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This chapter examines some reasons for this low level of success of civil society in addressing urban poverty. The popularity of civil society organizations (CSOs) grew during the 1980s and 1990s with an increasing number of bilateral agencies creating and extending co-financing programmes to non-governmental organizations (NGOs). The city studies confirmed the prevalence of grassroots organizations (GROs). In each of the neighbourhoods surveyed, some form of organization was present, and NGOs were found to be working on issues related to urban poverty in all but one of the cities. The role of NGOs in influencing state policy and practice is potentially significant. However, the findings from this study are mixed with, on balance, a somewhat pessimistic conclusion about the contribution of NGOs to poverty reduction. The success of NGOs in influencing government practices has been through a more …