NGOs can serve communities better by listening more, researchers say
A new study has shed light on how international charities and non-governmental organisations can better serve some of the most marginalised people in the world - by learning to truly listen to them.
Dr Sofia Yasmin from The University of Manchester鈥檚 Alliance 91直播 Business School and Professor Chaudhry Ghafran from Durham University looked at how a major international NGO delivered a clean water and sanitation project in two of Pakistan鈥檚 poorest urban communities - one Christian, and one Muslim.
The team spent time on the ground, talking with local residents, community leaders and NGO staff. Their aim was to understand how accountability - the idea that organisations should answer to the people they serve - works in practice in places where poverty, religion, gender and social class all intersect.
鈥淲hat we found was that even within poor communities, people don鈥檛 experience aid in the same way,鈥� said Dr Yasmin. 鈥淎 Christian minority neighbourhood, for example, faced a deeper level of exclusion and was grateful simply to be seen, while another Muslim community - though still poor - felt able to challenge and question the project. These differences really matter if we want development to be fair and inclusive.鈥�
The study - published in the - revealed that while NGOs often talk about 鈥渃ommunity participation,鈥� decision-making can remain tightly controlled by donors and distant managers. Projects are frequently governed by strict budgets and performance targets, leaving little room for flexibility or for local people to shape outcomes.
Yet the study also uncovered moments of hope. In one community, trust between residents and NGO workers grew not through slogans or workshops, but through the visible arrival of clean water systems and working infrastructure. 鈥淧eople believed what they could see,鈥� said Dr Yasmin. 鈥淭rust was built when promises turned into pipes.鈥�
The paper introduces the idea of 鈥渇luid responsiveness鈥� - a call for NGOs to treat accountability not as a tick-box exercise, but as a living, evolving relationship with the communities they serve.
Our research shows that accountability is not one-size-fits-all - it鈥檚 about being sensitive to people鈥檚 histories, their faith, their social position, and recognising that some voices are much harder to hear than others.
Dr Yasmin hopes the findings will encourage international charities, donors and governments to rethink how they design and monitor conservation projects. 鈥淚f we want sustainable development,鈥� she said, 鈥渨e have to stop speaking for people and start listening to them - especially those who are most often ignored.鈥�