User:Ivojeda/sandbox

Article Evaluation - International Non-Governmental Organization

Is everything in the article relevant to the article topic? Is there anything that distracted you?

As the article currently stands, everything is pretty relevant. The section on Criteria is a little long and confusing as there seems to be too many options for it to work efficiently as a list. It could be better separated.

Is any information out of date? Is anything missing that could be added?

Information seems to be current however there is little elaboration of real life applications of what individual organizations actually do and how they do it. The information that is said about development does not have many sources. The bigger organizations such as CARE International and Amnesty International are better fleshed out but there are a lot that are just listed without elaboration.

What else could be improved?

There could be better organization, better sourcing and better direct references to INGOs in addition to the background about NGOs in general.

Is the article neutral? Are there any claims that appear heavily biased towards a particular position?

The article does provide both a negative and positive view of INGOs, however the wording of the debate section kind of makes a positive bias. It is the smallest section with little elaboration and examples to back up the critiques.

Are there viewpoints that are overrepresented, or underrepresented?

The criticisms of INGOs are underrepresented.

Many of the sources are either unreliable or broken links.

The WikiPage is rated a Stub with Mid-Importance. In the Talk page others have said there needs to be expansion to make it more comprehensive. There needs to be more distinction between an NGO and an INGO.

Potential Sources

Pinheiro, Diogo, Jeffrey M. Chwieroth, and Alexander Hicks. “Do International Non-Governmental Organizations Inhibit Globalization? The Case of Capital Account Liberalization in Developing Countries.” European Journal of International Relations 21, no. 1 (March 2015): 146–70. doi:10.1177/1354066114523656.

"Non-governmental organizations." In Dictionary of Trade Policy Terms, by Walter Goode. 5th ed. Cambridge University Press, 2007. http://qe2a-proxy.mun.ca/login?url=https://search.credoreference.com/content/entry/cuptpt/non_governmental_organizations/0?institutionId=379

"Intergovernmental organizations." In Dictionary of Trade Policy Terms, by Walter Goode. 5th ed. Cambridge University Press, 2007. http://qe2a-proxy.mun.ca/login?url=https://search.credoreference.com/content/entry/cuptpt/intergovernmental_organizations/0?institutionId=379

Penn, Helen. “Travelling Policies and Global Buzzwords: How International Non-Governmental Organizations and Charities Spread the Word about Early Childhood in the Global South.” Childhood 18, no. 1 (February 2011): 94–113. doi:10.1177/0907568210369846.

Thakur, R. (1994). Human Rights: Amnesty International and the United Nations. Journal of Peace Research, 31(2), 143–160. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022343394031002003

Davis, Morris. "Some Political Dimensions of International Relief: Two Cases." International Organization 28, no. 1 (1974): 127-40. http://www.jstor.org/stable/2706123.

Article Editing

An international non-governmental organization (INGO) has the same mission as a non-governmental organization (NGO), but it is international in scope and has outposts around the world to deal with specific issues in many countries. To be an NGO means to be independent from governments. They can be split into two different divisions, "advocacy" NGOs which aim to influence governments with a specific goal and "operational" NGOs which provide services. Examples of mandates for an NGO could be environmental preservation, human rights promotions or the advancement of women. NGOs are typically non-for-profit but receive funding from companies or membership fees.^[1]

Both terms, NGO and INGO, should be differentiated from intergovernmental organizations (IGOs), which describes groups such as the United Nations or the International Labour Organization. The role of an IGO is to unite sovereign states using some form of constituent documents.^[2] In contrast, INGOs are defined as “any international organization which is not established by inter-governmental agreement.”^[3]

An INGO may be founded by private philanthropy, such as the Carnegie, Rockefeller, Gates, Zator and Ford Foundations, or as an adjunct to existing international organizations, such as the Catholic or Lutheran churches. A surge in the founding of development INGOs occurred during World War II, some of which would later become the large development INGOs like SOS Children's Villages, Oxfam, Catholic Relief Services, CARE International, and Lutheran World Relief. The number of INGOs grew from 6,000 in 1990 to 26,000 in 1999 and estimates report that it currently reaches about 40,000.^[4]

International Non-governmental Organizations can further be defined by their primary purpose. Some INGOs are operational, meaning that their primary purpose is to foster the community-based organizations within each country via different projects and operations. Some INGOs are advocacy-based, meaning that their primary purpose is to influence the policy-making of different countries' governments regarding certain issues or promote the awareness of a certain issue.

Scholars usually refine the definition of an INGO depending on the organization’s particular aims and priorities.^[3] Many of the large INGOs have components of both operational projects and advocacy initiatives working together within individual countries. There is no current formal legal status for INGOs which can lead to complications in international law.^[5]

Criteria

To be associated with the United Nations Department of Public Information, an INGO (and NGOs in general) must follow these certain criteria.:

The NGO must support and respect the principles of the Charter of the United Nations;
Must be of recognized national or international standing;
Should operate solely on a not-for-profit basis and have tax-exempt status;
Must have the commitment and the means to conduct effective information programmes with its constituents and to a broader audience about UN activities by publishing newsletters, bulletins and pamphlets; organizing conferences, seminars and round tables; or enlisting the attention of the media;
Should preferably have a satisfactory record of collaboration with UN Information Centres/Services or other parts of the UN System prior to association.
Please note that in cases where the NGO has no record of collaboration but the DPI Committee on NGOs approves its applications, it will have a provisional association status of two years until which it can establish a partnership with the relevant UNICs/UNISs or UN system organization;
The NGO should provide an audited annual financial statement, indicated in US currency, and conducted by a qualified, independent accountant;
The NGO should have statutes/bylaws providing for a transparent process of taking decisions, elections of officers and members of the Board of Directors.
Should have an established record of continuity of work for a minimum of three years and should show promise of sustained activity in the future.

Development

In 1910, the Union of International Associations (UIA) were the first to suggest that a “super-national” status be given to international organizations with diplomatic intentions without governmental influence.^[6] Later on that same year, the International Law Association (ILA) modified this, adding that this “super-national” organizational status may be adopted for associations formed for no profit.^[7] This was later further developed into what international non-governmental organizations are known as today.

The main focus for INGOs is to provide relief and developmental aid to developing countries. In relation to states, the purpose of INGOs is to provide services that the state is unable or unwilling to provide for their people. These organization's projects in health, like HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention, clean water, and malaria prevention, and in education, like schools for girls and providing books to developing countries, help to provide the social services that the country's government is unable or unwilling to provide at the time. International Non-governmental Organizations are also some of the first responders to natural disasters, like hurricanes and floods, or crises that need emergency relief.

NGOs in general account for over 15% of total overseas development aid, which is linked to the growth and development process. It has been estimated that aid (partly contributed to by INGOs) over the past thirty years has increased the annual growth rate of the bottom billion by one percent. While one percent in thirty years does not sound like a lot of progress, credit should be given to the fact that progress has been consistently increasing throughout the years instead of remaining stagnant or falling backwards.

Many international projects and advocacy initiatives promoted by INGOs encourage sustainable development via a human rights approach and capabilities enhancing approach. INGOS that promote human rights advocacy issues in part try to set up an international judicial standard that respects the rights of every human being and promotes the empowerment of disadvantaged communities.

Other organizations, like the International Justice Mission, are working in effective and legitimate judicial systems, which enhances a country's legitimacy and development. Still others, such as those promoting micro-financing and education, directly impact of capabilities of citizens and communities by developing skills and human capital while encouraging citizen empowerment and community involvement. INGOs, along with domestic and international governmental initiatives, are a critical part of global development.

Nearly every INGOs originate and persist throughout voluntary action by individual actors with explicit rationalized goals. Under bold norms of open membership and democratic decision-making, they seek to spread "progress" throughout the world, in the purposes of encouraging safer and more efficient technical systems, more powerful knowledge structures, better care of the body, friendly competition and fair play. In order to achieve these goals, they highlight communication, knowledge, consensual values and decision-making, and individual commitment. INGOs have five basic world-cultural principles underlying between ideologies and structures, that is, universalism, individualism, rational voluntaristic authority, human purposes of rationalizing progress, and world citizenship.

Criticisms

With the uprise of INGOs over the past few decades, there has also been an uprise of questions about how and where their money is being spent. When administrative costs are high within an organization, scholars wonder whether their money is going to help developing nations or for other corrupt uses. There is also the possibility that INGO funds are privately being used to support dictatorships.^[8]

In March 2015, the European Journal of International Relations published that the existence of INGOs was infringing upon the natural process of globalization. The argument being that INGOs impact governmental decisions.^[9]

There have been numerous attempts made to remedy the accountability of INGOs surrounding where and for what their money is being used.^[10] Websites like Charity Navigator and GiveWell are intended to provide information on the breakdown of money and donations spent within the organization. Along with the approval of the UN based on its criteria of the NGOs, these websites promote transparency and accountability in INGOs so that people looking to make a donation can make an educated decision based on what they want to support and if their money will be used effectively.

Even if an INGO's funds are being effectively used, some critics would argue that the means the organization promotes is ineffective in combating their issue. For example, Peter Singer gives an example of INGOs giving out bed nets, saying:

There is thus a concern that the ‘work’ INGOs are providing for developing countries is providing more harm and more long term issues than help.^[11]

Case studies

INGO case studies show both the short-term relief and long-term campaigns that INGOs are involved in promoting. Income statements and expense breakdowns of each INGO can be found at Charity Navigator which details the amount of money large INGOs have at their disposal and how effectively different organizations use their donations.

CARE International

CARE International is a large humanitarian INGO that is committed to fighting poverty. They take a special interest in empowering poor women because "women have the power to help whole families and entire communities escape poverty".The mission and explicit goals of CARE, as described on their website, are to facilitate lasting change by:

Strengthening capacity for self-help
Providing economic opportunity
Delivering relief in emergencies
Influencing policy decisions at all levels
Addressing discrimination in all its forms

One of CARE's projects is responding to natural disasters. For example, CARE has been an integral part of the relief effort in the outbreak of cholera in Haiti. Some of CARE's relief tactics in Haiti are:

distributing high-energy biscuits, water purification tablets, oral rehydration salts, and hygiene kits,
instructing Haitians on how best avoid and prevent cholera, and
providing clean water and safe latrine facilities to people living in camps for survivors of Haiti's January 12 earthquake.

Amnesty International

	This section relies too much on references to primary sources. Please improve this section by adding secondary or tertiary sources. (February 2013)(Learn how and when to remove this template message)

Amnesty International is an INGO that is dedicated to the promotion and protection of internationally regarded human rights as declared in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Their goals, as described on their website, are to:

Stop violence against women
Defend the rights and dignity of those trapped in poverty
Abolish the death penalty
Oppose torture and combat terror with justice
Free prisoners of conscience
Protect the rights of refugees and migrants
Regulate the global arms trade

This organization uses more of an advocacy approach to promote change and human rights within the government. Their website claims they mobilize "public pressure through mass demonstrations, vigils and direct lobbying as well as online and offline campaigning" in order to promote their ongoing campaigns, which reflect their goals.

An organization like Amnesty International, unconnected to the government allows them to approach human rights in ways governmental organizations like the United Nations cannot.

They were an integral part in making the gap that existed between IGOs and finding solutions to international human rights principles and practices.^[12] In conjunction with other INGOs, Amnesty International was able to help create a lot of accepted guidelines surrounding human rights law. These include everything from core treaties to the creation of official guidelines on how human rights should be implemented. They have also led to boundaries on the extent states should be allowed to ignore human rights violations in other countries under the guise of diplomacy and maintaining the peace.^[13]

The intention of human rights is to put people and their safety above all else and Amnesty International does this both through their external work with other countries but also within their organization. They can thus report on human rights violations that the United Nations may have political pressure to ignore. This was the case in May of 1992 when they reported on violations in Tibet that had been glazed over by the United Nations.^[4]

Oxfam International

	This section does not cite any sources. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (February 2013) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

Oxfam International was created during the Second World War when a coalition of British peace and relief groups organized a petition to the British government to allow humanitarian relief to Greece. Greece was at this point in time occupied by the German army and blocked in by Allies, thus resulting in a nationwide hunger. In 1943, this coalition was registered as a charity under the name Oxford Committee for Famine Relief (Oxfam). Unlike many other organizations which ceded with the end of the war, Oxfam continued its activities thus focusing outside of European countries and providing clothing and supplies to the Middle East.^[3]

Nowadays, Oxfam is no longer Britain exclusive, having chapters in Australia, Belgium, Canada, Hong Kong, Ireland, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States.^[3]

It’s an INGO which works with local partner organizations and people living under poverty trying to exercise their human rights. The areas Oxfam focuses on include development, emergencies, campaigning, advocacy and policy research. The details to each area are:

long-term programs to eradicate poverty and injustice
deliver immediate life-saving assistance to people affected by natural disasters or conflict
raise public awareness of the causes of poverty
encourage ordinary people to take action for a fairer world
press decision-makers to change policies and practices that reinforce poverty and injustice
speak with authority as a result of research and analysis

Examples

Humanitarian Aid

Khalsa Aid

Multiple interdisciplinary projects[edit]

Health

Children and youth

Lakshyam NGO
Compassion International
Plan
World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS)
Save the Children International
SOS Children's Villages
Reggio Children Foundation
World Organization of the Scout Movement (WOSM)
World Vision International
International Federation of Catholic Parochial Youth Movements (FIMCAP)
Initiative for African Citizens (IAC)

Education

Human rights

Amnesty International
Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative
Friends of Peoples Close to Nature
Humanists International
International Christian Concern
International Federation for Human Rights
International Stateless Persons Organisation
Survival International

Environmental

Multilateralism

World Federation of United Nations Associations

Religion

International Federation of Catholic Parochial Youth Movements (FIMCAP)
Lutheran World Relief
Forum of European Muslim Youth and Student Organizations (FEMYSO)
Diplomatic Society

Space and technology

COSPAR
Saalome Global