The engagement of ministries, agencies and non-governmental organisations in the delivery of social welfare services : evidence from Gozo

Abstract

Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in Gozo are the main non-state service providers of social welfare services on the island. Due to issues related to funding, these organisations have tended to enter into collaborative arrangements with government. The way these relationships are structured sheds light on the power asymmetry between organisations. From the evidence in this study it transpires that power is skewed towards the state, due to the significance of the donor-recipient exchange. To this end, the Gozitan landscape where the interactions between NGOs, Ministries and agencies take place shows more affinities to a developmental rather than a developed context. Nonetheless, this landscape is also characterised by other elements. The NGOs operating in the area of social welfare services are mainly religiously inspired organisations. The Catholic Church‟s earlier autonomy on a regional level meant that it was better equipped to fill in the gap in services at an earlier stage. This does not in any way imply that the objectives of the Gozo Diocese and the religiously-inspired NGOs coincide. Evidence to the contrary has been found in the research. The same applies to national and regional state entities. Interests in this area have been found to diverge. Nevertheless the most important intuitive insight provided by the research relates to the relationship between the state and NGOs. The Ministry for Gozo has been found to undertake a mutual and collaborative relationship with Gozo-based NGOs. On the contrary, national state entities‟ relationship with Gozo-based NGOs is governed by a formal relationship which may point to a certain level of mistrust. However, the landscape in which these interactions are taking place is not only about structural issues. NGOs are in themselves living organisms which are adapting to new realities. The NGOs in Gozo are no different.