Strengthening North-South Partnerships for Sustainable Development

Abstract

Although U.S. private voluntary organizations (PVOs) have been working for more than adecade on improving their partnerships with Southern nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), current surveys indicate that there is still a gap between PVO and Southern NGO perceptions of effectiveness. On the basis of a comparative analysis of four case studies of partnership between U.S. PVOs and African NGOs, this article suggests that the remaining barriers to effective partnership are found in the PVOs’ internal systems for financial and management control. These systems are more attuned to the demands of accountability, as conceptualized in agency theories, than to the demands of partnership as conceptualized in collaboration theories. This article proposes an integrative concept, collaborative accountability, and recommends a number of proactive and practical change strategies for PVOs that wish to continue to improve their partnerships.