Influence of socio economic factors on sustainability of non governmental organization projects in Kajiado North District, Rift Valley Province Kenya
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Date
2010Author
Mabera, Jackson J
Type
ThesisLanguage
en_USMetadata
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This study was undertaken to investigate the socio-economic factors affecting NGO management in Kajiado North. NGOs playa major role in development of various sectors of the economy and social life in Kenya especially in the fields of policy, education, health and religious aspects of the Kenyan communities. Although several NGOs have been registered in recent past to deal with socio- economic issues in society, they have faced several constraints in trying to achieve their set goals and objectives. This is so because community members have deep- rooted cultural and communal values which make it difficult to implement and sustain such projects successively. It can be noted from several scholars and researchers that this has been an area of major concern in the recent past countrywide and more especially in the advanced communities like Nyeri, Kiambu, Nakuru and slums of Nairobi but no serious study has been conducted in Kajiado North District to unearth the socio economic factors that lead to this phenomenon.
The researcher therefore came up with the gender, the levels of education, the management skills, social conflicts and effects of HIV / Aids as some of the factors that hamper the implementation and sustainability of NGO projects. A descriptive survey was conducted by dispatching 30 questionnaires to 15 NGO top management staff to find out if the above factors affect the project sustainability. From the study it was found out that gender disparities lead to failure of projects upto 70%, educational levels caused sustainability failure by about 65% while the management skills affect them upto 57%. From the above findings it is concluded that gender mainstreaming, development in education and excellent management skills through training could foster the sustainability of projects a notch higher. From the study recommended that proper policies and guidelines be put in place to guide the NGO project initiators on the required standards in the areas of gender, education and professional qualifications. It is also worthwhile for other researchers to dig further into the economic culture of dependence and political factors that affect the sustainability of NGO projects in Kajiado North District and the Rift Valley province at large.
Publisher
University of Nairobi, Kenya