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Grassroots Support Organization

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Grassroots Support Organization (GSOs) are a specialized subset of Intermediate Non-Governmental Organizations (INGOs) that "that provides services allied support to local groups of disadvantaged rural or urban households and individuals. In its capacity as an intermediary institution, a GSO forges links between beneficiaries and the often remote levels of government, donor, and financial institutions. It may also provide services indirectly to other organizations that support the poor or perform coordinating or networking functions[1]." Martinez (2008) defines GSOs as "development NGOs providing services and resources that enhance the capacity of impoverished communities and their organizations to build sustainable alternatives to their challenging life conditions[2]."

GSOs can be distinguished from other Non-governmental development organizations in the the following ways:

  1. "They foster the long-term empowerment of impoverished populations by assisting them in decision making and the mobilization of resources and political power[3]."
  2. "Located in the nongovernmental sector, GSOs are formal organizations independent from both the state and private sector but concerned with public interest issues relevant to those two sectors[4] Cited in [5]
  3. "They are voluntary, self-governed organizations usually managed by professional middle- and upper-class individuals who most likely are not of the same class or background as those with whom they work[6][7] Cited in [8].
  4. They often deliver "a comprehensive package of support services deemed essential to the enhancement of community-based, socioeconomic change efforts. This packaging of services distinguishes GSOs from other development NGOs that provide one or more support services but do not offer the comprehensive approach of grassroots support[9]."
  5. "As development NGOs, GSOs exemplify Balbis’s (2001) distinction between charity and development NGOs, that is, the “distinction among NGOs between those that offer assistance or charity and those that offer promotion and social development” (p. 28). This distinction is one that is consistently made in the literature on GSOs in order to emphasize the significant differences in their orientation to social and economic problems and the populations affected by them and in the practices through which they engage communities in need[10][11][12][13][14] Cited in [15]

See also

  • Village Earth:The Consortium for Sustainable Village-based Development
  • The Center for Participatory Change [1]
  • The Southern Rural Development Initiative [2]

References

  1. ^ Carrol, Thomas F., Intermediary NGOs: The Supporting Link in Grassroots Development. Kumarian Press, Inc., 1992
  2. ^ Rafael A. Boglio Martínez, Grassroots Support Organizations and Transformative Practices, Journal of Community Practice, Vol. 16(3) 2008
  3. ^ Rafael A. Boglio Martínez, Grassroots Support Organizations and Transformative Practices, Journal of Community Practice, Vol. 16(3) 2008
  4. ^ Arrosi, S., Bombarolo, F., Hardoy, J. E., Mitlin, D., Coscio, L. P., & Satterwaite, D. (Eds.). (1994). Funding community initiatives. London: Earthscan Publications
  5. ^ Rafael A. Boglio Martínez, Grassroots Support Organizations and Transformative Practices, Journal of Community Practice, Vol. 16(3) 2008
  6. ^ Carrol, Thomas F., Intermediary NGOs: The Supporting Link in Grassroots Development. Kumarian Press, Inc., 1992
  7. ^ Fisher, J. (1998). Nongovernments: NGOs and the political development of the third world. West Hartford: Kumarian Press
  8. ^ Rafael A. Boglio Martínez, Grassroots Support Organizations and Transformative Practices, Journal of Community Practice, Vol. 16(3) 2008
  9. ^ Rafael A. Boglio Martínez, Grassroots Support Organizations and Transformative Practices, Journal of Community Practice, Vol. 16(3) 2008
  10. ^ Balbis, J. (2001). NGOs, governance and development in Latin America and the Caribbean. UNESCO, Management of Social Transformation (MOST), Discussion Paper No. 53. Paris: MOST Program.
  11. ^ Carrol, Thomas F., Intermediary NGOs: The Supporting Link in Grassroots Development. Kumarian Press, Inc., 1992
  12. ^ Lane, J. (1995). Non-governmental organizations and participatory development: The concept in theory versus the concept in practice. In N. Nelson, & S. Wright (Eds.), Power and participatory development: Theory and practice (pp. 181–191). London: Intermediate Technology Publications.
  13. ^ Lee, Y. S. (1998). Intermediary institutions, community organizations, and urban environmental management: The case of three Bangkok slums. World Development, 26(6), 993–1011.
  14. ^ World Bank. (2006). Intermediary NGOs. Retrieved October 13, 2006, from http://www.worldbank.org/wbi/sourcebook/sb0404t.htm
  15. ^ Rafael A. Boglio Martínez, Grassroots Support Organizations and Transformative Practices, Journal of Community Practice, Vol. 16(3) 2008


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