(It has been five years since the International Federation introduced its Strategy 2010. This year the Federation carried out a mid-term evaluation of the Strategy. The Strategy brings out various case studies on different aspects. Nepal Red Cross Society has been selected for a case study on partnership. The case study has been reproduced here.)

The Nepal Red Cross Society (NRCS) is the largest humanitarian organization in Nepal with partnerships that span the UN and international organizations, numerous National Societies, and relevant government departments. Since 1996, the country has been embroiled in an internal conflict in which Maoist rebels are fighting against the current political system. As a result, most districts in the country are conflict affected. NRCS, by maintaining neutrality, has been able to continue to work throughout the country.

Over the past 20 years, the concept of partnership within the Federation has been interpreted in many ways with the dawning realization that ‘partnership’, meaning equity in the relationship, is often difficult to realize in practice. There is the sense that money is considered the most important resource, and that local capacity, knowledge, staff and volunteers, access to communities and authorities is not recognized nor leveraged by National Societies as an equally important commodity.

In 2003, the NRCS initiated a detailed Cooperative Agreement Strategy (CAS) process. The overall aim of the CAS is to develop a framework for effective partnership with shared ownership of responsibilities among and between partners both inside and outside the Movement. Within this process, partnership has been explored from the NRCS perspective as well as partners’ themselves with the goal to arrive at common understanding.

“Partnerships do not mean you giving and us taking—it is about what needs exist and how we work together to provide for these needs,” stated Mr. Dhakhwa, NRCS Secretary General. “Partnerships must adhere to our strategies and partnerships must be on equal footing. Essential components of this include first having your own vision and development plan and that the partnership be based upon your needs and plans.”

A basic partnership premise is to agree on principles for the partnership and methodologies from the point of view of both the donor and the partner. “Remember,” Mr. Dhakhwa notes, “the reason for mutual advantage is to reach a common target for meeting the needs of the vulnerable.” The NRCS believes that this emerging concept of mutuality has resulted in NRCS negotiating more in its own interest than it has previously.

Additionally, because of the country situation, NRCS partners must adhere to the Federation Principles. “They provide added value, support, and common ground. There is no compromise on these” the Secretary General adamantly states. Partner funding has been rejected when not in agreement with these principles. “We have had to be very clear with partners that their actions must be within these limits. Therefore partners must understand the Principles and know how to act neutral and impartial and follow the NGO Code of Conduct.”

A learning and a reality is that partnerships are actually complicated to implement in practice. A major NRCS challenge, with its sheer number of diverse partner relationships, is that each has its own accounting, reporting, and audit systems to ensure upward accountability. The NRCS has been working with its partners as part of the CAS process to come up with a common reporting system. To do this, the NRCS asks what is more practical and common, most acceptable and agreeable to all. However some question as to whether western management approaches and procedures, which are a predominant partner preference, reinforce donor domination rather than shared learning and whether these approaches are inappropriate to the social and institutional context in Nepal.
Overall, the NRCS is noted for its openness to partners, and its ability to manage and nurture its partner relationships, which are considered important reasons for the high number, as well as long duration, of many of NRCS partnerships. “We must have an open mind” commented Mr. Dhakhwa “there is much common ground that we can share with humanity, both here and internationally.”