Non-governmental Organizations in Africa: Can They Influence Public Policy?

As non-governmental organizations (NGOs) accumulate experience at implementing development projects, they sometimes attempt to increase their influence by engaging in policy advocacy. This article analyses the organizational conditions under which national NGOs in Africa have been able to influence the formulation of agricultural and rural development policies. Case studies are presented of three African NGOs that have sought, with varying degrees of success, to represent the ‘voice’ of the rural poor to policy-makers. Comparative analysis of these cases leads to the conclusion that policy advocacy is most likely to be effective in organizations that have several key characteristics: an homogeneous membership, a federated structure, a focused programme, informal ties with political leaders, and a domestic funding base.     

Urban Planning and Sustainable Development

Following the discourse about sustainable development based on the Brundtland Commission's report and the processes in the UN Committee on Environment and Development, a sustainable urban development would require considerably more ambitious policies than today in order to limit energy consumption, reduce pollution and protect natural areas and arable land. Re-use of urban areas and more effective utilization of building sites is a possible strategy to this end. However, continuous growth in the building stock will make it increasingly difficult to bring urban development in wealthy countries within the frames of what is ecologically sustainable and equitable in a global perspective. Planning for a sustainable urban development must be oriented towards long-term goals and utilize knowledge about the environmental consequences of different solutions, but should not be based solely on means-ends rationality. Rather than aiming at consensus including all stakeholder groups, planning for sustainability should facilitate alliance-building among those population groups who can support the basic equity and environmental values of a sustainable development.     

First Mayan Women's Congress

In October 1997, over 200 participants attended the First Mayan Women's Congress in Mexico and called for financial assistance, capacity building, and training to help Mayan women escape poverty. The Congress was initiated by the UN Development Fund for Women in collaboration with the Small Grants Program of the UN Development Program. Traditionally, Mayan women and men have played distinct roles in society, and efforts are underway to increase gender sensitivity and achieve a new balance of power. Mayan women attending the Congress reported that they face daily challenges in gaining their husbands' approval for participation in income-generating activities outside of the home. Eventually, however, some husbands also start working in these enterprises and are learning to assume their share of domestic responsibilities. Mayan women have been forced to reevaluation their role in society by a prevailing agricultural and environmental crisis as well as a high unemployment rate. Crafts that were once produced only for household consumption are now considered for export. Because the women need funds to initiate income-generating activities, the Conference linked women's groups with development practitioners, policy-makers, and donors. The women requested financial aid for more than 30 specific projects, and Congress participants agreed to pursue innovate strategies to support the enterprises with funds, training, and technical assistance. The Congress also encouraged environmental nongovernmental organizations to include Mayan women in mainstream development activities. This successful Congress will be duplicated in other Mexican states.     

Creating Spaces of Resistance: Development NGOs and their Clients in Ghana, India and Mexico

Development NGOs have been accused by some of being new instruments of control, domesticated by the neoliberal project. For others, they elaborate and pursue alternative dreams. In this paper, we argue that, although the majority of NGOs have been co‐opted to serve hegemonic development agendas, they nevertheless present a fluid, contradictory web of relations, within which a significant minority seeks to make spaces of resistance, and where even the most neoliberal NGOs are used by some clients to create new associational spaces. Drawing on work with NGOs in Ghana, India, Mexico and Europe, we explore various strategies deployed by this minority of "independent thinking NGOs". We argue that there is an important production of Melucci's submerged networks or latent social movements, however limited their political impact to date.     

Realizing the Right to Development

The Right to Development as established in the 1986 UN Declaration on the Right to Development has now been recognized, through an international consensus arrived at in Vienna in 1993, as a universal and inalienable right and an integral part of fundamental human rights. That has not, of course, settled all the controversy regarding the nature and the content of the Right to Development, but the inter‐governmental debate has shifted more to the methods of implementation of that Right. This article reviews the nature and contents of the Right to Development by virtue of which every individual is entitled to a process of economic, social, cultural and political development in which all human and fundamental freedoms can be realized. It spells out a programme for implementation of the Right, step by step, through national efforts supported by international co‐operation. While the states are primarily responsible for realizing this Right for their citizens, the international community has the obligation of enabling the states to do so. A mechanism is proposed through international compacts to design, promote and monitor the process of implementation.     

Declines in fertility levels evident in Africa,notes UN Population Fund

This article reports on the UN Population Fund's (UNFPA) African regional meeting that was held in November 1997. The meeting was attended by an assortment of UNFPA representatives and program staff. This meeting followed up the 1994 Cairo International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) and 1995 regional meetings on the 1994 Plan of Action. These prior meetings emphasized the link between population and development and the urgency of meeting the needs of individual women and men in a people-centered approach to development, rather than a target oriented one. The 1997 meeting reviewed the progress made toward achieving the goals of the 1994 plan of action by the UNFPA. UNFPA aims to decentralize operations, to play a role in emergency situations, to encourage South-to-South cooperation, to advocate for reproductive rights, and to promote gender equity and women's empowerment. The meeting discussed UNFPA's role in reproductive health, population and development strategies, and advocacy in detail. Participants agreed that there were signs of fertility decline in Africa. Countries are beginning to adopt a reproductive health and rights approach and to address female genital mutilation as a human and reproductive right's issue. Population policies are being changed to include ICPD goals. 32 countries adopted new programs in 1996 and 1997, that integrated the 1994 strategies and selectively focused on issues of concern. Partnerships confirm that population issues are becoming an agenda for all. The major challenge ahead is the mobilization of resources, while dealing with civil strife and political instability.     

The Development Impact of NGO Activities in the Red Sea Province of Sudan: A Critique

This article examines the results of, and the prospects for, the declared shift of NGOs from relief operations to development activities in the Red Sea Province of eastern Sudan. Statistical and qualitative information contained in the reports of NGOs themselves provides the main data source on which the analysis is based. Although NGOs have been successful in conducting massive relief operations in the area, the article asserts that they have not yet and are not expected to achieve any tangible results on the development front. The main reason for this is the apparent misconception of development on the part of the NGOs as an isolated, localized activity which they can perform; another is the NGOs' failure to recognize the difference in the methods, means and prerequisites necessary for relief and for development; a third is the failure of NGOs to equip local institutions to absorb and/or sustain any achieved ‘development’, since most NGOs operate in complete isolation from governmental and traditional Beja institutions.     

The effectiveness of UN and EU sanctions: lessons for the twenty‐first century

A fractious UN Security Council has contributed to the decline in effectiveness of a number of UN sanctions adopted in recent years. Yet they remain a tool of the Council, for example with regard to Libya in 2011. The challenge is to understand how UN, country (US) and regional sanctions (EU, AU, Arab League) can be meaningful in such a climate. The four books reviewed make various suggestions, from clarity of mandate to better evaluating impact. Mikael Eriksson's Targeting peace seeks to evaluate the complexity of the sanctions policy process. He argues that effectiveness comes partly from understanding politics (episodes of sanctions), but also from institutional reform—‘black box’ processes, as he calls them. Sanctions are more successful as part of a wider package. Clara Portela in European Union sanctions and foreign policy examines the use of sanctions as a political tool, including the suspension of development aid and the withdrawal of trade privileges. She shows how the EU plays an important role in signalling and constraining when UN sanctions are weak. For example, informal measures like the 2003 EU decision to invite only dissidents to national day receptions in Havanna resulted in the release of detainees that it had aimed for. The high rate of success of development aid cut‐off stands in sharp contrast with EU Common Foreign and Security Policy sanctions. The unintended consequence of good intentions is also highlighted by both Portela and Eriksson—Zimbabwe in particular but also Côte d'Ivoire and Iran pose similar challenges. The imposition of EU or UN sanctions is easier than reaching consensus to lift them, although events in Burma (Myanmar) in 2012 have resulted in smooth suspensions of most US and EU sanctions. All four books show that targeted sanctions cannot be seen as stand‐alone measures, nor assessed in isolation. Sanctions are multi‐faceted and require detailed assessment of political context, episode and institutional process.     

World Trade and Workers' Rights: In Search of an Internationalist Position

Trade unions and NGOs have been divided sharply over the issue of a workers' rights clause in WTO trade agreements, and have failed to reach a consensus despite heated debate. This appears to be due to elements of protectionism and nationalism in positions on both sides. Arguments against a workers' rights clause can be classified into those opposing (1) globalisation, (2) the WTO, (3) any linkage between workers' rights and trade, and (4) the proposed mechanisms for enforcement. The first three types of objections can be traced to nationalistic considerations, which subordinate the interests of workers to a "national interest" that represents various business groups. The fourth type, however, includes valid criticisms and reveals elements of protectionism in the current proposals for a workers' rights clause. If the proposal is revised to eliminate these elements, it should be possible to arrive at a consensus among progressive labour unions and NGOs. This would be an important step towards an internationalist strategy to fight for minimum labour rights worldwide.     

Being NGO girls: gender,subjectivities and everyday life in Kolkata

This article discusses the role of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) as a cultural and political force in shaping the gendered and classed subjectivities of young women growing up in ‘red-light areas’ in Kolkata, India. It foregrounds the flexible deployment of NGO gender narratives by ‘subjects’ of NGO development to improve their everyday lives. Drawing on debates of NGOization, post-colonial urban Indian femininities and intersectionality, it demonstrates how several young women who grew up as ‘subjects’ of NGO development mobilize, reject and improvise contested NGO-inspired femininities for their everyday gain. At the same time, it illustrates how NGO gender narratives that are useful to some young women in their renegotiation of gender norms are deemed ineffective, if not obstructive, by other young women, particularly those whose lives remain entangled in multiple marginalities.     

Reproductive rights and health discussed

The 29th session of the UN Commission on Population and Development (February 26 to March 1, 1996) focused on reproductive health and rights, including population IEC (information, education, and communication). Speakers relayed national responses to the Programme of Action of the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development, highlighted the critical role of nongovernmental organizations in meeting reproductive health needs through IEC and advocacy, and applauded the recent expansion of the Population Information Network. The Director of the UN's Population Division noted that in 1946, when the Commission was founded, the Division estimated that the world population would reach 6.3 billion in the year 2000. The latest estimate of 6.2 billion confirms this early estimate. Sensitive issues which the Commission expects to face in coming years are abortion, the aging of populations, HIV/AIDS, and international migration. The Executive Director of the UN Population Fund reported that guidelines are being developed on the quality of reproductive health care and that gender concerns are increasingly being included in program design and implementation. The Commission also considered the Secretary-General's January 15, 1996, report on world population monitoring, reproductive rights, and reproductive health. Finally, the Commission announced that Leticia Ramos-Shahani, an advocate from the Philippines, and Pathfinder International would share the 1996 Population Award.     

NGOs,Civil Society,and the State in Bangladesh: The Politics of Representing the Poor

The established rhetoric of opposition between state and NGOs as development agents has shifted to one of complementarity and common interest. Along with this, the ‘comparative advantage’ claimed for NGOs has expanded from economic and welfare benefits to encompass also the political goods of civil society and popular participation. This paper reviews these developments in the context of Bangladesh. It argues that they need to be assessed critically in ways which are both theoretically informed and locally contextualized. While recognizing that there are, indeed, areas of common experience and interest between the state and NGOs in Bangladesh, it questions whether these necessarily coincide with the interests of those they all invoke: the poor.     

‘Every household will be a micro-enterprise’: a youth micro-loan scheme’s role in restructuring Nepal

ABSTRACT

Lack of secure employment mobilized many young people into Nepal’s civil war and a decade of political opposition (1996–2006). As a result, both the post-war government and foreign donors invested in policies aimed to harness the productive capacities of young people in restructuring the nation. This article explores the theme of aspiration on the national and personal level and their convergence through a micro-finance program in post-war Nepal, the Youth, Small Enterprise, and Self-Employment Fund (YSEF). The national-level aspiration to make ‘new Nepal’ hinged on young people fulfilling their personal aspirations. I consider whether post-conflict pacification measures like YSEF can foster the sense of national belonging necessary by analyzing the challenges faced in instituting this loan scheme nationally and locally along Nepal’s open border with India. Analyzing YSEF’s institution from a borderland optic reveals assumptions inherent in peacebuilding intervention and limits YSEF’s ability to wholly accommodate its recipients. I suggest that the government’s attempt to bring marginalized youth into the ‘official’ economic fold through YSEF falls short in accommodating young people’s livelihood aspirations within their lived reality. Instead young people are creating pathways beyond state dependence.     

THE EFFECT OF URBANIZATION ON LABOR TURNOVER*

ABSTRACT The paper empirically examines labor market matching as a source of urban agglomeration economies. We work from the hypothesis that job turnover leads to tighter labor matches and estimate the relationship between urbanization and the job mobility of young men. Using a panel from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, we find evidence that young men change jobs more frequently in their early career if they live in larger or in more educated urban areas. The sensitivity of the results to whether the young men were “movers” or “stayers” suggests the possible endogeneity of location.     

Political Globalisation and the Politics of International Non-governmental Organisations: The Case of Village Democracy in China

Although there is a body of research regarding the development of village self-governance in China, there is only limited research regarding the activity of international non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in relation to this development. The paper fills this gap through an analysis of the activities and effects of the village self-governance programs of three American-based NGOs: the International Republican Institute (IRI), the Carter Center and the Ford Foundation. These NGOs have assisted in the implementation of a number of reforms to village self-governance in China. NGO involvement in village democracy in China exemplifies a process of 'political globalisation' that involves the intermingling of layers of power and interests at the national and international levels. The paper concludes that, through this process of political globalisation, rural political reforms in China are both promoted and exploited by national and international political actors.     

The Respectable Politics of Climate Change: The Epistemic Communities and NGOs

Climate change is unusual compared with most environmental issues in the extent to which it has become accepted among orthodox policy institutions and public-and private-sector organizations. The authors explore the conditions that have led to the establishment of an epistemic community that brings together a broad array of actors, including the various NGOs, and the operational dimensions that define the participation of NGOs within the community. An epistemic community does not imply conformity of opinion or approach but allows for differentiation in terms of how its members construct the problem, and their objectives, core beliefs and favoured responses to climate change. Three broad styles of engagement through which NGOs contribute to this debate are identified: developing creative policy solutions, knowledge construction, and lobbying or campaigning. It should be noted that the authors refer primarily to development or environmental NGOs (ENGOs), though they do discuss business NGOs at a few points.     

Caught in the Middle: The State, NGOs, and the Limits to Grassroots Organizing Along the US–Mexico Border

NGOs across the world work on a daily basis to assist marginalized and working poor communities to meet their most basic needs. As NGOs take on the provision of many services that previously existed in the domain of the state, they enter into a contradictory relationship. As they work to improve these communities abandoned by the state, they can become the conduit whereby neoliberal state policy enters marginalized communities. Growing numbers of NGOs find that their primary sources of income come from donors and state agencies that share a propensity for neoliberal forms of governance. In the colonias, working poor Mexican communities, of the US Southwest, the triumvirate relationship among the state, NGOs, and grassroots leaders can create a disabling situation. I examine these cases, in which the neoliberal preference for self‐help projects and a focus on the fulfilment of individual needs can overshadow more collective forms of social change.     

Awareness and Action: The ethno-gender dynamics of Sri Lankan NGOs

Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are the modus operandi in the development arena at this juncture. Many, including feminists, place much faith in these actors for creating a progressive space for social, political, and economic activities to be undertaken. This article employs fieldwork evidence from eastern Sri Lanka, carried out in 1998–1999 and early 2004, to challenge this simplistic reading. The primary social group that was studied during the fieldwork period was female-headed households. This article argues that there are different types of NGO working in multiple ways in the region, and it is important to distinguish between these differences. NGOs that primarily execute development-oriented projects without considering the ethno-nationalist and gender politics are culpable of the violence of development. It is only when NGOs are in local communities for the long haul that they are able to develop a commitment to reassess and evaluate the social transformative potential of their activities. Using a feminist political economy perspective this article argues that it is important and necessary that NGOs confront social, political, and economic structures, including ethnic identity politics, if their activities are to lead to transformative feminist politics. In other words, NGOs would have to do more than pay lip service to gender mainstreaming, as is more often the case. These actors need to recognize and understand the potency of ethno-nationalist politics, social structures, social exclusion, and social injustice in order to create social spaces that are enabling of women's agency in the local communities within which they work and operate.     

Population,progress, and peanuts

Population and development, more specifically on matters relating to family planning, contraceptives and abortion, have always been key issues at the UN. These were the challenges faced by the Member States of the UN during the General Assembly held in New York from June 30 to July 2, 1999. The 1999 session covered a wide range of questions, which reflected universal consensus on concerns including adolescent reproduction and sexual health, as well as gender-related issues. The special meeting lasted for 3 days of visionary hopes and politics for the future of the world, and also took into account the crucial issue of resources and fundraising. The 1994 International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) in Cairo was the starting point for such an international understanding and consensus. In the years following 1994, the challenge to carry out lessons learned from the Cairo Conference and ICPD has now led to a final document, which guides nations across the globe on where to concentrate key future actions.     

Sale of children must be eliminated. Development and gender issues stressed

Meeting for 6 weeks, the 53-member UN Commission on Human Rights adopted more than 83 resolutions and 14 decisions, the majority by consensus. Among its measures, the commission called for the creation of an open-ended working group to develop policy guidelines for economic structural adjustment programs and their effects upon economic, social, and cultural rights; and the holding of a seminar of experts to develop guidelines on the subject of forced evictions. This report offers a round-up of action with regard to children's rights and abuse, gender issues, the right of people to development, country situations, hostages, indigenous and minority issues, and follow-up to the 1993 Vienna World Conference on Human Rights. Children are being sold for prostitution, pornography, and adoption at an increasing rate worldwide. The commission has therefore called upon governments to take legislative, social, and educational measures to ensure the protection of children from exploitation. Deeply concerned by the persistence of such violations, the commission recommended that states adopt measures to eliminate the existing market for such practices, and asked the group drafting a related optional protocol to the 1989 Convention on the Rights of the Child to continue its work. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights will provide substantive support to the World Congress against the Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children, to be held in Stockholm in August.