Abstract:
Hometown Associations (HTAs) are migrant organizations in host communities, with members
from the same community of origin, which send collective remittances back to their hometown
with the intention of benefitting the public. Although they are not without deficiencies, HTAs
have gained much attention in the development field and there is an increasingly accepted belief
that if they work with institutional partners, HTAs will mature and be viable contributors to
development. This qualitative study considered HTA formation and institutional partnership
arrangements (particularly NGOs) in Nicaragua, a country where HTAs are not as prevalent as
some migrant source regions.
The findings from the study suggest there is a role for NGOs to help leverage remittances to
support community development in migrant source communities in Nicaragua. The results
highlight the importance for institutional partners to complete assessments and involve
beneficiaries in development projects to make sure partnership arrangements are effective. If
partnerships are done right, they may very well address the deficiencies that HTAs exhibit; if
not, the empirical evidence may end up showing that institutional partnerships did not help
HTAs evolve to become a lasting development institution.
