NGOs, donors, and the state in Bangladesh

This article examines nongovernmental organization (NGO) partnership issues in the light of a 1996 World Bank report that seeks to promote a greater level of partnership between government and NGOs. The first part of the article briefly reviews Bangladesh's now well-known NGO sector. The continuing status of independent Bangladesh as a major recipient of international aid has created an environment in which the growth of most private voluntary development agencies is directly linked with the provision of external resources. While the World Bank report urges closer cooperation between NGOs and government, it ignores the fact that many existing partnerships are often of a dependent character. The second part of this article presents a recent case study of NGO-government linkages in aquaculture. The purpose is to examine the realities of the current rhetoric of NGO-government partnership that are found to be driven primarily by resource priorities.