Conradie, InaSebilu BodjaSchool of GovernmentFaculty of Economics and Management Sciences2013-08-202026-06-102007/06/152007/06/152013-08-202026-06-102006https://hdl.handle.net/10566/23402Masters in Public Administration - MPAEmpowerment is a catchword that has recently entered current development debate. Development is largely perceived as a process of building capacities hence empowering people to be able to handle their affairs. As such it is a concept highly espoused by prominent development actors and mainly Non-governmental organizations (NGOs). The study attempted to examine the theoretical and empirical aspects of community empowerment from a critical perspective by surveying activities of three NGOs in Ethiopia. A recent framework developed by a working group of the World Bank for measuring and structuring analysis was used for analyzing findings. Conceptualization and practices of empowerment seem to be at a nascent stage and tools for measuring it as well; that is what the findings of the study indicate. Despite the rhetoric surrounding the concept, the experience of surveyed NGOs also shows disparities between theory and practice.enCommunity EmpowermentCivil SocietyNon-Governmental OrganizationsThesisUniversity of the Western Cape