Development cooperation with Norwegian NGOs in Bolivia. How the developent cooperation is affected by a stronger state

Abstract

The Bolivian state evicted USAID and the Danish development organization IBIS for conspiracy against the state and political meddling in 2013, and introduced the same year a new law that involves more restrictions and regulation towards NGOs. Bolivia is not the first country to put restrictions and regulations on NGOs, and more countries introduce restrictions and regulations on NGOs. More than half of the world's states have implemented control on NGOs, and an increasing number of states have put restrictions and regulations on NGOs and civil society. The roles of NGOs as the mainstream development actor have also changed, and they are not as favored by donors as they once were. This is a qualitative study that presents how three Norwegian NGOs and their Bolivian partner NGOs relate and adapts to the new regulations from the Bolivian state. The analysis is based on Nelson's six dimensions of organizational life, to get an understanding of how the Norwegian and Bolivian NGOs in this study relate to each other, their donors in Norway and the Bolivian state. The study also presents how the power relation is between the different actors and how the future development cooperation in the country looks like for the Norwegian NGOs operating in the country. This thesis will present why some NGOs are worried for the new restrictions and regulations from the Bolivian state, while others are not as worried, and how this can be seen in a wider context. The study presents how the roles of NGOs have changed over time, both according to donors and policy makers, as well as towards the receiving states. By looking into how the Norwegian NGOs and their Bolivian partner NGOs relate to their partners in Bolivia, this study hopes to explain and present some of the realities NGOs are facing, related to donors and receiving state.