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A Monitoring System for Numerous Local Organizations of Poor People: A Case from Bangladesh
Author(s) -
Benini Aldo
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
the electronic journal of information systems in developing countries
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.41
H-Index - 18
ISSN - 1681-4835
DOI - 10.1002/j.1681-4835.2007.tb00217.x
Subject(s) - grassroots , citizen journalism , corporate governance , business , monitoring and evaluation , public relations , knowledge management , political science , economic growth , economics , computer science , finance , politics , law
This is a case study of the monitoring system that a rural development NGO has been using for over ten years to track the progress of a large number of commune‐level organizations of the poor. “RDRS Bangladesh”, the NGO supporting 260 federations of neighborhood groups, has been the intermediary in an aid chain that mobilized considerable funding for social organization in the northwestern region of the country. It has used a highly standardized monitoring tool to demonstrate good project management as well as for internal decision‐making. This bureaucratically administered system co‐existed for many years side by side with participatory arrangements of federation governance. There does not seem to be much accessible research on monitoring systems suitable for the collaboration between intermediary NGOs and numerous grassroots organizations with their own internal complexity and diversity. Around this case study, I briefly review the importance of collective organizations of the poor, and then give a more detailed account of the structure and performance of these 260 federations. In assessing this experience I believe that neither the monitoring nor the participation literatures are as yet adequate to guide research into the monitoring of such large and complex collaborations. The concept of systems of mutual observation in which the supporting NGO and the participant local organizations observe each other continuously, although by different means, may be more appropriate. The challenge is to encourage interpenetration between the two sides for greater validity and innovation while at the same time maintaining simplicity and coherence. Our specific case suggests, perhaps counter intuitively, that less data should be collected so that more time and energy are left to analyze it and to disseminate findings into the organizations of the poor. More generally, this article is written as an invitation for researchers and practitioners to join in the effort to strengthen the information management support for social movements of the poor.