Partners for real: can government, NGOs and donors work together?

Partnerships between government, donors and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) have become a popular feature of development programmes in aid-recipient countries. Yet partnerships often do not perform well. It is hard to see why as they are not routinely monitored. A London School of Economics study seeks to uncover the dynamics of inter- agency partnerships in the fisheries sector in Bangladesh. A closer look shows that a mixture of joint action, risk taking, conflict and negotiation often produces unintended dividends. Active and dependent partnerships co-exist and findings suggest that shifting the focus to view partnership as a process which can bring its own rewards could help boost dependency into action.