Non-Governmental Organizations - Example

Running head: Non-Governmental Organizations Student’s name Institution Course Professor Date INTRODUCTION The term NGO came into use in 1945 because of the need for the United Nations to differentiate between intergovernmental agencies and the private organizations. In this case only private bodies were recognized as NGOs. They only need to be independent from government and not to seek to challenge the government. It is therefore defined as any nonprofit, voluntary citizens’ group organized either at the local, national or international level. Its tasks and duties should be driven by the interest of the local citizen. They perform a variety of services and humanitarians functions in different country which include: bringing citizens’ concern to the government, advocate for policies as well as monitoring them and encouraging the public to participate in politics through provision of information. Some of them are organized around specific issues, such as human rights, environment and health. They provide analysis and expertise, serve as a watch dog that provide early warning mechanisms and monitor the operations within the country as well as implement international agreements. They are a component of civil society in the country. NGOs can be distinguished into two: operational which have to mobiles resource in order to sustain their projects and program or advocacy which is in most cases financed by other bodies. However they all have a role in the following areas: community health promotion; emerging health crises; community social problems; environment; economy; development; women issues; and education. They are run by boards which set out policies in line with the agreed purposes, principles and scope of their operation. However the board does not operate in isolation but invites the public in the design, implementation and evaluation of its policies and programs. APPROACHES TO SOCIAL ISSUES There are over two thousand registered NGOs in Australia at the moment. However they are distinguished by the various activities they are involved in i.e. operational or campaign. Most social issue in the country is handled by the operational NGOs because of their ability to mobilize resources in the form of donations, material or volunteer labor in order to sustain its operations. This process may require charity shops, volunteer and donations. Student provide the labor during vacations When an NGO approaches solving a social issue that has risen in this country they first have to identify that issue for example increase in school dropouts or HIV/AIDS cases in refugee settlement schemes. This is followed by numerous steps that are pursued to aid solving the problem. First, they have to gather enough information on the issue and for practical purpose we take an example of refugees in the country. This is then followed by answering the question of what exactly the problem is. In our example we take rise of HIV infected victims as the problem the NGOS have to deal with in the refugee camps. Going ahead we look at the cause of the problem. Poverty is the first issue that we shall have to look into because it’s the main cause of transactional sex. Who are involved or affected by this. We also have to look at the consequences of these developments in the society. Having analyzed that, it is time to look for possible solutions to this factor in all the available alternatives. An NGO is a community oriented therefore we should seek the views of all the stakeholders and hear what they have to say hence enabling a holistic view of the issue. The authority should be informed. This involvement enables many players work towards solving the problems together with minimal hostility. In such issues there is need to link up with other organizations to maximize the effect of the effort employed. Various approaches have been pursued by different NGOs when handling social issues in the society. The approaches to be employed will in most cases depend on the issue at hand. Comprehensive approach is a holistic, sophisticated and integrated approach. It looks at a problem from multiple angels. For example when dealing with poverty in Australia AUSTCARE confronts the structural factors in trying to solve the problem. First it looks at the people affected and the cause of their problems. In this case the most affected are the orphans and vulnerable women. First there is need to create awareness of the stakeholder so that the problem is clearly marked and clear objective are drawn to avoid suspicion or any form of hostility from the other parties. Solving this needs the involvement of these partners. Although relief food is given this is not a long term solution to the starving refugees in the country. AUSTCARE has been out to improving the living standards by providing agricultural and vocational training to the affected groups. This helps them be able to sustain themselves rather than depend on donations. Income support is also a way to enabling the affected persons fulfill their daily needs. Farmers are highly trained on new ways of maximizing the output from their farms with minimal output. Some are offered practical lessons in other organizations to enhance their skill in production. Cases have been witnessed where these NGOs offer farm inputs to farmers for free or on credit as a way to supporting their farming operations. Sometimes the NGOS offer a market for the farmer so that they don’t lose their produce due to lack of market. In comprehensive approach other sectors are involve in fighting the social issue in the society. To fight poverty you go to its origin. There is need therefore to improve other sectors of the economy that provide other basic services to the society which cannot afford them from their financial resources. Schools, health care, water and accommodation facilities are some of the essential facilities that can aid this. Availing the most basic to the affected groups helps them seek for the other and with time they may be able to afford them by themselves. For example training through education enables them to foster on good agricultural skills that increases productivity as well as health standards of the community. Multi-sectoral approach is therefore the most practiced form in fighting poverty in the current generation because it focuses on improving the standard of life in many sectors. Partnership approach is gaining popularity among most NGOs nowadays. They are thus emphasizing on the importance of partnerships in their approach to handling any issue in the society. In fact they have decreased their involvement in direct service delivery and increased their work through local partners. Perhaps this is the way forward to handling peace crisis among the partners. It also gives a people driven solution to any issue they have. This form has helped most NGOs to build brand identity that are distinctive and focused on the people. This shift places the organization both on having a mindset of a genuine partner and facilitator who can link well with the people, and being able to add significant value to the target group. Partners have a significant role because the can easily understand the people they are handling and link up with them in giving a long term solution to any problem. Taking ACTION AID as an example of NGOs that is mostly concern with peace keeping in the society. We can illustrate how partners work hand in hand. In these cases the key players are the affected community. Through partnership with government agency especially the administration it is easy to spot an area affected and leads to reaching out to such places. Internal crisis arise mostly due to political unrest or fight over the control of a given resource in the given locality. Such issue can best be dealt with by the affected community. This is mainly because they understand the major cause hence can agree on their way forward. In such cases it is the responsibility of the NGOs through their partners to facilitate solution seeking forums. Sometimes it many look difficult especially when the difference between the parties on the ground are so much that it need the government authorities to be involved. In such instances the ACTION AID calls on the government to provide security to their partners (NGOS to government partnership). There are also cases where this organization has had to move to the local community and find people to pass on the information they have to the people. This was a case where the locals rejected the settlement of refugees in there locality. Leaders in this area are also encouraged to work closely with the people and pass on peace message in various forums to avoid resistance. From this understanding if we go back to the issue of poverty eradication and look at it from the partners point of view, you realize that involvement of all the stakeholders at various levels will help handle some of the pertinent issues in fight against poverty. Poverty as a social issue has great impacts on many other subsections of the economy. To address it we need the contribution of other partners. The most closely affected areas are health and agriculture, security and literacy levels. To encourage specialization expertise are employed in various sectors to address the problems encountered in the society. In partnership approach the organization are out to welcome different player for their contribution and knowledge on how to handle poverty in a given society. It is important to note that most organization seek to fight a problem before it falls out of hand. Poverty is the genesis of many other problems to the society. There is need to invite other players as a means of division of labor in any specialization. This way, solutions are found and merged to reduce conflicts during implementation process. It also encourages close supervision of progress in the implementation stage because they are driven by the same goals under the same management. Some organizations focus on advocacy and mobilization as an approach to some social issues. Oxfam America for example is on the far end of the spectrum in investing heavily on advocacy capacity. This happens mostly for organization which operates in nations that have no room for the internationally agreed on regulation or standards. The organizations therefore seek to mobilize the people and other internal bodies to pushing for the respect of the constitution or status. In most cases they work with external bodies like the UN so that they get the necessary support to pass on their message. Sometimes they spend a lot of resources trying to educate people of their rights and responsibility. The faith based NGOs such as CRS, world vision and has already gained significant capacity to mobilize larger masses in the world. This approach is important where there is a national disaster and there is need to get every necessary resources and personality to avert the situation. It was ones experienced in Iran where NGOs partnered in mobilizing for resources when a catastrophe hit that country. It was also used in Australia during the irregular movement of refugees and asylum seekers. Human rights bodies are known to be the strongest organizations to advocate or mobilize for any implementation of any law. This approach is also used in unison by organization who find it hard to operate in some constituencies of the country therefore seek for adjustment of some laws or drafting of policies that aid their operations in some regions. Most foundations have been seeking the implementation of the draft policy so that they are allowed to expand their service to other regions other than those in their registration certificates. ETU foundation at one point joint with other humanitarian had to give a submission to the UN seeking for support to the refugee camps during the high period when Somalia nation could not stand the numbers hence asylum business that highly affected innocent children and their mothers. Identification and language approach is another line pursued by some organization to fighting poverty. However most of them identify themselves as humanitarian organizations, but it seems the use of this term is misplaced. Some international NGOs use the term broadly for example, CARE identifies itself as a leading humanitarian organization fighting poverty, MSF uses the term in a very specific way, referring to the principles of impartiality and medical ethics and drawing from international humanitarian law. Furthermore its profile work towards addressing poverty regardless of the line they follow e.g. children’s wellbeing, women empowerment faith, entrepreneurship and housing. Some of the small NGOs would want their impact to reach out to the society despite limitation in the resources they have at their disposal. They therefore identify themselves with a certain group which they will handle e.g. most foundations have segment or places demographic boundaries to the kind of persons they serve. Some go for the unfortunate children in the society while others resort for the vulnerable women in the society. There are organizations which seek to fight poverty and will work with all partners to this calling. Action for enterprise for example, is an NGO in Dhaka and its calling is to sell entrepreneur skills to the society and at the end of the day improve their living standards. There is also Action on Disability and Development – which is out for the disabled in the society. For them they look at the option of letting their affected get a means of earning a living and stable future without depending on others. Where this is not possible and the one in charge has no means then they come in to equipping the caretaker with some skills that will earn them a great future. This way they are able to iron out poverty circles and empower the vulnerable persons in the society by securing their future. Agriculture sustainable and socio economic development organization (ASSEDO), is another organization that helps in fighting poverty by following food security as a single line of its interest. This approach has been effective as far as specialization and efficiency is concern. Most NGOs have moved to long term approach which is more sustainable. This helps them draw strong missions and goals that are achievable. This is one of the reasons we have many of them moving to specialization so that they set a focused mind that is going to drive its desires and work to its goals. Working for children or the disabled for instance, enables the organization to closely monitor the behavior of the group they are working for. In this way it gets even easier to mobilize for resources and grants because those who support the organization financially do so for a cause. This doesn’t mean we rule out those that are short termed. They are in most cases responsive to calamities or outbreaks of diseases. Some are seasonal so that they only appear when there is need. These organizations mainly work with government agencies to addressing any issue. In fighting poverty we cannot rule them out because they help in spotting any issue that affect a certain group and needs attention. However such organizations are very few because sustaining them seasonally is difficult and that most financiers will want to look at a long term project or program before they entrust you with their funds. World peace and economic development organization (WPEDO) is one such organization that fight for long term solution to peace not only in Australia but also with its neighboring countries therefore reducing cases of internally displaced persons and refugees. In this way economic stability is guaranteed. With the kind of specialization witnessed from these organizations it goes without a say that long term plans have to be laid so that each group in the society is taken care of. Government cannot handle it on its own and since the legislation has been drawn to allow the organization to operate and the need to be focused on fighting poverty to then last person. Long term plans are the pillars objective set should aim at fulfilling the entire plan. Terminology and communication is another approach most NGOs profiles vary depending on their areas of specialization and how they choose to address a social issue. Some would prefer to working it alone while other draft papers to be implemented by their partners in the field. It also depends on the demographic group they would like to reach out to and the kind of work they are out to do. Other take a religious approach while others people centered. However most NGOs have a graphic representation of their approach indicating which way they will follow in offering their services to the society, while others follow the simple form of describing it in words more as indicated in the identification approach. Here it may be drawn in its vision and mission. Capacity building is another form of approach taken by NGOs because they are effective in reaching people even the most marginalized and vulnerable. These are two groups that are most hit by poverty because they fail to access basic resources. NGOs in Australia partner with government to get funds that enable them reach out and work with the communities and vulnerable groups to improve their standards. These organizations bring particular strength to the aid programs set by the government. They mobilize public support and voluntary contributions for aid and work in areas which are difficult to access such as conflict affected areas. Many also have expertise in working in emergency situations where fast and flexible responses is needed to fight and causalities that lead to poverty. AUSAID is known to have mobilized over 40 accredited community based organizations which are out to fight poverty. In this way capacity building is very efficient because it is the people who come up with the ideas of how to handle their economic life as the NGOs support them financially. AUSAID has gone further to develop a civil society engagement framework in consultation with ACFID. This framework seeks to strengthen the relationship with the civil society and the people they represent or serve. AUSAID is the front runner in both public opinion and government policy. This has even enabled it to win government funding. Other organizations are also funded through AUSAID just to elaborate on how much it has won the government trust. This is mainly because it has been able to combine different approaches in serving the public at not only fighting poverty but also implementing government policies. For comprehensive purposes it has been out to spot any issue that needs government attention. It also worked closely with other sectors for economic growth as well as improving the wellbeing of different demographic divisions. It has also worked in partnership with other organizations so that it is able to reach out to many different groups that needed aid. This NGO is working with over 40 community based organizations to addressing the immediate issues that affect a particular group in the society. AUSAID working with other organizations has drawn a framework with civil society. This way it acts as an intermediary to the government for policy formulation and pushing for governments aid where need be. This is because it enjoys the government goodwill and support. Working with other organizations helps it to mobilize the community or the government for resources. The fact that it is way ahead in capacity building and has a ‘’good name’’ gives it an upper hand. A combination of these with the security it enjoys from the Australian government enables it to draw long term plans to the future. NGOs are a component of the civil society. Independence is an issue to be considered for it to be credible and trust in its mandate. However when social issues arise and the government attention is needed there is need for close collaboration because of the support required from the government agencies. In some societies they may find it very difficult to work in isolation as they may not receive acknowledgement due to lack of political will or support. On the other hand especially on developmental or humanitarian reliefs NGOs need substantial resources to run the operational programs like poverty eradication. They will receive fund in such cases and this calls for transparency and accountability so that the relationships are maintained. NGOs take different approaches in reaching out to the demographic group it intends to serve. They include: comprehensive, partnership, advocacy and mobilization, terminology and communication, long term programs, identity and language and capacity building. It is not practical to use only one approach in handling poverty in any given society therefore the need to encourage use of two to three approaches without losing the goal of the organization. The current civilization demands that for successful implementation all the stakeholders should be invited to a given program. References: Ali Mostashari. An Introduction to Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO) Management Iranian studies group, MIT, 2005 Arts, B., Noortmann, M and Reinalda. Non-State Actors in International Relations, Aldershot: Ashgate, 2001 Chiang Pei-heng. Non-Governmental Organizations at the United Nations. Identity, Role and Function, New York: Praeger, 1981. Edwards, M and Gaventa, J. Global Citizen Action, Boulder: Lynne Rienner, 2001 Fisher, J. Non governments. 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