Concerns among international donors about aid effectiveness have led to important structural changes in how development assistance is delivered. Drawing its inspiration from rights-based approaches to development, the 2005 Paris Declaration lays out a blueprint for a new aid architecture that directs funds through two channels: 1) budget support for governments to deliver public goods and services; and 2) project awards for advocacy NGOs to promote political reform. Excluded from this aid regime are service-oriented NGOs, which continue to offer services, but are compelled to appeal to local government for funding. This article explores these structural changes and their discursive origins, arguing that new aid policies disadvantage service-oriented NGOs. It presents ethnographic research conducted at the Isipho Victim Empowerment Programme, a South African NGO, to illustrate how new aid policy has important consequences for the quality of social services and local governance.
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