Government and NGOs/CBOs working together for better cities : strategies and practical modalities for increased cooperation in human settlements between local, state/provincial and national government institutions and NGOs/CBOs

This working paper is based on a report submitted to UNCHS in preparation of the UNCHS (Habitat) meeting on governmental/non-governmental cooperation in the field of human settlements, held in The Hague, The Netherlands, from 2 to 6 November 1992. It focuses on the roles and relationships between three of the main actors in this domain, Government, Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and Community Based organizations (CBOs), and how they can be strengthened so as to make them more effective. In particular the scale of impact of cooperation should become more significant.

The paper reviews the context of the discussion, including development areas where increased cooperation is important. Section two looks in more detail at the main actors, especially their attitudes and capabilities. Section 3 reviews the experience of implementing a number of broad strategies to improve relationships. The main factors influencing the relationships are analyzed, in particular the constraints which operate and which hamper cooperation at a larger scale. The most important constraints relate to attitudes, institutional framework and capability, in particular in terms of management. Relationships of governments with CBOs and NGOs are then examined in greater depth in section 4, at different levels of government.
The main areas of recommendation are provided in section 5 : 1) the policy framework; 2) change of attitude; 3) the institutional framework; and 4) capability building. The paper concludes by linking the broad recommendations to the main actors involved in order to make them as specific as possible.