A Third-Sector Alternative: NGOs and Grassroots Initiatives

Abstract

The search for alternative modes of service delivery has taken some unexpected turns, one of which is towards non-governmental organisations and grassroots initiatives as primary providers of the basic services normally associated with government: health, education, social welfare, shelter, emergency relief, agricultural assistance, rural credit, and others. Unlike privatisation and an expanded business sector, the ‘Third Sector’ is a less-discussed source of ongoing services. Northern NGOs were, until recently, thought of only as short-term providers of assistance or developmental catalysts. Southern NGOs and grassroots initiatives were frequently viewed as small-scale, fragmented efforts with little ability to become institutionalised, and were commonly regarded as a nuisance — if not a potential threat — by indigenous government administrators.