The civil society organizations (CSOs) also implement their own strategies in defining their

relationship with the state and other development actors like political parties, business
organizations and international institutions. Four main civic engagement strategies are as
follows:
Confrontation strategy: CSOs view government as the main obstacle for achieving their
objectives.
Parallel track strategy: CSOs decide not to engage with the government and instead establish a
set of parallel services that they themselves delivery directly to their clients and constituencies.
Selective collaboration: A strategy that combines collaboration on specific fronts and a critical
distance, or even confrontation, on others.
Full endorsement: CSOs fully engage and endorse government objectives and policies.
These strategies create all sorts of tensions among CSOs, and between CSOs and the
government. The mix of government approaches to these strategies frame a certain aspect of
governance. As mentioned before, the two elements of the permanent tension that constitute the
governance equation are decisiveness and accountability. Can these two elements be reconciled
is it possible for public institutions to increase decisiveness to achieve efficiency in delivering
public services in order to meet the expectations of the population, while expanding
accountability and therefore achieving higher levels of legitimacy and credibility? That depends
on the mechanisms and systems in place by which the government is held accountable.
Traditionally, the mechanisms have been horizontal based on national bureaus, offices and
procurement units appointed either by the legislative or executive branches of the state. Their
legitimacy depends on the credibility of public institutions at large. However, a new vertical
mechanism of accountability have begun to seep into the mainstream, characterized by the
exercise of direct participation of CSOs and citizens. The existence of these horizontal and
vertical mechanisms of social accountability can lead to creation of more transparent
governments and aid public institutions in meeting the expectations of the population.
Role of Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs):
NGOs have been increasingly participating and contributing to the delivery of educational
services, influencing education policy, and have been included by governments and donors in
different aspects of the education system. Given their huge presence in the education sector in
the developing countries (especially in Africa), there are a few factors that needs to be considered
to ensure that NGOs contribute more effectively to educational development.
Government and NGO interaction: NGOs should involve the government to be effective.
Familiarity has a positive effect on the relations and establish mechanisms of communications.
Tensions between these two actors is inevitable and should be expected. However, these issues
should be addressed. Collaboration between the government and the NGOs is necessary, if they
are to achieve their educational objectives.
Education Policy and NGOs: Changing government policy and the way that it is formulated is
the most effective way to ensure the success and sustainability of NGO interventions. Alliances
between the NGOs, and other actors like the government and donors, are key to successful
promotion of a particular agenda.

NGOs and Donors: Fundamentally, the relationship between NGO and Donors is a strained and
an unequal one. But for those NGOs that have a diversified resource base in terms of finance,
people and infrastructure, these difference can be absorbed. NGOs that negotiate with donors
from a perspective of relative weakness, have to align themselves more narrowly to the donors
agenda. Donors on the other hand must realize that their need for results and timely execution of
projects should not overshadow the benefits of NGOs in the education sector.
NGOs and Civil Society: An essential part of civil society strengthening is community
participation and mobilization. However it is important to focus on the links between
community, other civil society actors and the state. The NGOs also need an identity (much more
than just a contractor) in order to maintain their ability to innovate, create new relationships
between the community and the state, and transform the citizens in the society.
A Continual Tension Between NGO and Education: When NGOs act as if the government is
not present, their program objectives are compromised. Hence, strategies of every NGO working
in the education sector must include collaboration with the government in designing,
implementing and monitoring education programs. Also, the relation between the donors and the
NGOs is critical in providing innovative solutions in the education sector. Donors using NGOs to
implement tightly prescribed projects may have certain benefits, such as greater assurances of
successful implementation. However, the biggest benefit of NGO intervention is their innovative
capability and flexibility, features that will certainly be muted by a strict donor oversight or
regulations.
Fostering Human Security Through Active Engagement of Civil Society Actors:
The role of civil society actors is crucial for human security. The civil society actors active
engagement among states and international organizations allow them to help close the gap
between the progress from the top-down human security approach and actual results on the
ground. Also, the civil society actors are well positioned to compensate for the reluctance of the
international organizations like the United Nations to accept human security as a leitmotiv
(coherent pattern of thoughts that help to formulate agendas and to guide political decisions). But
even though civil society is a potential force for stabilizing or even constructing democracy, it
can also be crucial to the escalation of a conflict or war. Having said that, here are a few ways the
civil society can foster human security:
- Protection: Direct CSO engagement allows the development of local and more suitable
approaches for the implementation of human security.
- Prevention: CSOs can play a crucial role in the implementation of effective early warning and
prevention measures and providing valuable support of international organizations that seek to
establish human security.
- Empowerment: CSOs can effectively strengthen the empowerment of people in terms of
social, economic and human rights, and increasingly impact the international organizations.
Only peoples active engagement, be it thru civil society or politics, can truly foster lasting
human security.
Conclusions:

Social accountability allows more interaction between the civil society and government, and
helps them acknowledge each others limitations, and recognize that collaboration is necessary
for effective and sustainable development.
In places where the demands outweighs the governments ability to provide educational services,
NGO have come to the rescue and have done a great job (especially in Africa) in filling the
educational gaps. NGO programs in the education sector have matured over the last 10 years.
And although they have provided tremendous benefits, they have to yet to provide a key to a
more sustainable and accountable education system.
Human security requires civil society engagement. It has to grow bottom-up and be protected
top-down; the very individual whose security and dignity is of concern, is very much responsible
for effective establishment of human security.
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