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January 6, 1998 BKK POST: ANALYSIS



January 6, 1998

                 ANALYSIS / GROWING FROM STRENGTH TO 
                                STRENGTH 


              NGOs: A star is 
              born

                There were Greenpeace, Amnesty 
              International and some other 
              household-name NGOs back in the '80s, 
              but it is this decade that has seen an 
              explosion in the number and the 
              influence of these special interest 
              groups.

                   SUCHADA KULAWAT 
                New York


              Jody Williams was reassuring. In front of an international media 
              agency's camera, Ms Williams, coordinator of the International 
              Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL) which won the 1997 
              Nobel Peace Prize, gave an American ambassador a friendly pat 
              and teasingly denied she'll put him out of a job.

              It's the scene that reflects the end of diplomacy as we knew it.

              At the United Nations, most ambassadors and diplomats might 
              like to do their jobs as usual, but it has not been business as 
              usual. NGOs like ICBL have been moving more from corridors 
              to podiums, from the sidelines into the negotiating games.

              And 1997 was to NGO-government relations what 1989 had 
              been to East-West relations. Last year marked "the fall of the 
              Berlin Wall" for multi-lateral diplomacy.

              After some 50 years, the wall of diplomatic traditions crumbled 
              when NGOs emerged as the real shakers of international policies 
              and laws, from banning landmines, curbing corruption, setting up 
              a world criminal court to saving the world from greenhouse 
              gases.

              "Development, peace and democracy are no longer the exclusive 
              responsibility of governments, global organisations or 
              inter-governmental bodies," said UN secretary-general Kofi 
              Annan recently.

              Also, the victory of the ICBL and its 1,000 NGO partners 
              signifies the erosion of "national interests" as we knew them. Ms 
              Williams, a US citizen of Vermont, protects America's long-term 
              "national interests" her own way: by openly criticising 
              Washington.

              "Why does the one remaining superpower with the most 
              advanced war weapons in the world still need to rely on the 
              landmine? Everybody else is ready to give it up but the United 
              States," she said, "I think that's shameful."

              Meanwhile, the US government maintains that it is committed to 
              eliminating landmines and that it has supported various demining 
              projects around the world.

              The ICBL's winning the Nobel prize makes it much more difficult 
              for countries like the United States, China, India and Pakistan to 
              stay outside of "the tide of history", said Ms Williams.

              The 20th century project of international organisations is all 
              about how to stretch national interests and preferences, 
              sometimes somehow, to produce more public goods that the 
              inter-state behaviour, often dictated by political and market 
              interests, would fail to produce, says the UN.

              For the world body, NGOs are now its essential partners, not 
              only in mobilising public opinion but also in making policies.

              More important, NGOs will make sure that governments keep 
              their promises or act on whatever they agreed to do to better 
              peoples' lives.

              What are NGOs? 

              Despite some definition games and complex legalities debated 
              among experts, most agree that NGOs are basically 
              organisations set up by private individuals - instead of 
              governments - not to make profits but to help other people, 
              whether at the local, community or global level.

              These not-for-profit organs are in all fields: from church groups 
              to people's assemblies, environment and human rights 
              watchdogs, government oversight bodies and relief organisations. 
              And the list goes on.

              Today, there are up to 40,000 non-profit organs and networks 
              worldwide, according to the Union of International Associations. 
              The number of NGOs accredited with the UN is in the 
              thousands, with different status.

              Analysts say there are three main elements at work that brought 
              NGOs to the world stage.

              First, in the post-Cold War years, countries become more 
              democratised and civil society expanded with the growth of 
              citizen organisations at all levels.

              Second, there is an imperative need for global action on global 
              problems. Most of today's world problems are trans-boundary. 
              Peoples and governments worldwide have to work together in 
              dealing with environment degradation, crime, drugs, human 
              rights, refugees, etc.

              Third, the remarkable ease of instant global communication has 
              been a major building block in the rise of NGOs at the global 
              level and has led to the closer relationship between them and the 
              UN family.

              With "the death of distance", the international civil society is 
              getting stronger and more vocal as people worldwide become 
              more connected and eager to form associations for common 
              causes.

              Now international and local NGOs are working with 
              governments and the UN on development and humanitarian 
              projects around the world: from Thailand to Cambodia, 
              Palestine, the former Soviet republics and Rwanda.

              But the NGOs' relationships with the UN and governments have 
              not all been too rosy.

              The partnership began at the 1992 Earth Summit when UN 
              organisers decided to ease the old rules and invite all NGOs, 
              local and international, to come. And an unprecedented high 
              number of NGOs said "Yes".

              For the past five years, the NGO-government relationship has 
              grown at a chain of international conferences: on human rights (in 
              1993), population (in 1994), social development (in 1995), 
              women (in 1995), habitat (in 1996), landmines and global 
              climate change (in 1997).

              Naturally, the relationship has had its ups and downs. At the 
              1995 Copenhagen social summit, for example, some NGOs 
              protested as they were not allowed to enter conference rooms. 
              At the Beijing women's conference, certain NGOs were bitter 
              about the host's treatment.

              The NGO-government relationship reached its peak in 1997, 
              both at the Kyoto conference on climate change and the Ottawa 
              conference to ban landmines, say observers.

              What began in Rio has become normal practice. Now at 
              international conferences, NGOs have their own shows. Their 
              people influence the outcome. Their daily publications have 
              become the must-read for diplomats.

              While most UN diplomats may be busy following routines such 
              as taking care of protocols, or sending telexes to their capitals, 
              NGOs have the resources and expertise to come up with fresh 
              ideas.

              Some parts of international policies and agreements were born 
              out of NGOs' papers and wordings - slipped into diplomats' 
              hands and minds before they walked into the negotiating rooms.

              More influentially, certain kinds of NGOs, such as policy or 
              research institutes, have become the original architects of 
              international initiatives. Sometimes their experts are in 
              government delegations: they negotiate while diplomats give 
              administrative support.

              What are the future trends?

              When it comes to the NGOs' contact with the UN, the line 
              between international NGOs and national or local bodies will 
              become blurred as all NGOs can be at the site of international 
              conferences, say analysts.

              Meanwhile, the post-Rio generation of NGOs may challenge the 
              UN's and governments' ways of doing things, such as the UN's 
              criterion for giving "consultative status" to NGOs.

              Besides, NGOs in the South will demand more say. For poorer 
              nations to inject more "non-western cultural influences" in 
              international policies and laws, governments in developing 
              countries need to strengthen the NGOs in their countries.

              By the end of the 1990s, public service may have a new face 
              because of the rising interest in stretching public service into the 
              non-profit sector, say experts.

              World-class public administration schools now aim to produce 
              leaders not only for governments but for the non-profit sector. A 
              possible scenario: future presidents, prime ministers and NGO 
              leaders are old college pals.

              And the future is happening in some countries where non-profit 
              managers, from religious groups to think-tanks, are highly trained 
              in fund-raising and campaigning.

              As scepticism of governments rises and inter-government 
              organisations are more helpless at times, NGOs have closed the 
              gap between governments' promises and actions.

              For the Asia region of lost miracles where governments may 
              have their hands tied by international lending agencies' 
              conditions, NGOs, say observers, could give "first-aid" and, 
              more or less, ease people's pain caused by a government's poor 
              judgements, its preoccupation with economic and financial 
              policies, and the international community's indifference to social 
              impacts.

              Does all this mean governments worldwide are losing their grip? 
              Not quite, say experts.

              Instead, progress in the non-profit sector often depends on 
              governments' commitment to democracy and the political will to 
              strengthen the civil society through measures such as tax 
              privileges for NGOs, including people in policy-making, and 
              treating NGOs as equal partners.

              "No government, however powerful, can do it on its own. Nor 
              can the United Nations," said UN secretary-general Annan.

              In the drama of international life, NGOs have become "the new 
              lead actor" sharing roles with governments and the UN in local 
              and global scenes.

              And the chances are the world not only needs more Jody 
              Williams, but it will see more.

              * Suchada Kulawat is an analyst who served with the 
              Foreign Ministry, the UNDP's Bangkok regional office, 
              the Mission of Thailand to the UN in New York and the 
              UN mission to Bosnia. 









                                       







            © The Post Publishing Public Co., Ltd. All rights reserved 1997
                            Contact the Bangkok Post
                           Web Comments: Webmaster 

                              Last Modified: Tue, Jan 6, 1998

                                   January 6, 1998



                                       







                 ANALYSIS / GROWING FROM STRENGTH TO 
                                STRENGTH 


              NGOs: A star is 
              born

                There were Greenpeace, Amnesty 
              International and some other 
              household-name NGOs back in the '80s, 
              but it is this decade that has seen an 
              explosion in the number and the 
              influence of these special interest 
              groups.

                   SUCHADA KULAWAT 
                New York


              Jody Williams was reassuring. In front of an international media 
              agency's camera, Ms Williams, coordinator of the International 
              Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL) which won the 1997 
              Nobel Peace Prize, gave an American ambassador a friendly pat 
              and teasingly denied she'll put him out of a job.

              It's the scene that reflects the end of diplomacy as we knew it.

              At the United Nations, most ambassadors and diplomats might 
              like to do their jobs as usual, but it has not been business as 
              usual. NGOs like ICBL have been moving more from corridors 
              to podiums, from the sidelines into the negotiating games.

              And 1997 was to NGO-government relations what 1989 had 
              been to East-West relations. Last year marked "the fall of the 
              Berlin Wall" for multi-lateral diplomacy.

              After some 50 years, the wall of diplomatic traditions crumbled 
              when NGOs emerged as the real shakers of international policies 
              and laws, from banning landmines, curbing corruption, setting up 
              a world criminal court to saving the world from greenhouse 
              gases.

              "Development, peace and democracy are no longer the exclusive 
              responsibility of governments, global organisations or 
              inter-governmental bodieadding=6>

                                       







© The Post Publishing Public Co., Ltd. All rights reserved 1997
Contact the Bangkok Post
Web Comments: Webmaster 

Last Modified: Tue, Jan 6, 1998