Form Submission: Participation Entry

What happens when the funds run out in a development project? How do communities and NGOs work together to ensure community needs are met—or is that what happens? I examine decision making processes and conceptualizations of ‘success’ among 15 water purification stations implemented by a small NGO in rural Egypt. NGO staff, community members, and donors hold divergent and convergent ideas about why water purification stations are necessary in rural Egypt. My research examines the impact of those ideas for communities on the ground. This is important in a rapidly shifting donor landscape where subcontracting has become the norm and long-term financial viability is treated as the bottom line for determining a project’s success or failure.