Rights Based Approaches & The New Politics of Funding in African NGOs

After noting the inadequacies in the previous development approaches to address the problem of underdevelopment in the developing world, development agencies are now adopting the application of a Rights-Based Approach (RBA), a new development strategy as prescribed by the United Nations system. Under RBA, the emphasis is more on the users¿ rights in the implementation processes rather than focusing on the end-result of the project. With donor fatigue soaring at present, most NGOs plying their trade in the developing world are operating under the banner of RBA, the move seen by critics as a gimmick to guarantee easy access to donor funding. In this balanced and timely study, the author examines the application of RBA in Malawi by assessing the work of ActionAid in communities that is culturally diverse in which the organisation was implementing development project on women¿s land rights issues. The project was aimed at empowering women to claim and reclaim their land and propriety rights in the country¿s four political districts between the years 2009-2010.