The Role of NGOs

NGOs constitute an essential part of civil society and they have the potential to play key
roles in resolving conflicts and restoring civil society. NGOs can support to form well knit
local infrastructures or peace constituencies comprising of people from different sectors
of civil society whose aim is to attain sustainable peace and whose activities are based
on long term commitment. NGOs should invest more resources for capacity building
activities at different levels. It involves the training of own staff, identifying indigenous
partners, local leaders and so on, NGOs can act as mediators to bring consensus
among different conflicting groups with the help of local peace constituencies.
Pamela Aall suggests a number of roles that NGO's can play in the peace making
process. NGOs should presume their traditional relief and rehabilitation activities with a
long-term perspective. "The initial emergency relief response should be linked to a set
of activities that leads to the transformation of those conflicts in a way that promotes
sustained and comprehensive reconciliation among the warring parties". All cautions us
against the dangers of using external resources in relief and rehabilitation activities.
Excessive use of external resources can foster dependence and passivity. It can also
become a new object of contention, inadvertently fueling the conflict. NGOs should
mobilize local resources which empower the people and enroll new participants into
their activities, especially women who have often been kept passive in the peace
process. NGOs should continue to monitor human rights abuses. They should
undertake the task of providing an early warning of potentially violent conflicts and
should pursue conflict resolution activities. All warns that these roles must be kept
separate both of the safety of NGO workers and in order for it to be effective.

Prerequisites
To work effectively in a conflicting situation NGOs should preserve their own identities
and neutrality and should appear to be impartial. Unofficial status of NGOs provides
more access to conflicting parties, which helps in the process of negotiation. The long-
term commitment of NGOs is a crucial factor in establishing trust among the people and
to attend to the goal of lasting peace. Pamela A all prescribes four conditions for NGOs
more directly engaging in conflict resolution activities: (1) the NGO must be very familiar
with the country, issues and participants in the conflict (2) the NGO should have
indigenous partners (3) NGO staff must be well grounded in conflict resolution skills and
knowledge and (4) NGO workers must understand and accept the personal risk they run
in attempting to intervene directly in the conflict.

Conclusion
State is often seen as one of the parties in a large number of conflicts. Therefore, it is
important for NGOs to maintain their independence without loosing trust of the
conflicting parties including the state. NGOs should work in co-operation and co-
ordination with each other to reduce duplication in their activities. In this process NGOs
should not loose their individual identities. Coordination and networking of NGOs is a
key factor in lobbying and advocacy at a higher level... NGOs should limit their scope of
work to mere conflict resolution, but expand to address the root causes of conflict and
enhance the process of peace building. Hence, the role of the NGOs in conflict
resolution is based on their presence at the ground level as actors with a reservoir of
good will generated through years of development and rehabilitation work. Apart from
creating a congenial atmosphere for negotiations, where the prospects for such
negotiations are not visible at the level of the conflicting actors, the NGOs can play a
key role in many intractable conflicts. Peace building is now seen as a part of sustaining
agreements reached. No organization is perhaps more equipped that the NGOs in
undertaking this task. However, in order to play a more effective role in conflict
management, the NGOs may have to reorient themselves with the requisite and attitude
and skills, which of course should be seen as an additional element of their
development work.

Making ADR more effective

To make ADR more effective, extensive, and pro-active, coordination

is needed among different agencies. Other initiatives are given below:

 Creating awareness about ADR

 Spreading the success story of ADR

Encouraging NGOs to become involved in ADR

 Involving the Bar Associations in ADR

 Providing training for mediators

 Matching Government and NGO efforts.

  may perceive them)
 Durability of agreements
 Confidentiality
 The preservation of relationships; and the preservation of reputations.

The Role of NGOS :

Definition and Founding of NGOs-

Peter Willets in his book “The conscience of the World: The Influence of Non Governmental
Organizations in the UN System” describes NGOs as non-commercial, and therefore should have a
non-profit making aim, and non-political organization that should not `openly engage in violence or
advocate violence as a political tactic and that they should be able to raise funds from their members
or voluntary contributions. NGOs are founded by people who voluntarily associate with an aim of
working together to achieve a common goal/objective.

Another reason for the existence of NGOs is that people come together in independent groups to
promote some type of activity that is not being undertaken by.  ernments. Alternatively, governments
may already be involved in an activity but groups are formed in order to challenge the way
government is handling it.

Formation of NGOs require innovative thinking, creativity, conceptualization of vision, ability to

assess an existing gap in the provision of a service(s) or goods which calls for the skills to analyze
what is and what ought to be- the real and the ideal.

Most founders of successful NGOs have abilities of interpreting the past(history),assess the present
and forecast the future, relatively accurately and realistically. They have a bility to influence and
mobilize popular support from beneficiaries, government and other possible state holders. They are
good at planning, have enter prenuerial and managerial skills,are willing to work voluntarily at least
in the formative stages ,should be able to understand the culture and traditions of the target groups
and be ready to move with and adopt to the changing environment. They should be clear on their
geographical area of operation and have clearly stated missions and objectives.
Main levels of NGO Involvement in the Development ProcessNGOs can be classified
geographically or by the purposes for which they are founded. They are either International or single
country, Northern or Southern NGOs. International NGOs normally start as Northern NGOs but are
influenced to expand their activities into more countries as the NGO increases the resources at their
disposal or changes perception of their role. Examples of these are Oxfam that has become more
development oriented and therefore has spread more into the developing countries or 3″d World
Countries. Single Country NGOs on the other hand are bodies, groups or institutions that are entirely
or largely independent of government interference. Another category of NGOs is development NGOs
or Non-Government Development Organizations (NGDO) and can be classified into four categories:
Organizations NGOs, Support or Intermediary Organizations, Field/Action Level Organizations.

  Aid Organizations: They can be categorized as:

a) Funding NGOs from the North: These raise money from their own governments. They support
development projects carried out by local 3`d world organizations at the support level. The are also
involved in campaigns/dialogue – acting as counter weight to state power – protecting human rights,
b) Technical intervention NGOs: These two are NGOs from the North that tend to carry out
development projects themselves. They do the planning and the implementation processes. They
may only be interested in the technical aspects. In most cases they do have their own financial
resources. Examples of these are CARE.

 Support/Intermediary organizations: Support is normally provided by support NGOs. The

purpose is to offer support to local initiatives, developmental/farmer organizations at the field Action
level. Such support NGOs are very common in the 3rd World Countries and are usually prompted by
two factors namely:
a) Lack of the State involvement in development programmes. So the support to NGOs comes in to
fill the gaps.
b) Need by the NGOs in the North to have partner organizations in the South to identify and execute
development projects on their behalf. Many other factors like creation of employment for their
citizens, research for higher degrees and publishing desires are into play. However, genuine
developmental desires also contribute to the formation of support level NGOs.

 Field/Action Level Organizations: Field/Action level organizations are categorized as follows:

a) Representation Organizations: These represent their members for purposes of claims and/or

negotiations with government and other bodies and fight in defence of the vital interest of
membership. These include groups like Workers Unions. Landless farmers on mailo land/ranches
may organize themselves to demand agrarian reform measures. These kinds of organizations are
basically pressure groups representing the interests of the communities falling in the same social
economic strata.

b) Community Organizations: These have broader functions, which include that of representation

but also that of managing assets held in common by the whole community. All members of a
community are members by right. For example a dispensary build under self help initiatives, valley
dams/wells, community centres.

c) Association type organizations: These are most restrictive than the first two. Members are
registered and are normally screened depending on certain criteria developed by members. The
organizations represent interests of members actively involved in pursuing a specific common goal.
Members are registered. Cooperative Societies belong here but increasingly, many of these groups
are being registered as Community Based Organizations
Summary

In Summary, the NGO are involved in the following:

  Policy Formulation: There is a marked increase in NGO participation in policy processes as

invited participants. Their representatives have had seats at the table in formulation of specific
policies, district development plans and on technical committees and sub-committees at all levels.
This is highly commendable.

 As Pressurisers /Agenda Setting: NGOs sometimes exert pressure from outside `the tent’ on both
formulation and implementation of policies, programmes and plans. They use campaigning – a
visible activity directed at a certain constituency, often media – mediated; and lobbying – a direct
and often private approach to individuals or small groups of people, as an attempt to influence the
decisions of the institutional elite on behalf of a collective interest. NGOs are supposed to act as
counter weight to state power – protecting human rights, opening up channels of communication and
participation, providing training grounds for activists and promoting pluralism.

As Service Deliverers: NGOs engage with policy makers at implementation or field/ Action level.
Implementation is an important policy phase as it is often at that stage that failures in the policy
processes occur. Here NGOs play a bridging role between government and the people.

  As Monitors: NGOs can provide an independent assessment of how public resources are being
allocated at the national and local level. After NGOs have advocated for equitable distribution of
national resources during the budget process, they monitor whether these resources reach the
intended beneficiaries and whether they translate into `value for money’ (getting the best outcome
using limited financial and human resources) for end users. NGOs also have a role to play in
assessing how quickly and effectively the private sector is moving into space created for it by
liberalization and rolling back of state institutions from direct production and whether the premises on
which this model is based hold for our type of economies.

As innovators: NGOs are sometimes instrumental in the introduction of new approaches and

techniques which, when adopted, bring considerable benefits to the poor. Examples include
introduction of new technologies, farming methods, resolution of conflicts etc.

 As Partners: NGOs work in partnership with Governments and Donors in the planning process by
offering expertise, experience and whether possible logistics and other resources. NGOs are agents
of change but their ability to effect change rests on organizational independence, closeness to the
poor, representative structures and a willingness to spend a large amounts of time in awareness-
raising and dialogue. NGOs particularly those working closely with CBOs and which believe in the
efficacy of `empowerment’ approaches can be an important asset when government wants to
mobilize people.

In this first module of An NGO Training Guide for Peace Corps Volunteers, you build on your
experiences with nonprofit organizations in the United States to gain an understanding of the critical
role nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) play in developing civil societies. By the time you
complete this module you should have acquired the knowledge, skills, and attitudes to:

# Describe four characteristics that differentiate NGOs from government

organizations and for-profit businesses.

# Identify some major sectors (e.g., health, youth, or women’s issues) where

NGOs are active in your country of service.

# Explain in your own words how each of the six key elements of public

participation increases the involvement of citizens in a civil society.

# Select three words that describe the appropriate role of a Peace Corps

Volunteer in working with NGOs, and give examples of situations where

each role would be useful.

Role of NGOs In case of ADR.

Truly speaking, the Application of ADR is widely fulfilled by NGos. There are some NGOs in
Bangladesh who are currently running programs relating to ADR.

The of the NGOs doing ADR  are

 1. 1.       Ain o Salis Kandro (ASHOK)
2. 2.       Bangladesh Legal Aid Services Trust (BLAST)
3. 3.       Madaripur Legal Aid
4. 4.       USAID
5. 5.       Unicef

Conclusion:The main idea behind mediation projects is not only to provide alternatives to litigation
but to modify the whole dispute resolution system, including litigation, to make it more suitable for
the parties in commercial disputes. Introducing mediation or arbitration is one way of making the
system more apposite for end-users. Mediation and other ADR methods are not alternatives to the
formal justice system in the sense that they aim to replace it. Their goal is to harmonize  the scope of
court procedures so that the parties can choose between these processes. However, this choice
does not have to be exclusive. In many cases, parties may choose mediation along with court case
or arbitration and conduct them in parallel, until they settle, withdraw, or get a court decision or
arbitration award. Moreover, litigation is and must remain a crucial part of the ADR system in any
country. Litigation is mainly ital for the continuation of mediation and other non-binding procedure
because one of the stronger incentives to mediate is often to avoid adjudication.

This led to the rise of NGOs to become partners in the Development work and at the same time
NGOs are being accused of trying to `crowd out’ government process. The inability of governments
to deliver sufficiently the promised goods and services eroded their legitimacy. Researches
undertaken so far suggest that most governments in the south are not only backing away from the
traditional responsibilities, but also have completely failed. People started to loose faith in some of
their governments policies aimed at improving welfare. Governments themselves began to doubt
their own development strategies and thus realized the need for radical change involving private
organizations voluntarily formed by the people themselves. NGOs therefore increasingly have to
take on all development work and at the same time NGOs are being accused of trying to ‘crowd out’
government.