Characteristics of a development aid organization

The development aid organization

An aid agency is an organisation dedicated to distributing aid.

Normative Principles of Program Management Quality for an aid organization

Many professional aid organisations exist, both within government (e.g. USAID, DFID, ECHO), between governments as multilateral donors (e.g. UNDP) and as private voluntary organizations (or non-governmental organisations, e.g. ActionAid, Oxfam, CAFOD, Mercy Corps, Global AIDS Alliance).

The International Committee of the Red Cross is unique in being mandated by international treaty to uphold the Geneva Conventions.

a Typical Aid Organization will implement projects/activities with adequate methodologies like:

• Participatory Approach and Transparency to Development Actions and Policies  -   Participation Methods and Tools

In a Typical Aid Organization programmes represents a series of projects/activities that:

• Address poverty and suffering through specified changes in Policy, Practice, Ideas and Beliefs,

• Are normally combined to achieve changes in Policy, Practice, Ideas and Beliefs at more than one level (local/national/global),

• Gender issues are considered at each stage of the programme cycle.

Some organizations are in a effective professional environment, others in a regulated monopoly.

A basic assumption of this manual is that the best managerial style for a development aid organization  is that of designing and managing itself and its culture in such a way as to make itself :

• a projectized organization,
• a learning organization
• an employee empowering organization,

and that these three features are reciprocally reinforcing. An organization cultivating all the three features can simultaneously achieve work effectiveness, a healthy communication climate and a strong team spirit that motivates internal and external stakeholders in cooperating towards the achievement of cooperation objectives.

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See

• Defining Development

• Defining Aid

• Humanitarian aid

• Development Aid

• what is an organization

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Definitions of non-governmental organization on the Web:

• Description: NGO - A nonprofit group or association organized outside of institutionalized political structures to realize particular social ...
  ec.europa.eu/research/biosociety/library/glossarylist_en.cfm

   

• A non-profit organization which is independent from government.
  faculty.maxwell.syr.edu/hpschmitz/TNGOProject/TNGOGlossary.htm

   

• A non-profit making, voluntary, service-oriented/development oriented organization, either for the benefit of members (a grassroots organization) or of other members of the population (an agency). (World Bank). ...
  www.traditionalknowledge.info/glossary.php

   

• A nonprofit group largely funded by private contributions that operates outside of institutionalized government or political structures. In general, NGOs have as their agendas social, political, and environmental concerns.
  www.pbs.org/wgbh/rxforsurvival/glossary.html

   

• A not-for-profit organization that pursues an issue or issues of interest to its members by lobbying, persuasion, and/or direct action. In the arena of international economics, NGOs play an increasing role defending human rights and the environment, and fighting poverty.
  www-personal.umich.edu/~alandear/glossary/n.html

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See aslo: The Organization’s mission statement.

Other resources:

• Europe Aid: Institutional Assessment and Capacity Development