Convergence or not? The comments by KPMG cited in the Current Quote might suggest that businesses are finally coming around to a more inclusive view of development, as has seen by others (including NGOs) for some time now. But it could be argued that some movement in towards a more inclusive view also needs to be made by NGOs as well. As I have argued in this Editorial column in the past, in many NGO programmes financial and progress reporting seem to take place in two different universes, as though they had nothing to with each other. It is though it is almost an incidental fact that development projects cost money. I would like to see much more integration of financial and progress reporting. Two indicators of such a movement would be: (a) a convergence of reporting categories used in both forms of reporting, and (b) evidence that budget allocations were being informed by recent progress reporting (and not just relative need, internal political influence, or development fashion). (posted 16/03/01)