The Role of NGOs
In his article, John McCormick establishes that the number of NGOs present in the world today probably exists well into the six figures (P. 60). Assuming that the role of NGOs is to keep governmental organizations in check when it comes to environmental issues, it frustrated me to think that there actually could be such problems with environmental issues. Certainly hundreds of thousands of such organizations must be able to regulate the environment in an efficient manner so to keep the major problems in check, right? But I soon learned that the NGOs themselves, are often corrupt in their cooperation and may actually hinder the regulation of environmental standards.
Before attacking these NGOs, their specific contributions to environmental protections must be established. It seems that NGOs made the most significant gains at and after the Stockholm conference. They established specific practices that were aimed at protecting the environment not only at national levels, but internationally. NGOs acted as liasons between nations with alternative views. Most importantly, these NGOs were established to communicate the goals of such conferences as Stockholm and the Brundtland Commission, and to pressure cooperating nations into achieving these goals without the type of pressure that would create chaos amongst the nations.
Key to the growth of NGOs was the rapid advancement of communication technology. Not only did these advances in communication help to build stronger bonds among NGOs, but it also spurred on the growth of umbrella bodies for smaller local organizations. The Phillipines alone have 18,000 NGOs (McCormick 59).
I find that this huge number of NGOs, while at first may seem beneficial, most likely act to oppose each other. In a country the size of the Phillipines, I find it hard to believe, however environmentally aware its people are, that there can exist so many separate groups fighting for a similar cause. Which brings me to the limitations of the NGOs. It seems that with so many organizations worldwide working towards bettering the environment, there lacks an overall unity binding the groups together to reach a common goal.
Just as governmental agencies have run into problems internationally when it comes to agreeing on environmental issues, NGOs have come across similar obstacles in their attempt to protect the environment. The usual rivalry of northern industrialized views opposing those of the emerging southern ideals can be seen at the level of NGOs as well.
Who is being organized is also an important factor. Regarding the Sierra Club, a range of people were organized. Whether rich, educated, businessmen, farmers, or women, environmental protection is important to...
Although it has a stable financial foundation, the fund that it raises is insufficient for its expansion of programs. As mentioned in the previous paragraphs, the Greenpeace East Asia has launched more regional programs and campaigns. However, the growth of the expenditure of the programs is faster than the growth of the revenue. It needs to put more efforts on the fundraising works. This may reduce its resources on the campaigns. Another weakness of Greenpeace East Asia in the resource aspect is the high turnover rate. Usually the turnover rate is lower in the non-profit sector. However, the turnover rate is slightly higher than the average turnover rate of the non-profit sector. It can be due to the heavy work load in the organization. The high turnover rate reflects that there is a frequent adjustment in the person in charge in the programs. The frequent change in person in charge may lead to administrative problem because some programs may be carried out by different person in charge within the launching time. Also, Greenpeace East Asia wastes more time on training the new staff than the other non-profit
...n space. Approach for humanitarian space has been changed since the attack on 9.11 in the US, which was the trigger that the boundary of military force and NGOs to became obscured. Under such circumstance, NGOs have become to face the risk of terrorism. On the other hand, it is unavoidable NGOs to spread their activities without military forces in dangerous places, thus this dilemma causes vicious circle. Although terrorism prevents spreading humanitarian space, terrorism could be caused by several reasons such as misunderstanding of NGO activities, or bad national mood for particular nations where military/NGO workers comes from. It is still argumentative that whether humanitarian space is collapsed or not, however at very least the notion humanitarian space had changed after global war, and also the risk of terrorism can affect the activity of NGOs in micro level.
As stated above, there are various actors in the international community. These actors include intergovernmental and nongovernmental organizations who help shape the foundation and creation of human rights. IGOs and NGOs listen to the international community to monitor and protect their human rights. According to the textbook, nongovernmental organization have been especially vocal and effective in the international system when it comes to human rights. NGOs groups that have a great impact on human rights through specific groups like Amnesty International, and the Human Rights Watch. IGOs and NGOs make the public aware of human rights issues, put pressure on good and bad states to confront issues, and lobby international organizations. As stated
I have learned that the role of non-governmental organizations is much needed for developing states. Non-governmental organizations supposedly have a big role to play in advancement as they usually provide services and utilities that help bolster families in developing nations. For example, when one volunteers with a non-governmental organization, as emphasized in the game, they have the opportunity to get more education, develop more skills needed for a decent career and the local community benefits with utilities such as soccer field for kids, local library and local community
...needed to protect the world's forests, the rights of the people who depend on them, biodiversity and the climate. They work alongside indigenous communities at the frontline of forest destruction - in the Amazon, the Congo, Indonesia - to investigate, document, expose and take action against forest destruction. With the help of hundreds of thousands of supporters, they’ve won some amazing victories. Deforestation of the Amazon for soya and beef has significantly reduced due to the soya and cattle moratoria, the Great Bear Rainforest in Canada has been protected and is being sustainably managed, 80,000 hectares of northern Finnish reindeer grazing forests have been protected, and, thanks to pressure from our supporters, multinational giants like Nestlé and Unilever have changed their palm oil sourcing policies to help protect Indonesia's rain forests and peatlands.
O'Neill, Micheal. The Third America: The Emergence of the Nonprofit Sector. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers, 1989
The main objectives and functions of non – state actors such as: NGOs or environmental activists are mostly assistance to states and educating people in order to protect environment (Badruddin, 2014). Directly solving environmental problem requires laws and legitimacy to implement. That are functions of state actors and non – state actors do not have legitimacy for doing these. Lobbying or using population to make a pressure (such as: protest movements) or even participating in decision – making as mentioned above, these action are indirect tackling environmental problems because those present the attemp of non – state actors to affect decision of states. In some situations, the involvements of non – state actors such as: making protest could create a political anachy which deflect the protection of environment purpose or in case of representations of NGOs sit in an agenda to discuss a solution for environmental problems, their power are almost less than state actors in making decision (O’Neil, 2009). Therefore, non – state actors cannot directly tackle environmental issues. Having the same opinion about non – state actors, Raustiala (2001), argued non – state actors, especially NGOs can affect environmental policies, but state and governmental body are a key to improve environment. The writer considered NGOs “attempting shape government action” that refers non – state actors role is influence governmental ideas, do not have legitimacy in decision. For that reason, resolving environmental problems directly is a part of state actors rather non-state actors. In addition, protection of environment is also a responsibility of each individuals in society. Even state ratifield and implement environmental policies as purpose of NGOs or activists or both non and state actors attempt to educating
Mercer, C. (2002). NGOs, civil society and democratization: a critical review of the literature. Progress in development studies, 2(1), pp.5--22.
Gerard Clarke and Michael Jennings (2008: 6) define FBO as “any organization that derives inspiration and guidance for its activities from the teachings and principles of the faith or from a particular interpretation or school of thought within the faith” . In short basically FBOs are directly indirectly religiously tied organisations. FBOs also differ in terms of the kind of approach they have towards development and the ways in which they view what people need in order to live a dignified life. FBOs resemble Non Governmental Organisations and can be argued to be a form or type of NGOs because they also exist outside the structures of government. Occhipinti L (2013:6) is of the conviction that most schools of thought tend to regard FBOs as a ‘subset’ of NGOs with no clear differentiation. This view bases on the assumption that “all” FBOs are there for developmental purposes like what NGOs are into and disregards that there are FBOs who are destructive and terrorist in nature like the Boko Haram. By the virtue that FBOs are independent from government and are not a government institution already classifies them as being part of the Non Governmental Organisations. Although Rakodi C (2010) is of the view that FBOs have religious mandates whereas NGOs do not have. Basically the major difference is that FBOs have a religious core in their mission while NGOs are not influenced by religious beliefs in their mission. FBOs tend to have an extra motivational commitment to serving people and communities. Leurs (2012) is of the conviction that FBOs are able to draw spiritual and moral influences that instil value. FBOs and NGOs themselves in the same work like advocacy, charity work, offering relief aid and also focusing on developmental...
Local NGOs provide the vehicle for effective intervention in their areas because of their closeness to the local communities. Faith-based organizations for example, command large followership, while community coalitions are established by the communities themselves.
According to the Commission on Global Governance (1995), global governance refers to “the sum of the many ways individuals and institutions, public and private, manage their common affairs. It is the continuing process through which conflict or diverse interests may be accommodated and cooperative action may be taken”. Some main actors involved in the process of global governance include states, international organizations (IOs), regional organizations (ROs) and non-governmental organizations (NGOs). Global governance implements in various issue areas including security, economic deelopment, environmental protection and so on. Different states and organizations have different or even conflicting interests. Yet as globalisation continues and the world becomes more inter-connected than ever before, global governance or cooperation among different actors is increasingly taking a more significant role in the international stage. Some critics view global governance quite negatively as they believe that the current system lacks efficiency and effectiveness. In this paper, however, I shall argue that global governance is carried out more effectively in maintenance of world security and promotion of economic development while less effectively in environmental protection and preservation. Thus, despite limitations of the existing mechanism, global governance is still largely a postive development in world affairs.
For example green groups in Pakistan have plans to plant 1 billion trees to combat the rising carbon dioxide level. This effort from Non-profit organization in Pakistan will not only lower the carbon dioxide emission but also help the volunteers involved in this project to gain experience. Moreover, another NPO named Earthwatch in Hong Kong has plans to protect forests in Hong Kong, they achieve this by going to forests to examine the trees, and find reasons behind the continuous vanishing of the forests. There are hundreds of non-profit organizations around the world that are currently carrying out projects and are striving very hard to establish a stable
The other kind of International Organization (IO) is the NGO which are primarily non-profit private organizations that engage in a variety of international activities (Pease, 2012 p. 4). They are able to particip...
Temirkulov, A. (2007). Combating Open Society Threats: Regionalism, Nepotism and Corruption. Recommendations for NGOs from the Kyrgyz Republic. Bishkek., 5. Retrieved from http://pdc.ceu.hu/archive/00003710/01/azamat.temirkulov.pdf