Difference between revisions of "Peace NGO Sector"
From NGO Handbook
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Peace NGOs also encompass the wide variety of anti-war organizations. More recent examples include organizations opposed to the U.S.-led invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan. NGOs like the American Friend Service Committee (AFSC), founded in 1917, use educational activities, awareness-raising, and mobilizing members in letter-writing campaigns to politicians to oppose war and explore alternatives. Other organizations, like the US-based War Resister’s League (WRL), employ more direct methods, organizing a counter-recruitment program that educates high schoolers about alternatives to joining the army. | Peace NGOs also encompass the wide variety of anti-war organizations. More recent examples include organizations opposed to the U.S.-led invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan. NGOs like the American Friend Service Committee (AFSC), founded in 1917, use educational activities, awareness-raising, and mobilizing members in letter-writing campaigns to politicians to oppose war and explore alternatives. Other organizations, like the US-based War Resister’s League (WRL), employ more direct methods, organizing a counter-recruitment program that educates high schoolers about alternatives to joining the army. | ||
| − | ==Research and Policy-Oriented NGOs== | + | ===Research and Policy-Oriented NGOs=== |
Other NGOs will use research and policy recommendations to promote peaceful outcomes. Organizations like the UK-based Saferworld use research on issues such as the arms trade as well as the training of governments and civil society to provide alternatives to armed violence. The Berghof Research Center for Constructive Conflict Management in Berlin is another example of an NGO that combines original research on conflict origins and prevention strategies with policy recommendations and active support of workers in the field. Another notable example is The Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation, a South Africa-based NGO. According to its mission, the “rebuilding of relationships…whether these are racial, ethnic, religious or gender-based…continue to play a critical role in the evolution of conflict and potential for violent perpetration and victimization in South Africa.” This should be accompanied by institutional transformation and a “’positive peace’…premised on more than just the absence of violence,” with social, political, and economic justice being key to a true peace. | Other NGOs will use research and policy recommendations to promote peaceful outcomes. Organizations like the UK-based Saferworld use research on issues such as the arms trade as well as the training of governments and civil society to provide alternatives to armed violence. The Berghof Research Center for Constructive Conflict Management in Berlin is another example of an NGO that combines original research on conflict origins and prevention strategies with policy recommendations and active support of workers in the field. Another notable example is The Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation, a South Africa-based NGO. According to its mission, the “rebuilding of relationships…whether these are racial, ethnic, religious or gender-based…continue to play a critical role in the evolution of conflict and potential for violent perpetration and victimization in South Africa.” This should be accompanied by institutional transformation and a “’positive peace’…premised on more than just the absence of violence,” with social, political, and economic justice being key to a true peace. | ||
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==Peace and Conflict Resolution NGOs and the United Nations== | ==Peace and Conflict Resolution NGOs and the United Nations== | ||
| − | With NGOs now holding consultative status at the United Nations, “many of these agencies are now officially participating in United Nations conferences as well as organizing their own shadow conferences…increas[ing] the lobbying and policy leverage of these organizations considerably”(Fitzduff, 6). | + | With NGOs now holding consultative status at the United Nations, “many of these agencies are now officially participating in United Nations conferences as well as organizing their own shadow conferences…increas[ing] the lobbying and policy leverage of these organizations considerably” (Fitzduff, 6). |
The Panel of Eminent Persons on Civil Society and UN Relationships, a panel commissioned by Kofi Annan produced a report (commonly referred to as the Cardoso report) in 2004 which explored the current and future status of NGOs at the UN. Its findings were controversial in the NGO community, raising concerns that “the UN’s increasingly active interaction with business companies may crowd out its relationship with NGOs,” among other questions of access for NGOs at UN functions. | The Panel of Eminent Persons on Civil Society and UN Relationships, a panel commissioned by Kofi Annan produced a report (commonly referred to as the Cardoso report) in 2004 which explored the current and future status of NGOs at the UN. Its findings were controversial in the NGO community, raising concerns that “the UN’s increasingly active interaction with business companies may crowd out its relationship with NGOs,” among other questions of access for NGOs at UN functions. | ||
| − | As the Cardoso report pointed out, the level of NGO | + | As the Cardoso report pointed out, the level of NGO UN interaction has increased greatly over the last several years. In his article “Lessons from Campaigns of the 1990s,” the scholar Don Hubert argues that the 1990s saw significant NGO and UN coalition building and coordination in four major campaigns – to ban landmine use, the use of child soldiers, the movement to create the International Criminal Court (ICC), and the reduction of small arms use. The success of these campaigns was based on the building of coalitions between NGO networks and governments amenable to the causes, as well as being “further legitimized by the active support of various bodies of the United Nations (UN)” (Hubert, 561). Further, he says that the child soldier and small arms campaigns were less successful because of a less-inclusive environment - “the objectives have been defined by states, negotiations have taken place in closed-door sessions, and direct NGO involvement has been minimal”(Hubert, 562). |
John Clark argues in the same volume that the “breakthrough came as a result of an ad hoc global policy network of NGOs and governments…that took the issue outside UN forums, and only brought it back to the UN once sufficient support for the treaty had been achieved. For the UN to be fully relevant in the future, it must become able to service such iterative and informal processes directly” (Clark, 62). | John Clark argues in the same volume that the “breakthrough came as a result of an ad hoc global policy network of NGOs and governments…that took the issue outside UN forums, and only brought it back to the UN once sufficient support for the treaty had been achieved. For the UN to be fully relevant in the future, it must become able to service such iterative and informal processes directly” (Clark, 62). | ||
| − | There has also been an increased awareness of the importance of coordinating with NGOs in UN peacekeeping operations. In one report on the UN peacekeeping operation in Somali (UNOSOM) during 1992-1995, it was concluded that “from the experience of UNOSOM…the activities of NGOs go a long way to help or hinder a peacekeeping operation,” citing coordinated efforts between humanitarian efforts of the UN and NGOs meeting weekly to discuss efforts. It was not an entirely harmonious relationship, as “the agencies wanted to retain a certain amount of independence, on the grounds that political objectives might sometimes conflict with humanitarian ones…they had priorities … on how to spend their money, and they preferred not to be used -- or to be perceived as being used -- for political purposes.” NGO | + | There has also been an increased awareness of the importance of coordinating with NGOs in UN peacekeeping operations. In one report on the UN peacekeeping operation in Somali (UNOSOM) during 1992-1995, it was concluded that “from the experience of UNOSOM…the activities of NGOs go a long way to help or hinder a peacekeeping operation,” citing coordinated efforts between humanitarian efforts of the UN and NGOs meeting weekly to discuss efforts. It was not an entirely harmonious relationship, as “the agencies wanted to retain a certain amount of independence, on the grounds that political objectives might sometimes conflict with humanitarian ones…they had priorities … on how to spend their money, and they preferred not to be used -- or to be perceived as being used -- for political purposes.” NGO UN peacekeeping operation coordination was also seen as important during the transition of East Timor into an independent country, where “local NGOs in East Timor have been pivotal when U.N. troops need to communicate with the people in the war-ravaged communities.” |
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==Issues== | ==Issues== | ||
| − | “Questions are increasingly asked about who elects the CSOs | + | “Questions are increasingly asked about who elects the CSOs [Civil Society Organizations]. To whom are they accountable? How can they prove they speak with authenticity for particular constituencies or on specific issues? What is their level of integrity?” (Clark, 68). |
| − | As the role of NGOs in conflict resolution and peace building increases, there has been increasing scrutiny and debate over the role that these organizations play in conflict situations. Some commentators see NGO and other grassroots efforts as being most effective at stimulating changes at the community level, while “primary responsibility for conflict prevention rests with national governments”(Barnes, 13). | + | As the role of NGOs in conflict resolution and peace building increases, there has been increasing scrutiny and debate over the role that these organizations play in conflict situations. Some commentators see NGO and other grassroots efforts as being most effective at stimulating changes at the community level, while “primary responsibility for conflict prevention rests with national governments” (Barnes, 13). |
| − | Governments have sometimes taken critical stances against NGOs | + | Governments have sometimes taken critical stances against NGOs. For example, Russia’s 2006 law requires foreign NGOs operating in Russia to “produce endless notarized documents, including passport numbers and home addresses and telephone numbers back in home countries” seen in response partly to the role of international NGOs in highlighting abuses in the breakaway region of Chechnya. |
| − | There are also questions of how international or Western NGOs interact with each other and with local organizations. There is a concern that international NGOs “shift debates on structural issues away from national parliaments (which can help to strengthen the accountability of governments) to international forums organized around multilateral agencies and inter-governmental meetings… | + | There are also questions of how international or Western NGOs interact with each other and with local organizations. There is a concern that international NGOs “shift debates on structural issues away from national parliaments (which can help to strengthen the accountability of governments) to international forums organized around multilateral agencies and inter-governmental meetings…[which] tend to be inaccessible to less wealthy [NGOs], especially those in the global South and for those with less experience or language skills for effective participation” (Barnes, 23). |
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| + | One sensitive task for civil organizations is the need to take into account differing worldviews and even of the “culture of conflict” that conflicting parties have, which may differ from the intervening organization's ideas of conflict and its resolution (Fisher, 18). For “many cases of intervention, the third-party comes from a different (and often dominant) culture from that of the parties, who are often themselves from different cultures…” (Fisher, 18). Like the case of the UN Shir initiative in Somalia cited earlier, even seemingly well-meaning attempts can fall short due to misapplication of local methods or politicization of traditional forms of mediation. | ||
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==Conclusion== | ==Conclusion== | ||
| − | Many commentators see “the growth and confidence of NGOs working in coexistence | + | Many commentators see that “the growth and confidence of NGOs working in coexistence in conflict resolution work [has] dramatically increased over the past three decades and that their influence on governments and IGOs [Inter-Governmental Organizations] is increasing” (Fitzduff, 1). NGOs “have been able to gain access, build relationships, and offer mediation services in situations where more formal diplomacy has not been immediately welcomed… War-torn countries also may be more receptive to organizations that have already provided humanitarian or development assistance to them.” Like the larger NGO movement, organizations working on peace and conflict resolution issues will continue to grow in size and number, and continue to arise in conflict areas. |
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| + | Some scholars argue for increased linkage between local and international NGOs, that “the cries of local NGOs need to be amplified by NGOs with international constituencies, that collaboration by NGOs across national borders is helpful, and that mass-based organizations can yell louder and with greater effect than more narrowly focused groups, however worthy” (Gidron, 264). These linkages can then serve to defuse potential conflicts before they arise, as well as bring attention to situations where political, religious, ethnic, or economic causes create the conditions for armed conflict. | ||
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==External Links== | ==External Links== | ||
Latest revision as of 10:14, 5 August 2008
Contents
Introduction
Peace and conflict resolution NGOs are non-governmental organizations which work in areas “relating to the reduction and elimination of destructive conflict,” or in another definition “promote peace, reconciliation, and coexistence” (Gidron, 3). Organizations under this broad category use a variety of approaches and methodologies to work on international, intra-state, or local conflicts.
Like the larger NGO world, organizations working on peace and conflict resolution issues are a heterogeneous group, varying widely in size, approach, and commitments. Peace and conflict resolution NGOs often draw upon common activist strategies–-ranging from petitions, letter writing, direct action and civil disobedience to diplomatic talks, treaties, and policy recommendations, as well as education, media coverage, and raising awareness in the general public--to further their work. Many organizations use a combination of these methods.
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