E-Kantipur

A primary area rarely analysed in the management of northern Non-Governmental Organis-ations (NGOs) is the presence of expatriate staff within them. Northern NGOs (NNGOs) are NGOs based in high-income countries in the global north (such as World Vision and Save the Children) as opposed to southern NGOs (SNGOs), which are based in low-income countries and often called ‘local NGOs’. It is surprising that limited research has been done in this area despite its importance in the management of many international NGOs. In the Nepali context, three key issues should be considered in relation to expatriate staff: lack of contextual understanding and cultural sensitivity, the tendency to undervalue local staff knowledge, and awareness and the high cost of expenditures required for expatriate staff.

In Nepal, NNGOs have aggressively come to the forefront addressing the issue of development and influencing policy, planning and implementation since the advent of democracy in 1990.  There has been a sea change in the global context in which NNGOs operate today. The growth of strong autonomous SNGOs in the global south, and in Nepal, has posed a threat to the relevance of NNGOs, challenging their dominance in both the discourse and implementation process. The literature on NGO management in relation to expatriates is limited, but suggests a need for deep introspection on the issue in relation to the particular country context.

In the Nepali context, there has been no research done on the issue for a few likely reasons. For one, there is an established tendency to accept the role of expatriates without making any scientific enquiry. There is almost a slavish psychology among Nepali stakeholders in particular and society in general in viewing expatriates. Also very few people dare to challenge the rationality behind the need of expatriates because of social, political and financial ‘gain’ attached to their presence. An argument against the benefits of expatriate staff in Nepal centres on their limited understanding of the country context and a lack of cultural sensitivity and awareness. Senior civil society leader Devendra Raj Pandey explained, “There is no reason any more, if there ever was, to feel that our international friends and partners are wiser and smarter than us just because they have money to distribute. The concerned donors and diplomats . . . exposed their lack of knowledge and sensitivity about this country, its history and its people and their aspirations so thoroughly that they have little right to expect us to listen to their misplaced messages that will no doubt come our way again and again.”

There is also a growing tendency on the part of expatriate staff to undervalue the knowledge of local staff. According to the NGO management literature, this has resulted in growing tension between ‘insiders’ and ‘outsiders’ on the staff. This tension is further compounded by the difference in ‘cost’ between local and foreign staff.  The limited literature that exists on the subject is on the whole negative towards the value of expatriate staff because of the increased cost of hiring them over local staff.

A comparative study of a number of Save the Children’s local partners in South Asia, concluded that those partners who used expatriates to run programmes were on the whole less successful than those who used local staff. Local staff, the report concluded, were better at making linkages with grassroots beneficiaries. Organisations that employed local staff also experience fewer tensions between ‘insiders’ and ‘outsiders’. A moral argument that aligns with the Marxist perspective claims that country nationals are best to run country programmes in order to ensure long term effectiveness and sustainable development. Moreover, another school of thought argues that the use of expatriates weakens, rather than strengthens, local capacity as expatriate staff take away much needed jobs from qualified local workers. Rather than transferring skills, knowledge and international experiences to locals, expatriates typically work in management positions, which helps them retain their overall control. Counter arguments exist that defend the need of expatriate staff in international development NGOs.

The need of expatriates can be justified if skills are not locally available. Expatriates can also bridge knowledge gaps and provide linkages to international systems in local contexts. Working among and between nationals of various countries is a natural and necessary part of the larger globalisation process. Equally importantly, the presence of expatriates can check corruption which can be rampant among local staff, hampering the smooth functioning of organisations. But while local skills may not have been available a few years ago, this is no longer a valid argument.

A lack of skilled local workers is rather a reflection on the failure of NGO recruiting methods to identify local skills.  Also, the issue of corruption that used to pertain only to local staff is no longer confined to them. Corruption has now touched the ‘pure clothes’ of the expatriates as well. 

Above all, the fact stands that there has been very little research on the question of whether expatriate staff should be employed in international development NGOs that are rooted in the developed world, but operate in the developing one. From an NGO management perspective, there exists a whole range of important issues of transparency, accountability and legitimacy on the part of northern NGOs that require special attention. Though negative outcomes from the use of expatriate staff have been suggested in the NGO management literature, expatriates play a large role in the beneficial management of international development NGOs. Before making any policy decisions, at least in the context of Nepal, there is a need to have informed debate built upon the premise of scientific research. It has been assumed that northern NGOs and expatriates are operating in Nepal to positively facilitate our transition phase. But it is yet to be concluded whether these assumptions are based on a flawed general understanding or have a factual basis. Such conclusions can only be made after empirical research has been done.

Sameer studied NGO Management at the London School of Economics

SUMIT SHARMA SAMEER

sharmasumit77@gmail.com

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