1995_1_coordination constraints in Tanzania

Coordination constraints in Tanzania

Margôt Koekkoek and Ellen Steenbeek

Bukoba Rural District (Kagera Region), Tanzania, is greatly affected by the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Government interventions there are primarily concerned with education and research on the situation of AIDS orphans. NGOs and international organizations carry out research, prevention, counselling and care. Although all the parties desire coordination to avoid overlap and duplication of activities and to improve their effectiveness, a study we did in 1993 showed that little cooperation was actually taking place. A summary of factors which appeared to hinder coordination efforts there may provide clues as to the causes of coordination problems elsewhere.

Problem description

Basic information was collected through questionnaires (NGOs only), document research, participatory observation and open interviews with district and regional government officials, NGOs and other organizations. This led to the following characterization of the situation in Bukoba:

Local governmental officials were initially poorly informed about the extent and effects of HIV/AIDS in the district.

The NGOs were not very open about their plans and activities, which made it difficult for local government to obtain a clear overall picture of their interventions (i.e., who exactly did what). Moreover, the number of organizations involved in AIDS-related activities seemed distorted as some only mentioned such interventions to raise funds.

Government interventions were subordinate to those of NGOs, mainly due to lack of funding and resources.

Few interventions appeared operational despite the large number of organizations with available financial resources. Interventions being implemented often had an ad hoc, rather than systematic or strategic, character.

Although the NGOs claimed that they wanted to cooperate with other NGOs, little cooperation seemed to be taking place, resulting in overlap and duplication.

While local officials and NGOs believed that local government should assume the task of coordinating AIDS-related activities, both groups affirmed that the government was not succeeding in this.

Problem analysis

The national government delegated responsibility for coordinating HIV/AIDS activities to local governments; in Bukoba, the latter's ability to do this was limited for several reasons.

Attempts made by both government officials and NGOs to create consultative bodies had not yet yielded substantial results. A lack of a structured reporting system from NGOs to the local government and vice versa could to a large extent be attributed to different expectations regarding the purpose of information exchange.

From the government's point of view, external aid (also provided via NGOs) should be complementary to government efforts. However, the lack of financial resources to implement all necessary interventions placed local government in the position of having to accept any help offered. The district and regional authorities therefore wished to be extensively informed about NGO activities. The NGOs did not see themselves as complementary to government activities, but as independent organizations with their own policies and objectives. They felt that the government should create an obstacle-free environment in which they could work, while ensuring that there was no overlap or duplication of activities.

NGOs have their own identities based on ideological and geographical backgrounds which determine the nature of their activities and greatly influence their willingness to cooperate with other organizations or the government. Organizations receiving funds from abroad may be tempted to adapt their objectives and activities to donors' wishes. They are therefore focused on their own programmes and results. This dependence on donors also explains why such a large number of organizations in Bukoba were doing "something" on AIDS: AIDS had become a marketing instrument.

The NGOs' lack of transparency towards the local government and other NGOs could be partly explained by their position of power and independence due to access to financial resources. If they lost (some of) this independence, the demands on them from the local government could clash with those of their sponsors. In fact, both NGOs and the local government are strongly dependent on foreign donors for financing of their activities.

The coordinating responsibilities of the different government bodies involved were also unclear. The uncompleted process of decentralization created a situation in which local officials were not always sure whether they had the authority to take decisions concerning the coordination tasks officially delegated to them. Inadequate communication between higher and lower government levels made coordination even more difficult. Decentralization was further hampered because capable people left their government positions for better paid jobs with NGOs.

Conclusions

The study revealed that two sorts of factors were limiting the local government's ability to coordinate HIV/AIDS-related activities in Bukoba District: structural and relational. Structural factors include tasks and responsibilities, reporting and consultation while relational factors refer to influences on mutual relationships such as power, group identity and personal interests.

Coordination in Bukoba could be furthered via a clearly defined HIV/AIDS policy and strategy and a demarcation of tasks and responsibilities at all levels. Such a policy could help structure communication among NGOs and between NGOs and the government. Increased awareness of the different interests of NGOs and government could also help all parties involved gain a better understanding of coordination problems.

Margôt Koekkoek and Ellen Steenbeek, Bilderdijkstraat 22, 3532 VG, Utrecht, The Netherlands.