Chapter Seven. Attributes Of Successful Human Rights Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) – Sixty Years After The 1948 Universal Declaration Of Human Rights

Abstract

This chapter identifies and analyzes the attributes shared by successful human rights NGOs. It traces the history of the contemporary human rights NGO from anti-slavery and other social movement groups of the eighteenth century, through the participation of human rights NGOs in the creation of the UN, through the proliferation of human rights NGOs today. It then identifies and analyzes ten characteristics of successful human rights NGOs. The chapter builds upon the attributes identified and explores a selection of NGO Codes of Conduct from around the globe designed to promote NGO accountability and transparency and to help bolster NGO credibility. It concludes that although much has changed since the UN and modern human rights NGOs were born six decades ago, what has not changed is the disagreement over what constitutes a human rights NGO and how to categorize such groups. Keywords: attributes; codes of conduct; human rights; non-governmental organizations (NGOs); social movement groups; United Nations (UN)