NGOs

12 Key excerpts on "NGOs"

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  eBook - ePub

  Non-Governmental Organizations in World Politics

  The Construction of Global Governance

  • Peter Willetts(Author)
  • 2010(Publication Date)
  • Routledge

    (Publisher)

  5 Understanding the place of NGOs in global politics

  Having established the importance of non-governmental organizations in politics, law, and communications at the global level, we will now consider how NGOs and their activities can be accommodated in our theoretical understanding of global politics. Most of the literature in the academic discipline of international relations is biased towards the study of “states,” neglecting both non-governmental organizations and international organizations. This is based on an assumption that the domestic politics of individual countries is different in nature from international politics. Those who assert there are similarities between politics at all levels of analysis prefer to identify themselves with a pluralist approach, also known as the multicentric approach. This position is signaled in this book and by other pluralist writers, by replacing references to “international relations” with “world politics” or “global politics.”

  This first part of this chapter outlines a very brief sketch of the four competing approaches to theoretical analysis, in order to demonstrate the need for pluralism. The second part is a full discussion of the structural question, what actors do we study? This starts with an argument that we need to analyze governments and societies rather than states, in order to allow room for consideration of transnational NGOs and transnational companies. It continues by distinguishing the five main ways in which transnational actors combine in global networks to strengthen their political position and to form global coalitions. Then we will examine the advantages and disadvantages of regime theory for analyzing policy-making within all types of international organizations, concluding that regime theory needs to recognize the participation of NGOs in the politics of international regimes.

  The third part of this chapter covers the nature of global political processes. It is necessary to change from a focus on power as possession of military and economic capabilities to power as the exercise of influence. It is also necessary to replace the traditional distinctions between high politics and low politics and between interests and values with a wider awareness of the many values, beyond security and wealth, that actors pursue. Then, with an issue-based constructivist analysis, we can move from merely providing interesting descriptions of NGOs to having a theoretical basis for saying NGOs exercise power in global politics. They are crucial agents in the movement of ideas. The fundamental dynamics of political change are the ways in which persuasion, socialization and institutionalization lead to change in the predominant norms. NGOs gain influence by framing debates and linking their values to the concerns of other actors.

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  The Development of International Human Rights Law

  Volume I

  • Fionnuala D. Ní Aoláin, David Weissbrodt(Authors)
  • 2017(Publication Date)
  • Routledge

    (Publisher)

  It is now common knowledge that many Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) play an important role in the collection and dissemination of facts concerning alleged violations of human rights. Many institutions and organizations, such as the United Nations, rely heavily on information concerning violations of human rights provided by NGOs and groups. It is less well known that a good number of NGOs are performing many other functions for the sake of human rights and fundamental freedoms. The fact that NGOs also make contributions—and often very significant ones—to the development of human rights norms is an aspect of NGO activities which is generally overlooked. Most articles and commentaries written on the role of NGOs in the promotion and protection of human rights tend to ignore standard-setting activities. This article is written on the assumption that non-governmental participation in international standard-setting activities will develop further as a continuing and growing trend in international law and international relations. Additionally, this article argues that such participation is a necessary requirement of democracy.

  International relations, and in particular the treaty-making process, is traditionally the privileged domain of governments as representatives of Nation States. Governments are the main actors. The term “Non-Governmental Organizations” implies that they are only marginal or auxiliary bodies. Marc Nerfin, the president of the International Foundation for Development Alternatives, thought that the concept of NGOs was “politically unacceptable because it implies that government is the centre of society and people its periphery.”1 Similar criticism was voiced by Johan Galtung when he said “there are the international ‘non-governmental’ organizations, so called by governments—a term we should not necessarily accept. International peoples’ organizations may be more accurate, not by that necessarily implying that governments are non-people organizations.”2

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  Economic Diplomacy and Foreign Policy-making

  • Charles Chatterjee(Author)
  • 2020(Publication Date)
  • Palgrave Macmillan

    (Publisher)

  © The Author(s) 2020 C. Chatterjee Economic Diplomacy and Foreign Policy-making https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-49047-8_14

  Begin Abstract

  14. The Role of Non-Governmental Organisations in Economic Diplomacy

  Charles Chatterjee

  1   

  (1) Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, University of London, London, UK

   

    Charles Chatterjee

  Keywords The primary differences between NGOs ad INGOs Their contributions to socio-economic development process in the world Their role vis-à-vis the UN

  End Abstract

  14.1 Introduction

  The term “non-governmental organisation” is rather broad; it may from a literal standpoint mean any organisation which is not “governmental”, which may include any organisation of any nature, but which is not part of or associated with any public or governmental institutions. In the context of this work, a non-governmental institution would stand for that institution which acts as an “action group” and pursues wider socio-economic aims that may have a political dimension but they themselves are not political organisations or institutions. These types of organisations are often described as “civil society organisations” signifying that they operate for the civil society or promote causes for civil societies.

  Non-governmental organisations can be of various sizes, and their impact on civil societies and on governments or international or inter-governmental organisations can vary from a qualitative point of view. The Oxfam International operates in about 100 countries with a combined annual income of £1 billion.1 The size of these organisations is often determined by their objectives and funds they may use.

  In view of the nature of the work they do, and the truly international objectives which form the foundation of such non-governmental organisations, some of them are known as International Non-Governmental Organisations (INGOs), namely the International Red Cross, the headquarters of which is located in Geneva, Switzerland. A number of non-governmental bodies are faith-based, namely Christian Aid or Islamic Relief, while many others have limited objectives such as Water Aid. The limited scope of the objectives of a non-governmental organisation should not undermine its status.

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  Development Organizations

  • Rebecca Schaaf(Author)
  • 2013(Publication Date)
  • Routledge

    (Publisher)

  6 International non-governmental organizations

  Learning goals

  • To understand the changing role of non-governmental organizations in the development process.
  • To critique the strategies and activities of international NGOs.
  • To understand the key concepts of participation, empowerment and sustainability in relation to NGO activities and goals.
  • To understand a rights-based approach to development.
  • To recognize the key challenges and opportunities facing international NGOs in the twenty-first century including their relationship with other development organizations.

  Introduction

  The twentieth century saw the rise of the international non-governmental organization. These large organizations are now household names, with staff and offices across the globe, significant financial and political power and an important role to play in the development process. This chapter charts the rise of the international non-governmental organization (INGO), considers their strengths and weaknesses, reviews the challenges and opportunities they face and evaluates the implications of their relationships with other development organizations. The chapter links into Chapter 7 , which considers the range of smaller NGOs, community-based organizations and civil society actors that are underpinned by a similar philosophy on development.

  NGOs form part of civil society, or the third sector: outside the state and the market. The third sector includes families, churches, clubs, political parties, professional associations, participatory organizations and NGOs (Brett 2000). They are private because they do not depend on the coercive power of the state, but unlike private-sector firms associated with the free market, they do not depend on self-interest and the pursuit of money and profits. Instead, they depend on charitable giving and funding from governmental and private organizations. They are formal and self-governing, with some degree of voluntarism in terms of staff or management involvement (Lewis and Kanji 2009). Within the development sector, they have increasingly adopted the role of service delivery agencies (and have been taken seriously in that role), particularly from the 1980s onwards. They are also associated with the promotion of change, whether social, economic or political (Lewis and Kanji 2009). International NGOs have offices in many different countries and a global scope to their activities. The next section considers the significant growth in numbers of INGOs over the past 150 years.

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  Conflicts of Interest

  • Jamie Swift, Brian Tomlinson(Authors)
  • 1991(Publication Date)
  • Between the Lines

    (Publisher)

  NGO s to be neutral and apolitical, which is a question of values; but whether it is possible, which is a question of fact. In the world described in this book, neutrality is not possible. Any choice to act, to intervene, or any choice not to act, is a political choice, and the actions chosen are political actions. This is not a statement of opinion; it is a definition of reality. This is clearly seen in the examples used previously. If we act in El Salvador or Guatemala, in Southern Africa, or in the Philippines, we are clearly choosing sides; when we choose relationships, we are engaging politically with political actors, since in the politically charged milieu, all action is political, and all actors are carrying out political choices.

  It is unfortunate that this debate does not unfold in a coherent fashion. The extent to which NGO s explicitly recognize, or deny, the political nature of their activity defines the limits of their vision of the world and their role as agents of change. It defines the limits of their capacity to intervene in the world in the decades ahead.

  The prevailing position, which values neutrality as a positive quality and denies the political nature of the NGO s and their work, forms a severe constraint on the relevance and impact of the NGO s. Ultimately, because they will be unable to make critical and politically aware choices, this limited vision will relegate the NGO s, at best, to a benign but marginal role in the world. At worst some will play a malignant role as agents of the very global social and economic forces that have created the conditions of poverty, deprivation, political repression, militarism, and environmental degradation experienced by billions throughout the world.

  Sithembiso Nyoni, of the Organization of Rural Associations for Progress (ORAP ) in Zimbabwe, places this question in a critical light when she states that the role of international NGO s is to support the poor in their efforts to eliminate their condition of underdevelopment, “a condition,” she reminds us, “which originates from outside the poor community.” But she also reminds us, “We cannot reverse the process of underdevelopment by using the same tools, methods, structures, and institutions, which were used to dominate and exploit the poor.”48

  For Nyoni this point is absolutely critical, and for reasons that the NGO s must always keep foremost. The NGO s “have to be constantly aware that they are fighting against an internationally well-organized system of domination and exploitation. This system would rather see the poor removed from the face of the earth than see them change their situation or have them gain real power over their own fate.” Nyoni calls for the “international NGO s which are committed to the liberation of the poor” (and this would include, at least ostensibly, the Canadian NGO s) “to examine very seriously their role in promoting inappropriate models of ‘international developmentalism’.” She believes that this self-examination can best be carried out in “honest dialogue with the indigenous NGO s and those they represent.”49

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  NGO Politics in Sri Lanka

  Local Government and Development

  • Indi Ruwangi Akurugoda(Author)
  • 2017(Publication Date)
  • Palgrave Macmillan

    (Publisher)

  42

  NGO activism may become, on some issues, an alternative to governmental responsibility rather than a hindrance to policy. International NGOs can relieve governments of political responsibilities while appearing to hold them responsible.43 A government may ignore their responsibilities by handing such responsibilities to NGOs. On the other hand, Fitzduff and Church argue that NGOs need to consider the potential loss of independence that may result from cooperating too closely with government.44 Furthermore, NGOs may not want to be limited or constrained by state or other official concerns, but the very process of joint decision making, and the relationships developed therein, may mean that NGOs find it increasingly difficult to criticise governments and others. NGOs can lose their credibility as independent and neutral actors in the eyes of those they are seeking to work with on the ground, resulting in a significant loss, as trust and goodwill are the crucial features of an NGO’s attractiveness to local people.45 Although it is necessary for the NGOs to cooperate with and complement the efforts of the government, they must not subject their operations, finances and activities to governmental control and manipulation.46 Bratton suggests that government-NGO relations are likely to be most constructive where a confident and capable government with populist policies meets an NGO that works to pursue mainstream development programmes. These relations are more controversial where a weak and defensive government with a limited power base meets an NGO that seeks to promote community mobilisation.47

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  Environment and Politics

  • Timothy Doyle, Doug McEachern, Sherilyn MacGregor(Authors)
  • 2015(Publication Date)
  • Routledge

    (Publisher)

  4 Environmental non-governmental organizations   •  Pluralist, corporatist, authoritarian, and post-structuralist approaches to ENGOs •  Characteristics of ENGOs •  Internal politics and structures •  Transnationalization of ENGOs Introduction

  Environmental non-governmental organizations (ENGOs) are the most visible players in environmental politics around the globe. Groups such as Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth and the World Wildlife Fund have been around since the beginning of the second wave of environmentalism in the early 1970s and are internationally regarded as the main defenders of nature in the media and on the world stage. There are all shapes and sizes of ENGOs involved in many different spheres of politics, from the local community level, to the politics of the nation state, through to international politics. They operate both in civil society, the predominantly non-institutional domain of social movement politics, and in the institutionalized milieu of political parties, administrative systems and governments. Although the term ‘non-governmental’ could include the commercial ‘private’ sector, the label ‘NGO’ is rarely applied to corporations (Bebbington and Thiele 1993). Nonetheless, businesses may well sponsor the work of NGOs that make environmentalist claims while simultaneously defending business interests in the policy process. An example of such an organization is the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, which we return to look at in Chapter 6 .

  As mentioned in the introduction, many different approaches and theoretical frameworks can be used to understand the politics of NGOs that work on environmental issues. In this chapter we apply some of these theories and approaches to help us understand the operation of ENGOs within liberal democracies as well as within authoritarian and semi-authoritarian regimes. Traditionally, civil society has been imagined exclusively as a feature of liberal-democratic systems. However, in recent times NGOs have emerged in force in non-democratic regimes, albeit having different relationships with the state and sometimes, but far from always, they are part of the state.

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  Global Human Rights Institutions

  • Gerd Oberleitner(Author)
  • 2013(Publication Date)
  • Polity

    (Publisher)

  7 NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS

  Independence between Law and Politics

  Over the past half century, the spread of inter-governmental human rights institutions has been accompanied by the emergence of an ever greater number of non-governmental organizations devoted to the promotion and protection of human rights. The organization of individuals who pursue goals on the international level is not a new phenomenon and has been traced back to the mid-1800s (Charnovitz, 1997). The rapid growth of civil society movements, though, in particular in the field of human rights, is essentially a striking global phenomenon of the past decades (Rice and Ritchie, 1995: 245). From small, local, grassroots-level groups to worldwide membership organizations, from single-issue pressure groups to large networks, NGOs have become central to the world of human rights. A number of factors have accelerated this development, most recently the revolution in telecommunications and electronic media, which allows civil society groups around the globe to gather and share information and exert an influence which is sometimes way beyond their size or financial power.

  The 2004 Yearbook of International Organizations gives a total number of 7,306 international non-governmental organizations, a number which rises up to more than 13,600 when ‘internationally oriented national organizations’ and others are included, but it is less clear on the number of human rights NGOs. Indeed, there is no overall accepted definition for a ‘human rights NGO’. Even the very term ‘non-governmental organization’ is contested. Alston has rightly noted that defining them ‘in terms of what they are not combines impeccable purism in terms of traditional international legal analysis with an unparalleled capacity to marginalize a significant part of the international human rights regime’ (Alston, 2005: 3). There is no clear-cut distinction between ‘human rights NGOs’ and NGOs working in other areas. Some would say that the former include only organizations with the very raison d’être

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  Management of International Institutions and NGOs

  Insights for Global Leaders

  • Eduardo Missoni, Daniele Alesani(Authors)
  • 2023(Publication Date)
  • Routledge

    (Publisher)

  UIA 2011 ), due to their global relevance and transnational operations, in this chapter, we will also introduce two additional actors: development NGOs and global philanthropy. Both have decision-making bodies favoring one country (or a few individuals in the case of most foundations) with limited or relatively non-influential representation of members from other countries.

  Development non-governmental organizations were originally established in industrialized countries to promote and implement projects in low-income countries, but in the 1990s they moved into a mainstream position in development policy. Indeed, they became important partners to donors and intergovernmental organizations and played an increasing role in the international scenario. Some of them later assumed the characteristic of genuine international organizations.

  Global private philanthropy is the term commonly used to indicate major private foundations that have been playing an increasing role in financing development and influencing global governance and policies, such as the Rockefeller Foundation, the Ford Foundation, and, increasingly since 2000, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

  2.6.1 Development NGOs

  For many people, the concept of NGO (and even more of INGOs) has become inseparably linked with the business of international development, to the multilateral institutions and bilateral donors and international aid channeled to developing countries from governments and publics in industrialized countries. This is partially justified by the increase – with the emergence of neoliberal development policies in the early 1980s – in the number of NGOs involved in the aid system, in the role of donors, and project implementers or “partners” working with local organizations. This represented a veritable phenomenon and an increasingly important element of the “aid industry” (Lewis 2007

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  The NGO Challenge for International Relations Theory

  • William E. DeMars, Dennis Dijkzeul(Authors)
  • 2015(Publication Date)
  • Routledge

    (Publisher)

  This is why NGO research is so interesting, and also so challenging. The “realist” who thinks that NGOs are epiphenomena of the power politics between states, is just not paying attention to what states really do. The United States conducts foreign policy in a sea of domestic and international NGOs, in a constant process of negotiation and mutual manipulation. Middle power states are busy networking with NGOs to create treaties and IGOs without the United States (landmines, child soldiers, greenhouse gases). The weakest, collapsed states of sub-Saharan Africa are sometimes held together—population and territory—by networks of humanitarian NGOs and IGOs. International NGOs routinely link states, or groups within a state, that are in conflict or even at war with each other. The most profound and elusive bridging effect—and therefore, also power dynamic—is that between agency and structure. Because NGOs link societal and political actors, the agency and structural dynamics enfold them as well. We return to this question of NGO social construction in the conclusion of this book. Conclusion: about this book The scholars writing in this book share an affinity for NGOs. They want to understand and reveal their fascinating politics and unexpected influence. They share the view that NGOs are more important than either their detractors or their boosters claim. Part A analyzes the strengths and weaknesses of several alternative theoretical approaches to the study of NGOs and their networks. Morten Andersen proposes in Chapter 1 the benefits of following a practice approach to construe and explain international NGOs. The relational ontology of the emerging “practice turn” in IR allows an observer to better understand NGOing as fluid and intermingling relational processes. NGO effects are seen as emanating from interactions themselves, rather than from the attributes of static entities

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  Reducing Armed Violence with NGO Governance

  • Rodney Bruce Hall(Author)
  • 2013(Publication Date)
  • Routledge

    (Publisher)

  Part I Conflict Governance NGOs A practitioner’s perspective Passage contains an image

  2 NGOs, governance, and peace building

  Jeffrey French and Robert Haywood

  DOI: 10.4324/9780203746592-3

  • Systemic shortcomings for sustainable peace and security
  • Roles for NGOs in conflict governance and peace building
  • Non-state actors, issue-specific authority, and conflict governance
  • Conclusion

  Contemporary global governance reserves a privileged place for states and their intergovernmental organizations (IGOs). Sovereign entities and the institutions they create, like the United Nations (UN) and the World Trade Organization (WTO), act as the decisive authorities over a growing number of global, national, and even local issues. States maintain their collectively self-mandated claims to sovereign authority, interacting with changing understandings of the legitimacy inherent in authority. The benefits of sovereign authority and the responsibility of states to represent their citizens’ welfare, create a context where states are motivated to act to protect their interests and the current state system through claims of legitimacy if they can, and through violence if they must.

  The rise of global, non-state actors can be considered either an additional stress on the current system or a legitimate response to the deficiencies of the state-centric system. The role of global civil society and business society remains heavily contested, especially in relation to their roles in peace building. We argue that empowered non-state actors can have a constructive, or even essential, public role. States will continue to maintain the central role in governance, but it is essential that they encourage and enable non-state actors from civil and business societies to govern particular domains, especially in the face of globalization. This will be best achieved by states empowering civil and business societies via the ascription of authority over bounded governance domains. States, then, will be bolstered by non-state actors operating either independently of, or in co-operation with, states as private authorities over specified and limited issue areas.1

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  NGO Management

  The Earthscan Companion

  • Alan Fowler, Chiku Malunga, Alan Fowler, Chiku Malunga(Authors)
  • 2020(Publication Date)
  • Routledge

    (Publisher)

  Introduction: NGOs in a World of Uncertainties

  Alan Fowler and Chiku Malunga

  Background and Overview

  Leading and managing non-governmental organizations involved in international, aided development (NGDOs) is seldom straightforward or easy.1 The diversity of chapters in this Companion shows, conceptually and practically, why this is often the case. Their topics cover both old and new themes of NGDO interest and concern. For practical reasons, the Companion cannot contain the ‘best’ or most recent contribution on every theme. But each entry is worthy of the book’s purpose: to bring between two covers a comprehensive set of readings for anyone involved with, interested in, or studying NGDOs’ leadership, management and development work. Where we saw gaps, an invitation was made to people actively engaged with a missing subject to provide a new contribution. As a result, 8 of the 32 chapters are original pieces from experienced practitioners.

  However, this fine-grained approach to the Companion’s design runs the risk of not seeing the wood for the trees. In other words, the big forces and factors around and within the evolution of NGDOs and their management might be lost from view. We think that of many internal factors three deserve particular attention. These are issues of NGDO identity, their political economy and achieving effective, accountable development practice. In their own right, and collectively, these factors are adding to the growing internal and external uncertainties NGDO leaders and managers face. All are a source of challenges that are reflected in and cut across topics found in the texts. This introduction therefore reviews these interconnected areas of concern before turning to a guide for navigating the themes and their content.

  NGDO Identity

  In the past two decades, NGDOs have been ‘relocated’ so to speak within the concept of civil society. In an attempt to make sense of and adjust to the post-Cold War era, NGDOs have repositioned themselves and have had it done to them by others, particularly by western funding agencies. Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, many official aid agencies wanted to accelerate the ‘inevitable’ democratization of nation states, of international governance (e.g. Blair, 1998; Scholte, 2005) and of development itself (Clark, 1991). To this end, as an aided part of a civil society, many donor agencies anticipated a critical role for, and hence increased their finance to, NGDOs. The growing outreach of NGDOs from the north into the south and east was expected to pull this ‘sector’ up by its boot straps so to speak by connecting internationally and building from within (e.g. Eade, 2000; Pratt, 2003). In parallel, official aid would concentrate on promoting an enabling environment for civil society to flourish.

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