The participation of non-governmental organisations in local development: the case of Aga Khan foundation youth empowerment programme in Garissa county.

Abstract

Since the rise of the Washington Consensus in the 1980s, non-governmental organisations have increased their role as development actors at national and international contexts, implementing development projects and creating awareness on various issues to create change. They have been lauded in literature as implementers of doing good. Nonetheless, fullscale analysis of their operations on local development is yet to be fully documented to be awarded such appellations. Hence, the premise of this study was to analyse non-governmental participation in local development taking a case study of an NGO in Kenya – the Aga Khan Foundation – and its recent implementation of the Youth Empowerment Programme in northeastern Kenya, specifically looking at Garissa county. This study was underpinned by the human development paradigm that opines that beneficiaries in a given development project should be involved in the process to not only build their capabilities to determine their outcomes but also ensure project success and continuity once a project comes to an end. In this context, youth participation can best contribute to solutions and planning which can be powerful in fostering opportunities for youth leadership and change. Methodologically, the study employed gender-sensitive and innovative approaches to include local perceptions and opinions to explore project outcomes and impact on the community. Both quantitative and qualitative methods were deployed in the form of a quantitative phone survey, various key informant interviews and focus group discussions with stakeholders during a programme evaluation in which the data collected was used for this study. Additionally, follow-up key informant interviews were used to gather more information long after project completion to also complement primary and secondary data. Study findings revealed that though the programme was successful in its implementation and had created the seeds for the promotion of local development in Garissa (through self-reliance and capacity building) more still needs to be done. This is to ensure that the foundations laid by the programme are sustainable in the decades to come.