USAID-financed PVO co-financing projects in the Philippines and Indonesia : reshaping the terms of PVO collaboration

has supported several co-financing projects with U.S. and indigenous PVO"s (IPVO"s) in the Philippines and Indonesia. These projects have shown that IPVO"s are no longer passive recipients of assistance but true collaborators of A.I.D. and U.S. PVO"s. In fact, established IPVO"s now provide the only affordable means of reaching smaller, newly formed, local organizations in isolated and widely dispersed areas. In addition, by helping their clients participate in their own development the IPVO"s have written a success story in "democratization" that should be heard and understood by the U.S. Congress and the American people. A key policy implication is that A.I.D. should accord the IPVO"s greater responsibility, especially in regard to financial management. At the same time, A.I.D. should only attempt to replicate the Indonesia and Philippine co-financing program after thoroughly analyzing the new setting. The co-financing projects have also shown that, as development practitioners, IPVO"s are as good as and often better than the U.S. PVO"s now serving them, and know more about the local culture and government sensitivities than do the U.S. PVO"s. And the annual cost of an expatriate TA consultant - $100,000 - could pay the salaries of several local development workers. While not unappreciative of past assistance, IPVO"s now desire to specify the help they need from their U.S. counterparts and to share with them the knowledge they have themselves acquired of the development field.