NGO Activities Research Articles

Persistent Courage of the Local Women Resistance Toward Undemocratic Policies

This paper focuses on studying local women groups' resistance movement toward the policies regarding a permit for mining activities in their villages. Although locals have vehemently opposed this business, the official licenses to continue the activities are remain being issued by state authority and supported by the local government. This could be seen as a red flag from the policy that has been abandoned by local communities' interests. For the past decade, then being involved in social movements against undemocratic policies has sign significantly creased. There is no benefit for them from these policies, and local women also could see that their interests and knowledge have been ignored. The method used in this study is feminist ethnography, focusing on two villages as a location of mining activities. The first is Penago Baru in Seluma, Bengkulu, which has been exploited for their iron sand, then Praikaroku Jangga in Central Sumba, East Nusa Tenggara, as the location for gold mining. The study uses field-talks, in-depth interviews, live-in, thematic group discussions, and field-notes. The participants lived in a social movement or acted as indigenous leaders, NGO activists, and demics. The study shows the distinctive character of these local women communities, in which they tend to have a subaltern identity. As a subaltern community, they have never been considered to exist, as their interests are not included in the policy agenda-setting. Their resistance is actually a reflection of the state's ignorance of the locals' rights. The study also notes that local women communities in both locations are actually reliable agents of local environment knowledge, with their intimate experiences with surrounding nature. Their courage to resist these policies is more of an effort to protect the natural resources and the people, as well as the ecosystem.

Деятельность НКО в сфере социальных услуг: общественные ожидания и региональные практики

В статье рассмотрены противоречия вхождения в сферу социальных услуг социально ориентированных НКО в двух регионах (Санкт-Петербург и Екатеринбург). Трансформация межсекторного взаимодействия в смешанной системе социального благосостояния повышает значение некоммерческого сектора, но эти процессы в силу многообразных региональных практик имеют неоднозначный характер и по-разному воспринимаются их участниками. В фокусе внимания авторов находятся вопросы взаимодействия некоммерческого сектора с государственными сервисными учреждениями, причины усиления коммерческих интересов НКО, взаимодействие с региональными органами управления и риски, сопровождающие становление смешанной системы производства общественных благ в регионах. Тео­ретическую рамку исследования составили современные концепции социального государства, его трансформации в социально-сервисное государство, а также подход к НКО, как к ключевому актору социальных услуг, регулируемых государством. В исследовании использованы эмпирические данные, полученные методом уличного и телефонного опросов городских жителей, интервью с представителями НКО, государственных сервисных учреждений, региональных органов управления. В проведенном анализе показано, что основными сдерживающими факторами развития НКО как негосударственных исполнителей услуг выступают административные барьеры доступа к бюджетному финансированию, несоответствующие меняющимся условиям способы взаимодействия региональных органов управления с новыми производителями общественных благ, а также недоверие преобладающей части населения к деятельности негосударственных организаций. При отборе негосударственных исполнителей социальных услуг завышенные бюрократические требования к отчетности, предоставляемой организациями для возмещения затрат, неоправданно избыточный контроль их деятельности со стороны органов управления, несвоевременность информирования о конкурсах на гранты, непрозрачность конкурсных процедур определяют низкую представленность НКО в региональных реестрах поставщиков социальных услуг. Формальный подход чиновников свидетельствует о том, что во внимание не принимаются институциальные преимущества некоммерческих организаций, их способность к социальным инновациям при решении проблем социальных групп, в интересах которых они создаются и работают. Преодоление обозначившихся барьеров, затрудняющих вхождение региональных НКО в сферу социальных услуг, одновременно следует рассматривать как ресурс повышения доверия к ним среди получателей услуг.

Вовлечение пожилых в волонтерскую и гражданскую активность как инструмент преодоления социального исключения

Статья посвящена анализу работы НКО с пожилыми людьми, активизируемыми для волонтерской деятельности, направленной на помощь разным категориям населения, включая маломобильных пожилых, и гражданского участия. Автор опирается на концепцию социального исключения, включающую в себя ряд доменов: гражданское участие, сервисы/ мобильность, среда/ местное сообщество и другие. Эмпирической базой исследования стали девять полуструктурированных интервью с руководителями НКО и экспертами из разных городов России, материалы веб-сайтов и отчеты НКО, наблюдения за деятельностью НКО и беседы с пожилыми волонтерами. Два НКО в Санкт-Петербурге и Ленинградской области рассмотрены подробно в качестве эмпирических кейсов. Исследование показало, что активность сообществ пожилых на базе НКО часто выходит за пределы тематических объединений. Участники начинают дружить, навещать друг друга и устраивать совместные праздники; активно помогают разным социальным группам, в том числе бездомным, воспитанникам интернатов, маломобильным пожилым; создают новые сообщества и взаимодействуют с местными властями для продвижения своих идей; участвуют в проектах межпоколенного обмена. Подобная активность способствует преодолению социальной исключенности в таких доменах, как социальные отношения, местные сообщества и среда обитания, гражданское участие, социально-культурные аспекты. Волонтерская и гражданская активность повышают социальную включенность не только пожилых «активистов», но и тех, кому они помогают. К сложностям развития волонтерской и гражданской активности относятся: отсутствие устойчивых паттернов «активной жизни» в пожилом возрасте; неготовность помогать; страх; отсутствие системной подготовки и поддержки волонтеров; негативный опыт участия и последующее разочарование.

State of Civil Society and NGOs in Bangladesh: Examining the Recent Trends and Changes

This paper is the outcome of a revisit study conducted in 2016 in three locations of two districts in Bangladesh. The original and/ or the 1st study was conducted in the same locations using same objectives and methods in 2005. The main purpose of the revisit study was to perceive the changes taken place in relation to the civil society space and activism, and the state of activism of NGOs. Qualitative approaches were used in collecting primary data from field and secondary sources were also used. The revisit study finds that NGOs are increasingly offering support to non - poor borrower groups, and today less emphasis is placed on offering small loans to the disadvantaged. The provision of larger loans (than the micro-credit loans encountered earlier), support to small businesses, and the appearance of migration support loans. In other respects, civil society space has been reduced in 2016. In 2005 we found rights-based works on the road to room for maneuvering, such as legal aid, we also found a civil society had been more politically focused, with the power to influence local officials in some cases. The 2005 study also found that with various civil society actors (services, rights, social mobilization and advocacy) a kind of dynamism in the stage, there was an opening of space indeed. On the other hand, the revisit study 2016 observed the shrinking state of civil society space. Rights-based NGOs and informal civil societies are at significantly reduced state; and it was found the social mobilization by the non-government organizations and agencies has a very slim opportunity to reinstall their activities in civil society space in near future. Extreme political control over institutions and citizens’ rights-based activities may be attributed as the main reasons of halting civil society action in Bangladesh.

Uneasy Entanglements

This article considers the entanglements revealed by the recent and rapid influx of solar technology on the archipelago of Zanzibar. Following a technical failure that left the islands without electricity for three months in 2009–10, the Zanzibari government has pursued several avenues to increase energy autonomy, including solar power. However, the future of energy independence promised by solar development is complicated by a legacy of political conflict and new relationships of dependence and inequality. Drawing on interviews with domestic energy users, government officials, state engineers and NGO activists, and situated within the unique post-revolutionary context of Zanzibar, this article explores how solar innovations and investments contribute to the reimagining of social, economic and political entanglements while simultaneously reproducing persistent discourses of hierarchy, inclusion and exclusion.

Pan-Africanism, feminism and popular education in the struggle against water grabbing in Africa: an interview with Coumba Toure

abstract This interview with Coumba Toure, feminist, Pan-African activist, and educator took place as part of a debriefing session at the end of a three day strategic planning workshop that brought together activists, artists, trade unionists, educators and organisations fighting imperialism, sexism and the privatisation of water in the face of the upcoming World Water Forum to be hosted in Dakar Senegal in 2021. The gathering was co-hosted by the Blue Planet Project, an international water justice coalition with whom Koni Benson does organising and education work, and by Africans Rising, a Pan-African movement of people and organisations working to build a continent-wide solidarity for a self-determined future, coordinated by Coumba Toure. This interview inquires about how Coumba thinks about strategies for building connected bottom-up movements across Senegal, and across Africa, that are feminist, Pan-Africanist and intergenerational. Coumba’s political journey to achieve this approach to her work is the main focus of the interview where she exemplifies the rejection of conventional boundaries between fields of expertise that often begin to mould and professionalise gender justice experts, teachers, NGO activists and published writers. What accounts for the ways in which she applies the principles of the African Feminist Charter, and the politics of Pan-African liberation to her daily life and work? We discuss why we are opposing and attempting to build a People’s Alternative to the World Water Forum which aims to open up Africa’s water to marketplaces of the global North. The interview unpacks how Coumba came to employ the approach of bringing older and younger activists, artists, students and communities into the daunting space of water specialists and professionalised NGOs, and what we hope to build through these spaces of connection, opposition and alternatives.

Glocalizing Women’s Empowerment: Feminist Contestation and NGO Activism in Iran

Through an ethnographic study of a women’s empowerment program in Tehran, and in-depth interviews with its workers, I examine the hegemony of liberal feminist conceptions of empowerment among secular and cosmopolitan middle-class activists and NGO directors. This study demonstrates that activists’ liberal conception of agency inadvertently erased the agency of the marginalized clients and their rights-based advocacy did not equip the subaltern women with a framework of gender justice that would find currency in their communities. While NGO staff and administrators contested the practicality of advocacy for sexual autonomy among marginalized women, the subaltern clients rejected the culturally reductionist accounts of their oppression by prioritizing economic justice. Rather than positing liberal and secular feminist discourses as over-determining, this study reveals that local actors continuously debate and contest globally circulating “women’s rights packages” in accordance with local norms, their standpoint, and lived experiences.

Non-governmental organizations, boomerangs, and forest loss: a cross-national analysis

ABSTRACT On the one hand, some research finds that higher numbers of domestic non-governmental organizations (NOGs) are related to less forest loss, while others find that higher numbers of international NGOs are related to less forest loss. Moreover, some find that neither domestic nor international NGOs have an impact on forest loss. We argue that Keck and Sikkink’s insight regarding a boomerang pattern of influence between domestic and international NGOs is the missing piece of the puzzle regarding past contradictory findings. While the activities of domestic NGOs should be successful at reducing forest loss given their local accountability and closeness to affected populations, their efforts could be more effective when combined with the resources and power of international NGOs. To test this hypothesis, we use ordinary least squares regression analysis for a sample of 75 low- and middle-income nations to see how the interaction between domestic and international NGOs impacts forest loss. In support of the ‘boomerang effect,’ we find domestic NGOs are related to less forest loss in low- and middle-income nations with higher rather than lower numbers of international NGOs. The findings suggest that international NGOs enhance the ability of domestic NGOs to decrease forest loss by providing financial and organizational resources.

SUBSTANTIATION OF ECONOMIC EFFICIENCY OF ACTIVITIES OF NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATIONS IN RURAL AREAS

The important contribution of NGOs to the development and improvement of the socio-economic environment, as well as the integration of all segments of the population, was noted. The role of non-profit organizations in ensuring stabilization of the social and economic situation in rural areas, meeting the needs of the population and municipal authorities in fulfilling social obligations has been considered. The dependence of the intensity of the activity of NGOs in the municipal districts of the Novosibirsk region on the extension of the active activity of residents of settlements has been established, which has made it possible to economically justify the effectiveness of the development and functioning of non-profit social-oriented organizations.

Does NGOs\u2019 Commercialization Affect Volunteer Work? The Crowding out or Crowding in Effect

The aim of this article is to identify whether the commercialization of NGOs has an influence on the crowding out or crowding in effect of volunteer work, and to indicate the factors affecting volunteers’ regular involvement in NGO activity. The conducted research confirmed the hypothesis that the commercialization of Polish NGOs is associated with the crowding in effect of volunteer work. The authors prove that the direction of knowledge transfer can be important in engaging volunteers to work in NGOs. The model demonstrates that the likelihood of the NGO crowding in effect increases with frequent internal training, and decreases rapidly with participation in conferences, which work as external knowledge transfer.

東アフリカにおける市民社会スペースの検討 : エチオピアとケニアにおける法規制からみる NGO の活動領域

東アフリカにおける市民社会スペースの検討 : エチオピアとケニアにおける法規制からみる NGO の活動領域

A Review on SEELIFE NGO Website

Many Non-government organizations are working in the country. A non-governmental organization is an organization with no self-profit, group based on the citizen that functions independently of government. NGO activities include, but are not limited to, environmental, social, advocacy, and human rights work. They can work to promote social or political change on a broad scale or very locally. NGOs play a critical part in developing society, improving communities, and promoting citizen participation. This WEB application connects people to various NGOs based on their needs. The application connects people directly to the relevant NGO. The information about various NGOs is given based on their field of operation. If an individual requires the services of or wants to volunteer can directly communicate with NGOs. NGOs can communicate at various levels through this application. If a person or a group wants to be a volunteer in any such NGO, it can do so by registering through this app. And if a person has a query so they can communicate with the help of a chatbot.

Fostering Equitable Food Access and Healthy Eating through Social Innovation: A Description of the New Orleans Experience

Abstract Objectives Persistent problems of poor diets and food insecurity call for novel approaches. In New Orleans, there was a tremendous surge in citizen involvement and social innovation after Hurricane Katrina. In the food sector, this work focused on improving food access and healthy eating by developing new organizations or transforming existing ones. Yet little is known about the scope, magnitude, and diversity of these efforts. This paper describes our effort to systematically catalog this work. Methods A comprehensive list of innovative organizations working in the food system was developed from local coalitions and other key stakeholders. An online survey of organization directors, fielded in the fall of 2017, collected information on their focus areas within the food system, geographic service areas, demographic priority groups, funding sources, and other developmental aspects. Organizations were contacted up to 9 times to encourage participation. Additional organizations were added by suggestions from respondents. A response rate of 75% yielded a final sample of N = 65. Results Organizations worked throughout the food system, focusing on gardening/farming (14%), food distribution (18%), nutrition education (11%), and food system sustainability (11%). Many innovated in multiple areas, for example, combining youth leadership with urban agriculture or business incubation with fresh food access. The vast majority (82%) were founded after Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Most (77%) targeted low-income populations, and 10% worked in the Lower Ninth Ward or New Orleans East, African American neighborhoods with very low access to fresh food. Only 23% reported receiving federal grants, while 69% belonged to one or more coalitions. Conclusions An active NGO sector developed in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina to work on food and nutrition issues not addressed by government institutions. A majority of these organizations do not receive federal support and work as a part of a coalition. Our descriptive catalog provides an assessment of strengths and gaps in the system and an entry point for further investments. Insights from New Orleans on innovations in addressing poor diets and food insecurity may be useful in other urban areas where such problems exist. Funding Sources The Food Trust and DHHS HRSA #T79MC31883.

THE CONTRIBUTION OF NGOs TO IMPROVING THE QUALITY OF LIFE OF THE LOCAL POPULATION - EXAMPLE OF THE ASSOCIATION „KRASLAVAS DISTRICT PARTNERSHIP”

The study evaluates the contribution of non-governmental organizations (hereinafter - NGOs) to the development of local territories, based on the projects available to NGOs financed by the EU structural funds and the state budget in Latvia. Updated information on the impact of non-governmental organizations on improving the quality of life. The experience of the association “Kraslava District Partnership” in investing EU structural funds financing and implementing the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) “Leader Initiative” measure, project tenders in three municipalities of Latgale region has been analyzed. The activity of NGOs, implementation of “Leader Initiative” projects based on EU funds planning periods has been assessed. Proposals are provided to evaluate the contribution of projects implemented by NGOs to improving the quality of life.

Is Foreign Aid Making A Difference? A Case Study of Sagarmatha National Park Forestry Project, Khumbu, Nepal

This paper describes a community stakeholder approach to evaluating the effectiveness of foreign aid and NGO involvement in an impacted community. The focus of the study, the Sagarmatha National Park Forestry Project (SNPFP), has operated in the Khumbu region for more than thirty years. The success of foreign aid and NGO activities was assessed by interviewing key informants with regard to their experience and perceptions concerning the project. The implications of this study include the recommendation that local people are the best source of information to measure foreign aid and NGO performance in a remote community. Furthermore, the future of natural resource conservation and rural development led by foreign aid depends on collaboration between the local people, NGOs and government.

The agency of faith-based NGOs in Turkish humanitarian aid policy and practice

ABSTRACT While Turkish faith-based NGOs have been involved in delivering humanitarian aid for two decades, the relations of these organizations with the state have not received adequate scholarly attention. The main purpose of this article is to address this gap by asking what roles NGOs play in Turkey's humanitarian aid policy and practice. Despite the relative isolation of Turkey's administrative structure as a result of a strong state tradition, this paper shows that NGOs attempt to play political roles in Turkish foreign policy. The study relies on an analytical framework derived from constructivism to examine the agenda-setting and information-providing activities of Turkish NGOs between 2004 and 2016. Based on findings from a series of semi-structured interviews with 25 respondents from nine different NGOs and three state institutions, this artilce expands the research agenda on Turkey's foreign aid and shows that NGOs function as knowledge-providers, powerful catalysts for humanitarian aid activities, and influential voices in bringing humanitarian issues to light.

誰ひとり取り残さない ～ユニバーサル・ヘルス・カバレッジと社会デザインの展望 － NGO活動の経験を踏まえて

誰ひとり取り残さない ～ユニバーサル・ヘルス・カバレッジと社会デザインの展望 － NGO活動の経験を踏まえて

エチオピアにおけるNGO活動――「慈善団体および市民団体に関する布告」（No.621/2009）の影響についての検討――

エチオピアにおけるNGO活動――「慈善団体および市民団体に関する布告」（No.621/2009）の影響についての検討――

The anachronistic category of non-government organisations: Moving from normative to empirical-based definitions for identifying organized interest groups in forest policymaking

NGOs take many shapes and forms, operating at various governing scales and levels. As a categorical form, NGOs often emerged as benevolent philanthropists or as antagonistic actors. Relative to governments, NGOs are envisioned to fill a void of unmet public services, exposing shortcomings, or in extreme cases, gain notoriety by applying aggressive campaigns in confrontational ways. However, more recent manifestations of NGOs are maneuvering political strategies in more elegant and reflexive ways that do not always match their more classical categorizations. Notwithstanding the proliferation of literature indicating the evolving role of NGOs, the theorizing of existing definitions and the usage of NGO as a category in the scientific literature remain anachronistic, recalling a particular imaginary of a rather simplistic idea. Indeed, as a category of analysis, the academic literature and associated political commentary refer to NGOs in normative terms that invoke benevolent, independent, and non-profit agents striving for common goals to foster societal betterment. We argue that such normative definitions of NGOs no longer reflect the empirics, and indeed obscure the overall role that such actors perform. By more closely examining NGO activities and the strategies they employ to achieve political goals, we argue that NGOs, like other interest groups, are highly political actors that pursue self-interests in ways that we might not otherwise recognize.

Impact of Non-Governmental Organisation in Poverty Alleviation-A Case of Zabzugu Tatale in the North of Ghana

Ever since Ghana had its independence in 1957, its economy has seen steady economic growth, rapid expansion of small-scale agriculture and impressive development of a variety of social services. Fine, B., and Rose,P. (2001) That notwithstanding it needs to be said that there is a wide income disparities and wealth distribution resulting in extensive poverty and general malnutrition in mostly the rural communities. Following independence from the British, there has been a wide spread of NGO activity like wildfire. Chowdhury, A.F. and Rose, P. (2014).Many NGO's were already present in the country, as well as steady growth of both nationwide and more locally- based indigenous NGO's. Around the early 1980's there was a change from welfare to a more development-oriented form of NGO intervention in the country which centered around groups and usually aimed directly or indirectly at alleviating the local people from the poor state in which they found themselves. Massive awareness creation formed a major composition of an increasing number of NGO intervention .With all this developments little is still known about the overall impact NGO have on the topic of poverty and also very few details of certain projects have been made known to the public as most of the NGO's are not accountable to any major body as in the case of certain big multinational corporation that are answerable to their shareholders. Jones, P. (2011). The major part of this Working Paper reports on the evaluation of four rural NGO interventions aimed, broadly, at poverty-alleviation, and undertaken during 1990. This case study throws more light on the fact that with all these interventions that were brought as a way of changing the life of people, there is still room for improvement even till this day in the 21st century dispensation. It needs to be noted that just recently the Zabzugu-tatale district was a beneficiary of such alleviation programs formed by the UNICEF which was themed integrated community development fund. Zabzugu-tatale is a district in the north region of Ghana and for the purpose of this academic research it has been chosen and findings would better help us understand the impact NGO's actually have in these communities. Hossain, N., Subrahmanian, R., and Kabeer, N. (2012).