ORIGINAL PAPER
New Donor Strategies: Implications for NGOs in Post-Soviet
Kyrgyzstan
Kanykey Bayalieva-Jailobaeva
1
Published online: 10 May 2017
Ó International Society for Third-Sector Research and The Johns Hopkins University 2018
Abstract This article examines the changes that have
taken place since the mid-2000s in the donor agenda in
Kyrgyzstan, and what implications these changes have had
for Kyrgyzstani NGOs. It uses two-stage longitudinal
research. The findings reveal that donors changed their
priorities after the mid-2000s by closing the civil society
building programmes and grants they initiated in the 1990s.
Donors now prioritize promoting NGOs in advocacy roles
for policy reform. Interviewed NGOs reported that donor
grants had decreased, aggravating the existing competition
for donor funding among NGOs. This article suggests that
as a result of these changes NGOs that are organizationally
and professionally stronger are in a better position to obtain
funding and, thus, continue their work. The research find-
ings also indicate that some NGOs expanded their funding
sources between 2008 and 2016.
Keywords NGOs Á Donor agenda Á Reduction in funding Á
Advocacy Á Organizational and professional capacity
Introduction
In the 25 years of Kyrgyzstan’s independence from the
Soviet Union, the NGO sector in the country has estab-
lished itself as an active actor in society. Undoubtedly,
NGOs have played an important role in Kyrgyzstan by
engaging in service provision, advocacy, and training
(Shishkaraena et al. 2006; Aksartova 2005; Adamson
2002). However, the operations and activities of Kyr-
gyzstani NGOs have been tightly connected to and
dependent on donor funding. Donor grants facilitated the
formation of the NGO sector in Kyrgyzstan, and they
remain a key source of funding for most NGOs (Aksartova
2005; Roy 2002).
The significance of donor funding for the development
of NGOs in Kyrgyzstan is not unique. A similar phe-
nomenon has been observed throughout the post-Soviet
region as well as other Asian and African countries
(Mendelson and Glenn 2002; Mercer 2002; Zaidi 1999).
Supporting NGOs was an indispensable part of donors’
neoliberal agenda from the late 1980s to the early 2000s:
this focused on promoting civil society while sidelining the
state (Rakner et al. 2007; Edwards 2004; Fukuyama 2004).
However, since the mid-2000s, as a response to unmet
expectations of neoliberal policies and the wave of
democratization, as well as in the light of new priorities,
such as international security after 9/11 and developing
fragile states, donors have embraced the idea of state-
building (Fukuyama 2004) and endorsed country owner-
ship of development policies by putting the state at the
centre (Fritz and Menocal 2006). This was epitomized in
the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness adopted in 2005
by 61 bilateral and multilateral donors and 56 aid-recipient
countries. The governments of the recipient countries were
given the lead in aid coordination and development. Donor
agencies expressed commitment to aligning their activities
with locally defined development priorities (Paris Decla-
ration on Aid Effectiveness 2005).
The impact of these changes on NGOs has not yet
attracted much attention from researchers, creating a gap in
the literature. Thus, the present article aims to fill this gap
Update 10 May 2018 The PDF version of this article was
reformatted to a larger trim size.
& Kanykey Bayalieva-Jailobaeva
kanbay28@gmail.com
1
University of Edinburgh, 77/4 Granton Crescent,
Edinburgh EH5 1NZ, UK
123
Voluntas (2018) 29:284–295
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11266-017-9878-5
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