The Role of Non-Governmental Organization

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The Role of Non-Governmental Organizations

The Role of Non-Governmental Organization.

The last ten years have seen an extraordinary rise in the level of international activities undertaken by international non-governmental actors (NGOs).  Described as "transnational advocacy networks" (TANs), or " social movements" (TSMs), these new organizational forms bring together a wide array of nongovernmental organizations, citizens associations, and trade unions, in forms of activism that target global level institutions and issues. They frequently represent the prototypical "global civil society," with the power to influence, and perhaps democratize the structure of world politics, both through their increasing influence within existing international institutions, and through their capacity to use this influence to leverage change in individual nation states. This paper attempts to discuss the role of non-governmental organizations in dealing with human rights violations by looking at the range of their work, thier activities and problems they are facing.

 More than thirty thousand NGOs worldwide tackle many global problems, seeking changes in the world for such causes as disarmament, women’s rights, environmental protection, and human rights. Many believe that the success of international NGOs is due to their clearly planned strategies, great technical expertise and adequate funding to the task. In addition, the Ngo agenda is neither confined to economic nor to political issues. Some of the major accomplishments of NGOs are: the 1997 campaign to outlaw landmines, where hundreds of NGOs, with the support of Canadian Government, pushed through a ban in a year, Nestle has been targeted for selling powdered baby milk in poor countries, Nike for poor labor conditions in its overseas factories, Monsanto for genetically modifies food.

Despite the fact that globalization has created ground for the rise of NGOs to protect environment, labor rights, consumer rights, human rights and so on, it also facilitated information sharing and building solidarity among NGOs through technological progress. Internet allows cooperation and formation of new groups in rich and poor countries. With the increased power of NGOs in the globalized world, national governments and inter-governmental institutions such as World Bank, the IMF, the UN Agencies, the WTO are becoming weaker because they neither have a monopoly of information nor political leverage.

In the realm of human rights, NGOs are the most prominent actors. A considerable number of NGOs are engaged in the protection of human rights both at the national and international level. Historical development of NGOs participation in international affairs and defend of human rights is not a new phenomenon. It can be traced back to the 19th century when numerous NGOs contributed to the development of international law concerning significant economic, political and social issues. NGOs were important in raising awareness of states to the need for international regulations concerning, for example, the abolition of slavery, recognition of labor rights, the reduction in tariffs, and promotion of the rights of women. Many of these organizations that promoted these campaigns had an international dimension and operated as modern NGOs.

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The role of modern NGOs is diverse. They can play a crucial role in contributing to the political involvement of governments and intergovernmental organizations (IGOs) in the field of human rights. They also participate in drawing the attention of world public opinion to human rights issues and influence the setting of the public agenda in this respect. Furthermore, they help governments and IGOs to identify and prioritize key human rights issues. NGOs are actively involved in the drafting process of human rights conventions and treaties (e.g., Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Convention on the Rights of the Child, Convention ...

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