid agencies and other NGOs continue to be providers. For eg other NGOs give incentives to attend meetings and but we avoid them, so people are more drawn to these organizations."

See this blog written after Nepal earthquake by a youth Saunak from Nepal, the Constellation responded to his call and financed my travel  to support him and his team team https://aidscompetence.ning.com/forum/topics/competent-communities-...

*Am grateful to the participants for the opportunity to learn from them and to Nawaz and Shristi who facilitated this discussion.

[Shahrukh Atpade]

This experience illustrates that participation and ownership are more important than providing services. If we involve the community in achieving anything, they can come forward and use their own capabilities. Most organizations in the world have met the needs of people by providing a service, a product or a facility. But this has reduced people's proactivity and willingness to do something themselves. Now we need to change this approach. Thank you Ritu for sharing this experience with us...!