Nepalese NGOs: Management Challenges

The assignment content highlights the management challenges faced by NGOs in Nepal, particularly Suaahara, a nutrition program aiming to improve nutritional status of women and children. The study identifies internal pressures such as being effective, relevant, and successful in attracting funding, and external pressures like professionalism, transparency, accountability, and efficiency. To manage these pressures, Suaahara takes initiatives to increase engagement with supporters, frame strategies for more funding, and maintain a high flow of information through reports and articles. The study emphasizes the need for NGOs to balance internal and external pressures for smooth functioning and better results.

Suaahara USAID
Management in Non-Government
Organisation

Management in Non-Government Organisation 1
Introduction
Suaahara is a 5 year old and a community-focused project initiated for the purpose of improving
the nutritional status and the health of the children under the age of two years, lactating women
and pregnant women. The aim is to address those vulnerable points of the economic
development that may result in chronic under-nutrition. There are few focus points of the project
that comprises of improvement in the home-based gardening, hygiene and sanitation, water,
family planning services, child health (MNCH)services, reproductive planning services,
newborn, maternal and nutrition. The Suaahara project have an association and woks within the
FCHVs i.e. Female Community Health Volunteers, government system and community
extension workers (USAID, 2014). There is distribution of commodities, services and health
messages through the discussion forums of mother group and at the household level. There are
several initiatives which will be a part of the project working as non-government organisation in
the future to overcome the issues of nutritional and health status of the children and women. The
paper will offer an understanding of the various key aspects of the NGO comprising of the
financing, resourcing and structuring afctors (USAID/NEPAL, 2016). The key emphasis will be
led upon the practices of the organisation in order to gain more professionalism, transparency,
efficiency and accountability in its workings system. the paper will also present the strategies
with the help of which the NGO is successful in acquiring efficient funding and managing the
internal as well as the external pressure and contradiction in an efficient manner.
NGO: Structuring, Resourcing and Financing
There are considerable contributions made by USAID to nutrition and health in association with
the GON i.e. Government of Nepal and with many other development partners. For
strengthening the nutrition and health programs of the nation and as a part of its strategy, USAID
with association and in consultation with MOH i.e. the Ministry Of Health and Population as
well as with partnership with other associated designed and initiated Suaahara (Good Nutrition),
an integrated nutrition project. The project is managed through Save the Children and the key
implementing partners of Suaahara includes Jhpiego, Nepal Water for Health (NEWAH), Helen
Keller International (HKI), Nepali Technical Assistance Group (NTAG), Nutrition Promotion
and Consultancy Service (NPCS) and Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs

Management in Non-Government Organisation 2
(CCP) (Usaid, 2017). In present time there is there are high initiatives taken by the NGOs for
boosting their progress and development that comprises of working for getting more funding as
well as also improving the managerial professionalism. There is an extreme competition between
various NGOs in order to attain more amount of funding. Suaahara also take number of
initiatives for acquiring funds such as the donors can get tax exemption for the amount they have
donated to the NGO or for the charity purpose. It encourages the people to give more funds for
the improvement of the nutrition and health of the children and the women. To maintain its place
in the competitive market of NGOs, the Suaahara works on four different levels to have higher
recognition and visibility (k4health, 2015). These four levels comprises of community that
support the communities in adopting practices of child nutrition, maternal nutrition,
improvement in the feeding and health practices and optimal care. The second level is district
level where Suaahara works for improving the district capacity by having more local
developments, agricultural and health developments and physical planning. The third level is
regional level where Suaahara works in association with government for achieving improved
nutrition and strengthening systems, agriculture and health systems. The fourth level is national
where Suaahara works for supporting national strategies and policies and promoting the
enhanced investments in nutrition and all these work took place in association with the
Government (Bela, 2015). Because of high presence on all these levels, there is strong visibility
and recognition gained by Suaahara and this helps in attaining strong and high funds. To
maintain its place and to grow there are several other initiatives also which are taken by Suaahara
such as go mobile, where the donors are not required to visit the website for giving donation,
they can offer funds with the help of mobile applications. there are also initiatives of having a
jump on the bandwagon where Suaahara increase its presence on social platforms by discussing
the social issues and causes on which the Suaahara is working upon.by getting the masses
engaged with the causes and significance of donations, there can be attained more competitive
advantages in forms of higher funding. For continuing with its work, Suaahara also perform
number of initiatives such as there are continuously increased partnerships with institutes as well
as with government bodies. The greater the support and association with the government, the
better are the chances of future development of the NGOs. As well as the organisation also
expand its reach such as covering more number of regions and communities so that more number
of individuals can be benefitted from the improvement programs (k4health, 2017).

Management in Non-Government Organisation 3
There are extreme pressures faced by Suaahara from the outside or the external factors for being
excessive professional, accountable, transparent and efficient in its working. Being working as
NGO for the development and improvement of the masses, there are several factors on which
these projects and organisations are weighed (Malapit, et al., 2013). To respond efficiently to all
these outside pressures, there are number of steps and initiatives taken up by Suaahara such as
for increasing the transparency and become one of the most transparent projects working for the
social cause, there is an annual report that is published every year that contains all the relevant
data and the complete information regarding the funding, expenditures as well as the
developments taken place at various community, district, national and international levels.
Publishing the entire set of information in the annual reports offers disclosure of all the necessary
details in front of the masses and on the basis of which there is complete evaluation of the work
of the organisation (Webb, et al., n.d.). Thus, it helps Suaahara to achieve improved level of
transparency in all its operations and charitable functions. To be called professionally more
sound and to sustain the outside pressure for increased professionalism, Suaahara remain
professional and extremely formal in taking donations and funding as there are not the donation
boxes anywhere or the volunteers does to force individual to donate for the cause. Rather there
are appropriate ways of funding and taking donations such as “RFA-367-15-000001:
USAID/NEPAL NOTICE OF FUNDING OPPORTUNITY FOR SUAAHARA II PROJECT”
(Usaid, 2015). It is a grants notice through which the donations can be made by institutes, people
and other entities. Thus, maintain professionalism in all their workings system so that more
number of people can support the cause. For sustaining the outside pressure for remaining highly
accountable, Suaahara have an effective check and control of all its activities. There is a
complete evaluation of the outcomes or the results of the funds invested on any kind of
development. And if there are deviations than the execution processes are checked twice to
analyze the point of difference and gaps. The organisation always remained account table for all
its activities and projects undertook by providing complete information about the initiatives
performed and outcomes achieved. Suaahara offers a complete justification of all its work to the
masses and the Government authorities within which the project is taking place. For remaining
efficient, there are several steps taken by the organisation to uplift the society and improves the
nutrition and health of the children and the women (k4health, 2015). To work upon efficiency,
Suaahara always try to improve the outcomes from some of the margin on the last received

Management in Non-Government Organisation 4
results. The efficiency level of the organisation can also be checked by comparing the previous
year data and current year data and analyzing the increase in the level of improvements and
developments in the nutritional and improved health level of the children and the women. This
will provide a clear view of the efficiency of the working of the organisation. Thus, it can be
stated that there are sound steps taken by Suaahara for competing with the other NGOs as well as
by improving its level of accountability, efficiency, transparency and professionalism and this
offers a number of advantages to the organisation including strong and viable support from the
Government (Kc, et al., 2011).
There are extreme pressures faced by Suaahara from within or the internal factors for being
effective, having good association and coordination with support base, relevant and successful in
gaining adequate funding. Being working as NGO for the development and improvement of the
masses, there are several internal factors on which the success and potential of these projects are
weighed. To respond efficiently to all these within or the internal pressures, there are number of
steps and initiatives taken up by Suaahara such as for being effective in all the activities and
development functions, the progress is checked that whether with the various initiatives there is
improvement in the nutritional and health of the women or not (Cunningham, et al., 2015). There
are discussions with the women on their lives before and after the support offered to the by
Suaahara initiative. Secondly to respond to the internal pressure of being in touch with the
supporter base, the organisation holds regular meetings and conferences to have discussions with
the supporters so that adequate information can be shared on a regular basis. There is complete
data in forms of reports, minutes which are shared with them so that there can be gained more
support from them and a proper information can be passed about the developments and
initiatives taken for the cause (Webb, et al., n.d.). All such meetings are the way to have higher
engagement with the supporters so that they can sense the project is on its actual path and
working hard to accomplish the desired goals. to sustain the pressure of being relevant, there are
first taken consent from the various supporters, authorities and the relevant members before
indulging in any kind of improvement activity or program for the cause. This helps Suaahara to
remain highly relevant as once the consent has been received on the upcoming social work
performed for the accomplishment of the mission and goals of Suaahara, there is attained high
level of relevancy (Cunningham, et al., 2017). One of the extreme pressures on the NGOs is to
acquire maximum funding and grants as it is the core need of any project, organisation or

Management in Non-Government Organisation 5
charitable trust to get increased funds for remaining active and achieve long-term sustainability.
Thus, to sustain the internal pressure of acquiring funds, Suaahara take number of initiatives such
as to attract funding, there is increased promotions and campaigns so that the masses can be
attracted and have their engagement in the uplift of the cause by the means of donations and
charities (Baker, 2014). The volunteers visit several places, perform campaigning, organize
events and encourage the masses to participate in all such events and campaigns so that they can
be aware of the key objectives and aims of the project. There is also sent development reports to
the government so that they can also lend their support to the development and success of the
project. Thus, to overcome and respond all such pressures imposed from the internal factors,
Suaahara take all such initiatives and try to maintain improved association with supporters and
have high funding so that the functions do not suffer halt or any kind of pause (Magnani,
Gevorgyan and Kurz, 2012).
There are number of times when the NGOs have to face or experience pressures both from
within as well as from the outside factors and as a result there can be developed number of
contradictions which negatively impact the activities, functions and operations of the
organisation. These are those situations because of which the projects can experience a halt or
have squat growth results. Suaahara also have both the internal as well as external pressures
which sometimes contradict and create contradictions (Kenda, et al., 2013). To respond and
manage the contradictions there are initiatives and steps taken by the organisations such as there
is an external pressure of being highly transparent and have all the functions and activities with
high transparency level but at the same time there is an internal pressure to remain competitive
and have unique initiatives for acquiring more funding. In such a case, the contradictions take
place as for achieving more funds; the organisation has to take help of certain strategies and
plans which cannot be openly shared because of the market condition of the intense competition
in NGOs for achieving grants and funds. Thus, these both pressures pose an extreme burden to
Suaahara (Sethi, et al., 2017). Thus, to handle such situations, the organisation works in a
mutual way where the amount of donations are transparent but the various other initiatives and
activities for which the funds are gathered are not been revealed to the masses and thus, it helps
Suaahara in both maintaining transparency as well as remaining competitive. There are also
occurrences of contradictory situation when there is an internal pressure of acquiring huge funds,
grants and charities and on the similar time there is an external pressure of remaining

Management in Non-Government Organisation 6
professional. There are number of times when for acquiring funds there is need to have personal
association with the donors and also make them aware of various campaigns, events and
encourage them to give donations by several means which are sometimes not cover under
professionalism (Powelson, et al., n.d.). To manage such contradictions, the NGOs take steps
such as the emails, invitations or there is encouragement of the donors which are those
individuals or institutes that have an association with the NGO and have already donated in past
for the purpose. Thus, by emphasizing those to provide funding will not be an unprofessionalism
as they are already associated partners rather than appealing to new set of people, institutes,
groups or government bodies. There are various other ways also for managing the various other
contradictions such as developing a strong balance between both the factors and the pressures
imposed by them so that they do not get contradict with each other. There is a need that the
NGOs must work in such a manner that the stakeholders as well as the community or the masses
both have a trust on them and support their work and functions. If both the parties will be
benefitted then there are very less chances of occurrence of such contradictions (Profile, 2011).
Conclusion
There are several practical issues in the management of the NGOs that includes a number of
factors such as financing of the contemporary NGOs, human resource mobilization, funding,
accountability, governance and internal organisational structures. From this paper, it can be
concluded that in such an environment, there is an extreme need to maintain a place and have
continuity in working, and for this Suaahara take several initiatives so that it can have increased
level of funding. This has been analyzed that there are various efficient ways by which there is
acquiring of funds and grants for the project and Suaahara is working efficiently to achieve more
funding. It has also been analyzed and identified that there are number of factors that poses
internal pressure on the NGOs that comprises of being effective, relevant, in touch with its
supporter base, and successful in attracting adequate funding and to manage these pressures the
NGOs take potential measures so that they can overcome these pressures such as having
increased engagement and discussions with supporters and framing strategies to have more
funding. The study also concludes that there are external pressures as well as subject to
professionalism, transparency, accountability and efficiency. And to manage and respond to
these external pressures, Suaahara as well as other NGOs are required to have a higher flow of

Management in Non-Government Organisation 7
information in forms of reports and articles. This will help the NGOs in developing a better
engagement with the masses and also sound efficient, transparent and accountable. And lastly it
can be stated that there is a n extreme need to manage the contradictions between the internal and
the external pressures for smooth functioning of the NGOs and have better results and
improvements in the societies.

Management in Non-Government Organisation 8
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