A research and advocacy agenda for African NGOs in Eastern and Southern Africa : background papers for the PIP-funded MWENGO seminar

The first paper examines the role NGO"s can play in advancing popular participation and decentralization in development planning and implementation. The second discusses the need to strengthen links between grassroots NGO"s and research organizations, and explores ways to do so. The third paper discusses the role of NGO"s, especially international NGO"s, in providing humanitarian assistance in circumstances of violent civil conflict; it includes descriptions of the past operations of NGO"s in civil conflicts in Sudan, Ethiopia, and Somalia. The final paper is a case study of NGO activity in the Sudan, where relations between the government and international NGO"s, particularly those with religious affiliations, have had a turbulent history.