The Civil Society Working Paper (CSWP) series provides a vehicle for disseminating recent and ongoing research of researchers based at, or linked to The Centre for Civil Society (CCS). It aims to reflect the range and diversity of theoretical and empirical work undertaken on non-governmental, voluntary, non-profit, or third sector organisations, foundations and social enterprises-as part of wider civil society. The CCS is a leading, international organisation for research, analysis, debate and learning about civil society.

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In the last decade NGOs have been recognised as policy actors in general and in the HIV/AIDS field in particular within developing countries. While recognising the agency of these organisations by looking at multiple case studies, the literature has not focused on what is meant by this agency. Furthermore within the policy field the agency of NGOs is assumed and thus these organisations are incorporated as policy implementers in the HIV/AIDS field. This paper argues that there is a need to look at this assumption about agency and what it means for NGOs working in this field. The paper presents a brief theoretical discussion to understand agency within the larger socio-cultural institutionalisation processes and looks at the policy implications of this for NGOs involved in the HIV/AIDS field.

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