Non-Government Organizations' aid funded projects and value for money in Uganda

Abstract

The research set out to examine the Value for Money (VfM) Non-Government Organizations’ (NGOs) aid projects bring to the development sector in Uganda. This was done by assessing the effectiveness, relevance, cost and efficiency of NGO aid projects. Adequate assessment dictated the use of a mixed methods approach, which used a survey, Most Significant Change technique, Follow the Money method and Unit Cost Analysis to appraise three concluded NGO aid projects. It was found that NGO aid projects do not deliver the promised Value for Money to the development sector in Uganda. The aid projects were found to be ineffective, uneconomical, inefficient and superficially relevant. The minimal positive effects in the beneficiary households did not match project targets committed to by NGOs at the time of inception. When appraised against different poverty indicators, the majority of project supported households were found to still be poor two years after project completion. Drawing from the conclusion on VfM, the research results raise implications for theory and practice. The implications relate to the incongruence between the Neoliberalism theory of pro-NGO arguments, the limitations of the functional approach commonly used to study NGO projects and lastly, the disconnect between the ‘project’ approach and the priorities in the 2030 Agenda. The research makes three recommendations. The first, NGO aid projects should be used as innovation pace makers working in research frameworks that identify, test and recommend possible development interventions for Government consideration. The second, the NGO legal framework in Uganda should provide guidance on objective and standardized results management of NGO aid projects. Lastly, in the wake of the 2030 agenda and the global effects of the COVID 19 pandemic, development aid investment should be guided by evidence of capacity of aid channels to deliver value for money.