Reforming government funding of development NGOs: a comparative analysis of eight European donors

This paper consists of a comparative study of public financing of NGO development cooperation in selected European countries. The study encompasses the Nordic+ group (Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and Ireland) and Switzerland. Its main objective is to find out whether and how in the countries studied the modalities and objectives of the subsidization of Northern NGOs have been adapted to the rationale and requirements of the new aid approach as embodied in the 2005 DAC Paris Declaration. We describe the evolutions in the volumes, the procedures and modalities of funding to Northern NGOs, We argue that remarkable changes have been made in co-financing of development NGOs and give an analysis of the underlying rationale of these reforms. The annex to this paper contains the full version of the country studies.