Managing Non-Governmental Organizations - Essay Example

Managing Non-Governmental Organizations Introduction After the Cold War ended, international organisations such as theUN (United Nations) and other donor governments decided to undertake efforts to mitigate civil conflicts and to encourage sustainable peace globally. As such, there has been an increased participation by civil societies and NGOs both local and international in peace building efforts and humanitarian activities. In addition, the efforts by these established organisations involves addressing issues concerning civil conflicts. Across international borders, NGOs are not supposed to be subjected to sovereign constraints since; this limits their involvement in providing humanitarian services and solving civil conflicts. In addition, NGOs operating in different countries are required to follow certain ethical standards. Such standards include not participating in political activities within the countries they operate or any other engagement that contravenes the ethical codes in providing humanitarian services globally. In most cases, the activities that NGOs participate in terms of controlling civil wars are wide and varied. Most NGOs are often called upon to offer their services in post war conflict. The services they provide may involve demobilizing soldiers, providing humanitarian services to the population and encouraging other rehabilitation activities for the civilians (Zaum 2009, p. 22). The number of international organizations offering humanitarian services has continued to grow and today there are more than 4,000 international NGOs providing their services to war-torn countries globally. NGOs are an integral part of the effort to reconstruct the war-torn countries. They are able to provide services such as relief food, healthcare, potable water and education. In addition, NGOs operating in conflict zones have done a tremendous work in terms of alleviating the suffering of civilians caught in the war. These organizations also help to prevent the violations of human rights within the war zones. However, it has to be realized that the presence of international NGOs in the warzones also presents some dark sides (Zaum 2009, p. 28). This involves criticism that emanate from the fact that some NGOs have a role in extending conflicts by enhancing the war economy. Unethical engagements involve legitimizing warlords that can occur as a result of accepting to negotiate with these warlords. The NGOs across international borders are also accused of demeaning local population’s capacity to deal with conflicts independently (Zaum 2009, p. 32). In essence, this paper examines how war zone contribute to NGOs ignoring matters related to ethics while in the warzone. Hurdles faced by NGOs in the Warzone While NGOs mandate is to provide services to the affected population caught in the warzone, this often, is not an easy task. These organizations are faced with a mirage of problems that they have to deal with on daily basis in order to reach out to the affected populations. In efforts to reach the affected population, situations often arise where NGOs have to compromise their ethics and collaborate with different warlords fighting in the warzones. These organization in essence, are established to provide humanitarian services, but the dynamics in the warzones means that they have to engage in other activities not related to providing humanitarian services to the affected population. In some instances, international organisations providing humanitarian services in war torn countries are often forced to entice or bribe warlords in order to reach their target destination. Normally, the services of NGOs suffer compromise from the warring factions who often asks for some sort of compensation in order to allow NGOs to operate within the regions controlled by different warring factions (Helbardt, Hellmann-Rajanaragam & Korff 2010, p. 349). The main goal of NGOs is to ensure that the population caught up in a war are rescued or provided with basic services to sustain their survival. However, due to the dynamics in the war zones, most NGOs might be forced to discard matters related to ethics in order to achieve their desired goal of helping the affected population. Disregard to ethics in this sense relate to these organisations collaborating with the warring factions in various ways. In order to be allowed a secure passage in the warzones, NGOs are often forced to pay in kind and please the warlords. This involves supporting the warring factions financially or providing them with other necessary resources to sustain their stay in the war. However, while NGOs might disregard ethics to achieve their goal, this does not mitigate the situation since; collaborating with the warring factions plays a role in extending conflicts that occur in different regions globally (Helbardt, Hellmann-Rajanaragam & Korff 2010, p. 352). The provision of aid is particularly important in areas ridden with conflicts. This is because without such services, the suffering of the innocent population may worsen since the warring factions are only interested in advancing their agendas, but not for the gain of the civilian population. In fact, humanitarian organisations operating in various conflict zones are supposed to follow a number of ethical codes that guide their operations in the war zones. However, it is critical to note that in the war zone, rules do not apply and anything is possible. In this sense, there are numerous instances where humanitarian groups operating in the war zones are forced to forget operating by the rules. As such, ethics sometimes does not apply in the conflict zones and the organisations providing humanitarian services are forced to adapt by applying unconventional methods to reach the targeted population (Welling 2007, p. 162). The unethical activities that humanitarian organisations are forced to engage in include replenishing the supplies for the warring factions who in turn, provide them with security or allows these organisations to provide humanitarian services to the affected population. In other instances, humanitarian organisations are forced to support the political agendas of the warring factions who in turn allow the organisations to operate in their countries or regions. In other worse situations, humanitarian organisations by supporting the warring factions financially often play part in sustaining the war without realizing since; the warring factions use these funds to replenish their stockpile of weapons to use in the war. Holding to ethics while in the warzone, might not help the efforts of various organisations in providing services to the effected population. War zone does not sustain an environment to practice matters concerning ethics. The main purpose for humanitarian organisations within the warzone is to reach out to the affected population in whatever means including collaborating with the warlords (Welling 2007, p. 165). In different regions affected by war conflicts, the humanitarian organisations are supposed to be provided with a free passage. This is because humanitarian organization’s activities are seen to be peaceful and they are not supposed to engage or support the warring factions. As such, humanitarian organizations within the warzones operate as a neutral party. However, the warring factions view these organisations from a different perspective where, they exploit these organisations for their personal gains or to sustain their war. It is a common occurrence for humanitarian organisations to pass through different checkpoints and roadblocks while traveling to regions where there is dire need to provide humanitarian services. At the roadblocks, humanitarian organisations have no alternative but to engage in negotiations with the rebels who normally asks for different favours. As a result, these organisations are left without a choice but to agree to the terms set by the rebels. In other regions, it is almost impossible for humanitarian organisations to access the warzone without giving some sort of payment to the rebels. This is a tactic used by the rebels or the warring factions to sustaining the fighting for both sides Humanitarian organisations in this sense, and as a result for the need to reach the suffering civilians in most cases and are left with no choice, but to pay for their entry into the warzone ((Welling 2007, p. 170). In addition, these organisations are not only forced to part with money, but also the supplies meant for the civilians caught in the Warzone. As a result of a protracted conflict, the warring factions often face mirage of problems that include shortage of food supplies, medicine and arms. This to extent means that the NGOs provides the warring factions with a soft landing where the NGOs are exploited by the warring factions at the expense of the suffering population. Ethics in the warzone is often placed aside because even these organisations are aware of the difficult task in operating within territories where rebels are ignorant of the necessity of having humanitarian services within the warzones. Other than collaborating with the warring factions, the various aid organisations operating in different regions across the globe also seem to be engaging in fierce competition with one another. Various organisations operating in the conflict zones are often trying to outwit one another instead of working as a unit within the warzone areas. For instance, various aid agencies working in post conflict zones may want to set up projects in those regions. However, prior to establishing such projects, these organisations often pay courtesy call to the various political leaders of the regions that they want to set up the projects. As such, in an attempt to improve their public relations, aid agencies often find themselves competing with one another instead of working for the public in general (Kiel 2010, p. 1-32). On another note, most of these organisations are aware of the trouble that they might face if they do not succumb to the whims of the generals in the warzone. This means that, ethics has to be put aside because to provide humanitarian services in such a place, as it means that the organisations have to first listen to the needs of the generals from the different warring factions. In numerous occasions, aid agencies are normally left with no option, but to do what different warlords in the warzones request. For instance, in the regions such as the Middle East, international NGOs are only permitted entry in the condition that they do not help the enemy factions. This is very unconventional with regard to the ethical codes that guide the operations of aid agencies. In essence, the purpose of aid agencies is to provide humanitarian services without favour or discrimination. However, the warzone presents a situation where ethics does not apply. The only rule applying in this instance involves reaching the affected civilians in whatever means possible regardless of the ethical issues involved. There are instances where aid workers have been executed for failing to follow instructions given by the warlords (Steinberg 2011, p. 24). In other regions, reconstruction after war is almost impossible without negotiating with various rebel factions. For instance, this is the case in most areas where, aid agencies are forced to negotiate with the rebel factions. These negotiations often involve payment in kind that go towards sustaining the activities of the rebels either during the war or after post war conflict. In order to provide humanitarian services, aid agencies are also forced to work with terrorists across the globe. This is often influenced by the need to improve the life of innocent civilians affected by war. As a general rule, no organisation is supposed to work with terrorist cells, but aid agencies that find themselves working in territories held by terrorists have no choice, but to put ethics aside and provide humanitarian services to the population in such regions (Steinberg 2012, p. 375). On another note, the aid provided by different organisations is not supposed to be subjected to various regulations compared to other services. However, aid agencies have to contend with the fact that in some regions, they have to pay tax for the service they intend to provide to the affected civilians. This tax normally goes towards sustaining the activities of the warring factions. In addition, aid agencies are also forced to put ethics aside in the sense that they may be forced to engage in corruption as a way of meeting their target. For instance, the local leaders in the regions where aid agencies intend to set their operations often asks for some sort of payment before providing aid agencies with permit. While this is wrong, the aid agencies are aware that without approval from local leaders their operations in the intended regions may not be possible. Across the globe, it is evident that in areas where aid agencies operate the elite in the society are seen to gain more than the targeted population. This is because they receive bribes from the different aid agencies that they give permits to operate in their territory or regions (Jacoby & Tim 2010, p. 8). The scope of work for NGOs Under normal circumstances, the work of NGOs is supposed to be independent from any political interference. This is particularly important for humanitarian and development activities of various international and local aid agencies. Further, aid agencies are supposed to focus on their technical work rather than taking political roles. Taking a non-political dimension is necessary in limiting suspicion among aid agencies considered to collaborate with the warring factions. However, in some instances, aid agencies are forced to rely on the security offered by the parties in a conflict to facilitate their provision of aid in conflict situations such as in Afghanistan (Howell & Lind 2009, p. 718). As a result of relying on donor funds, and accessing the war zone areas, the independence of humanitarian organisations is often undermined. For instance, in Afghanistan, most of the donor fund is channelled to the initiative known as the Afghanistan Compact seen as a way to strengthen the government’s authority across the country by, relying on the efforts of the NGOs. This makes aid to turn into a political exercise, which, is against the non-political role of aid agencies globally. In other instances, aid is being used for purposes of advancing political settlements and in strengthening certain actors. This to extent undermines the conditions that are necessary to facilitate peace building in post-conflict zones. In essence, peacebuilding requires impartiality and non-interference with the activities of aid agencies by political entities. At present, it is almost impossible to distinguish the relationships that exist between aid agencies and the state. As such, it is possible that aid agencies abscond ethics in the warzone by not only influencing the humanitarian and the economic circumstances, but also sustaining the war and politics of the affected regions. In this regard, the humanitarian organisations tend to affect the dynamics related to conflicts in three different ways. This includes influencing the war economy, influencing the power relationship existing between the parties involved in the conflict and influencing the rate of response by international community to the conflict (Howell & Lind 2009, p. 725). Shaping the war economy by humanitarian organisations Aid is considered not only to impact on the economy, but can also impact on balancing power attributed to different competing actors. Under most circumstances, politics is seen to impact on aid in the sense that, it dictates whether to implement peace of advance war. The war economy seems to draw influence from aid while, ignoring the purpose or intention of the aid agencies. The impacts created by aid in the war zone are varied and have different implications depending on the intended programme. First, it is possible for aid to impact on the effort of various groups who end up engaging in conflict with the government. For instance, foreign aid creates a rebellion in an attempt to draw attention of state institutions, and provide rebels with aid resources, which they can exploit. In most conflict-ridden regions, aid acts as an incentive for rebels to sustain their war. Further, aid in certain situations, is seen as playing a part in extending the conflict. NGOs across the globe today are formed to help resolve the numerous conflicts that are occurring across international borders. Their purpose involves supplying aid to the affected population. However, there are situations where some NGOs worsen conflict through their contributions to the conflict parties without realizing (Barakat & Zyck 2009, p. 1072). In some situations such as the incident that occurred in Somalia, there are NGOs that ended up renting technical from the warlords to use in guarding their compounds and aid convoys. However, while it is vital for such organisations to protect themselves, rebels to sustain their activities use the income. In regions that have poor resources, the aid agencies need to take precaution not to influence the economy of such regions. This helps in avoiding the instances of controlling the dynamics related to a conflict (Barakat & Zyck 2009, p. 1075). Power relationships As a result of NGOs intervention in conflict zones, there are chances that these organisations often tend to impact on the power relations that exist between the warring parties by a way of controlling them. Aid sometimes tends to strengthen one side of the warring parties by a way of diverting supplies to the warring parties. Further, aid agencies can influence the status of warring factions through various forms of recognition such as deciding to negotiate with one warring faction at the expense of the other. This decision is often dictated by the faction that controls the regions where the aid agencies intend to access. In the event that an aid agency chooses a warring faction as a partner, they make that faction the key interface between international society and the local community. As a result, this provides the chosen partner in this context with more authority at the expense of other warring factions (Mills 2005, p. 176). NGOs in international intervention Over the years, NGOs have continued to play a considerable role in mitigating conflicts and implementing roadmaps for peacebuilding. This is further enhanced by their cooperation with donor governments and other international organisations in which they operate as contractual partners. In addition, as a result of their non-state character, NGOs can access places where most government agencies are unable to access (Wolff & Dursun-Ozkanca 2012, p. 321). They also boast of unquestionable technical experience concerning development and delivering aid thus; making them attractive to prospective donors. However, because of this close relationship, the character of NGOs as a non-state entity has continued to be compromised (Keck 2011, p. 418). On another note, the act of NGOs also participating in peacebuilding seems to undermine their mandate of operating as a non-political entity. It is evident from the Afghanistan and Iraq war that most international NGOs are increasingly becoming part of the international community that supports one side in a conflict. This involves support provided for the preferred government by the international community (Bolton 2008, p. 591). NGOs are supposed to operate independently without joining the political or international military intervention in the conflict zone. As such, the lack of independence by NGOs puts them in a situation where their access to the war zones tends to be precarious. In essence, NGOs operating in various conflict zones need to maintain their independence to avoid exploitation from the warring factions. These factions regard NGOs as a soft spot to sustain their activities by forcing humanitarian organisations to fund their activities if they need to continue operating in territories that they control. Other than, depending on the conflict parties for their security, NGOs operating in different regions across the globe can enlist the services of security companies to provide protection for their convoys and other assets used by the NGOs (Autesserre 2009, p. 252). This will assist in terms of NGOs compromising their work ethics by negotiating with warlords or rebels. In addition, it is important for aid agencies to ensure that they are not involved in competition with each other for recognition by the state actors. This does not ogre well with the need to provide humanitarian services to the affected population since; such competition will only play a role in benefiting a few in the society who receive bribes from the NGOs that need permit to operate in a country (Crocker, Hampson & Aall 2011, p. 43). Conclusion NGOs across the globe are often formed to provide humanitarian services and improve the welfare of the affected civilians especially in conflict zones. As a practice, NGOs are supposed to operate as a non-state entity where their activities are not supposed to be compromised by the state actors. However, while this is a principle that needs to be maintained by NGOs, maintaining independence in the warzone is not an easy takes for NGOs. This is because in numerous occasions, NGOs are forced to put aside matters related to ethics because of unavoidable circumstances. In most cases, NGOs in war zones are forced to operate according to the conditions set by the warring factions that maintain their security in the conflict zone. References Ausserre, S 2009, ‘Hobbes and the Congo: Frames, Local Violence, and International Intervention’, International Organization, Vol. 63, no. 2, pp. 249-280. Barakat, S. & Zyck, S. A 2009, ‘The Evolution of Post-conflict Recovery’, Third World Quarterly, Vol. 30, no. 6, pp. 1069-1086. 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