Contracts or partnerships : working through local NGOs in Ghana and Nepal : how local NGOs have been engaged in the provision of rural water and sanitation at community level in Ghana and Nepal

This report examines the issue of how to engage local non-government organizations (NGOs) in the provision of rural water and sanitation at the community level. It focuses on Ghana and Nepal, where national programmes are currently being implemented which give the main responsibility for community water delivery to the private sector and NGOs. Local NGOs are very much involved in competing for contracts for undertaking community water and sanitation projects. WaterAid is also working through local NGOs in Ghana and Nepal, channelling its funding through eight NGOs in Ghana and one NGO in Nepal. The partnership approach followed by WaterAid in these countries represents a very different way of working through local NGOs to the contractual approach. This report aims to explore these differences and to draw out lessons from WaterAid's experience on how to work effectively with local NGOs.