Two strategies employed by non-governmental organisations that are key to a rights-based approach to development are examined, ensuring the active engagement of state duty-bearers and building alliances at multiple levels. The aim is to understand how sustainable alliances between NGOs, the state, communities, and other stakeholders are built at the grass-roots level. The findings indicate the importance of ensuring the active participation of communities in development activities, especially through continuous interactions with government duty-bearers and networking with different grass-roots groups.
The role of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in rights-based approaches to development has been the subject of widespread debate in discourses on international development. This article analyses two strategies employed by NGOs in Odisha that are key to a rights-based approach to development: ensuring state duty-bearers’ active engagement and alliance-building at multiple levels.
The rationale behind this article is Sengupta’s (2007) argument that although the state is the primary duty-bearer, it cannot deliver rights on its own without taking into account the actions of other duty-bearers (with moral obligations) towards fulfilling human rights. Therefore, the active engagement of non-state organisations in development activities is crucial for ensuring people’s rights to entitlements.
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