The last decade has seen some significant changes in international development and in the status of non-governmental organisations operating in the field. Not only has the number of NGOs virtually doubled; many of them have seen a considerable growth in their budgets, and have grown closer to governments and official aid agencies. NGOs are acknowledged by many to be more effective agents of development than governments or commercial interests ? even as a ?magic bullet? for development problems.

Despite these positive trends, the real impact of the NGO sector is not well documented. This is partly because NGO performance-assessment and accountability methods are weak, and partly because NGOs are caught up increasingly in the world of official aid, which pushes them towards certain forms of evaluation at the expense of others. This unique book takes a hard and critical look at these issues, and describes how NGOs can, and must, improve the way they measure and account for their performance if they are to be truly effective.

Edwards, Michael ; Hulme, David

Part I Conceptual Frameworks; Chapter 1 NGO Performance and Accountability: Introduction and Overview, Michael Edwards, David Hulme; Chapter 2 Why NGOs are not a Third Sector: a Sectoral Analysis with Some Thoughts on Accountability, Sustainability and Evaluation, Norman Uphoff; Chapter 3 Negotiating Room for Manoeuvre: Reflections Concerning NGO Autonomy and Accountability Within the New Policy Agenda, Stephen Biggs, Arthur Neame; Chapter 4 'Board Games': Governance and Accountability in NGOs, Rajesh Tandon; Part II Case Studies; Chapter 5 Scaling-up, Mainstreaming and Accountability: the Challenge for NGOs, Frits Wils; Chapter 6 European NGOs and Democratisation in Central America: Assessing Performance in the Light of Changing Priorities, Kees Biekart; Chapter 7 From Accountability to Shared Responsibility: NGO Evaluation in Latin America, Hector Béjar, Peter Oakley; Chapter 8 Accountability and Part Icipation: a Case Study from Bombay, Vandana Desai, Mick Howes; Chapter 9 Strategies for Monitoring and Accountability: the Working Women's Forum Model, Janaki Ramesh; Chapter 10 NGO Accountability in Bangladesh: Beneficiaries, Donors and the State, Syed Hashemi; Chapter 11 NGOs in Bangladesh: Issues of Legitimacy and Accountability, Mahbubul Karim; Chapter 12 ::, David Pratten, Suliman Ali Baldo; Chapter 13 ::, Zie Gariyo; Part III Ways Forward; Chapter 14 Assessing NGO Performance: Difficulties, Dilemmas and a Way Ahead, Alan Fowler; Chapter 15 Painting Canadian Roses Red, Ian Smillie; Chapter 16 ::, Jane Covey; Chapter 17 Part Icipatory Methods for Increasing NGO Accountability: a Case Study from India, Parmesh Shah, Meera Kaul Shah; Chapter 18 Transforming the Transnational NGOs: Social Auditing or Bust?, Simon Zadek, Murdoch Gatward; Chapter 19 ::, Robert Chambers; Chapter 20 Beyond the Magic Bullet? Lessons and Conclusions, Michael Edwards, David Hulme;