The increasingly important yet changing role of nongovernmental 
organizations (NGO's) in African development is explored in this series 
of four research papers.  The first paper examines the role NGO's can 
play in advancing popular participation and decentralization in 
development planning and implementation.  The second discusses the need 
to strengthen links between grassroots NGO's and research organizations, 
and explores ways to do so. The third paper discusses the role of NGO's, 
especially international NGO's, in providing humanitarian assistance in 
circumstances of violent civil conflict; it includes descriptions of the 
past operations of NGO's in civil conflicts in Sudan, Ethiopia, and 
Somalia.  The final paper is a case study of NGO activity in the Sudan, 
where relations between the government and international NGO's, 
particularly those with religious affiliations, have had a turbulent history.