Re-inventing the wheel

While academics work away, producing carefully crafted and thoroughly and systematically researched papers on current development issues, this work is failing to inform the practise of many NGOs and development projects. Overstretched and understaffed, many NGOs can be seen to operate reactively to challenges, rather than actively anticipating those challenges and taking preventative measures. However, even these reactive measures could be made more effective by drawing on the wealth of best practise knowledge available. By failing to systematically and regularly consult the advice, tools and support available, NGOs find themselves continually attacking time old, and arising issues from scratch. 

I found this broken sculpture in the office. I think of it as an apt visual representation of two NGOs doing exactly the same thing, failing to collaborate, and not even having the head to notice.

It is hard to identify the exact point of disconnect. Certainly, much academic work is inaccessible to implementers organisations. This can be literally so, when access requires expensive subscriptions to academic journals and portals. Time constraints and the need for clear,concise and to the point recommendations can also rule out the helpfullness of longer, more theoretical papers. Where to begin looking for information on a particular topic is a mindfield in iteself. Clusters of small, ill coordinated and patchily informed fora and "platforms" have mushroomed up to encourage information sharing and collaboration. However, in duplicating one another they run the risk of becoming part of the problem, rather than the solution. 

A quick google search identfied a Ugandan CSO forum here  http://www.civilsocietyforum.org/about-portal which offers a more inclusive directory of CSOs according to thematic areas. However, the listing itself is neither exhaustive nor particularly informative. Some clarity on what a Civil Society Organisation actually is might also help matters, and work to exclude currently included international NGOs (INGOs) like ActionAid (which work with CSOS rather than being one), from the list. Hello uganda fare better in providing contact numbers and a more comprehensive listing service http://hellouganda.com/listing/index.php?id=3 but have no provision for searching under thematic areas. As a source of best practise and recent information, Eldis http://www.eldis.org/ is a pretty good bet, allowing searches by country and by thematic area. However, the search tools are basic, and can't take one into specifics beyond a broad area such as '"health" or "HIV &AIDS." There is no provision for, example, specifically searching for information on the use of SMS technology among community health workers in HIV and AIDS. You just have to scroll through the recently added articles list to see if anything comes up.

There doesn't seem to be a one stop shop for NGOs or DPs seeking development  information  and technical case studies and info that could be used to inform their own current and future practise. It is not just  labyrinthine sources of information that foster this situation of  stubborn ignorence . NGOs themselves lack a culture of consultation and exchange with others. True collaboration often excludes the competitive and is therefore unpopular among NGOs who are continually fighting to maintain a competitive edge. In the quest for income, the business of development can be an unpleasant one. What is perhaps most frustrating is that while weak businesses are weeded out by market forces, NGOs are immune to these. Lack of vigorous monitoring and evaluation of real project impact, rather than just outputs, and weak accountability requirements that are directed towards donors, rather than those they claim to serve, can lead to a proliferation of ineffective organisations that continue unchallenged.

Fortunately, relevant research does trickle down into organisations which dont have a budget for a research team, or which have a budget for an eneffective research team. This tends to come through the working groups that have been established around particular areas like HIV&AIDS and in whose meetings really valuable information and research based changes in policy changes  is disseminated and shared. For those operating on the fringes of these networks howwever, or those that have no internal process for consulting, or responding to information shared, re-inventing the wheel is commonplace.