Exploring the concept of community: implications for NGO management

The concept of ‘community-based action’ is ubiquitous in the current development policy discourse amongst NGOs. This paper presents a critical look at the management issues involved in implementing community-based action. It is shown that community-based action can be implemented by NGOs in two ways; NGOs can either link with pre-existing community-based organisations (CBOs) or can create new community-based organisations. Each involves distinct management challenges. A consideration of these challenges with use of examples, mainly from Uganda, suggests that the way that the concept of community is used in development discourse often ignores the realities of community dynamics. The paper suggests ways in which NGOs can begin to develop a more relevant concept of community with which to work