The New African Research and Development Agency (NARDA) is a consortium of Liberian Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) that are engaged in the provision of health, education, agriculture, social and community development services. Founded in 1987, NARDA serves as an apex organization that represents the interests of the Liberian NGO community to the Government of Liberia and the international community. The focus of the organization is on helping to build the institutional capacities of local NGOs and thus, increase national capability to deliver essential rebuilding services.
The NARDA network includes 30 active full-member NGOs and up to 30 affiliated rural community-based organizations. NARDA is in principle a non-implementing agency so as not to compete with its members. However, its broad participation in issues relating to rural development and poverty at times may require actively animating communities and community action groups where there are no NARDA members. NARDA emerged out of a concern by some Liberian ngos for the decelerating level of government and international support to local development initiatives in the eighties. Since then NARDA had worked to build indigenous organizational effectiveness. Unfortunately, the capacity of NARDA and its membership was severely impacted by the onset of the civil conflict in 1989 and progressively undermined by the way in which humanitarian assistance has come to be administered in Liberia since the nineties.
NARDA continues to advocate not for special but for fair treatment of Liberian ngos and the creation of opportunities for building strong local learning structures that are capable to reflect beyond survival and take on the wider issues of civil society rebuilding. For this NARDA proposes and will work towards the construction of a National Liberian NGO Recovery Agenda that shall provide both alternative and complementary action to existing Rehabilitation and Reintegration schemes.
