January 12th, 2008 by Dan Kosky | Category: Durban Conference, Human Rights, NGOs

Taken literally, the term ‘NGO’ or ‘non-governmental organization’ can be used to describe an almost never ending list of groups. However, to understand the role that NGOs seek to play and why they need to be monitored, we must first understand a little of their purpose and origins…During the nineteenth century, this is what we saw.

NGOs can play an important role in civil society as independent non-state actors. They can help to strengthen society, free from the prejudices and constraints of government. Indeed, this noble ideal is found in the very origins of NGOs, which can be traced back as far as the mid-nineteenth century, when proto-NGOs played a role in two of the most important movements to shape western liberal democracies – The anti-slavery movement and the women’s suffrage movement.

However, it was not until the aftermath of World War Two and the genesis of the United Nations, that the term ‘NGO’ was popularized – The post-World War Two reality brought with it the increasingly popular view that an alternative to government was needed to help solve the world’s problems. After all, it was governments who brought about the near-apocalypse of that dark period. This concept was developed even further in the latter half of the twentieth century when globalization demanded a greater role for international organizations, including NGOs.

Indeed, in a global world, there must be a role for independent organizations to help shape the world’s agenda and to create common standards on issues of global importance such as the environment and human rights. But, NGOs in the twenty first century would do well to remember the post-World War Two ethos – NGOs can help to solve global issues and conflicts, but only by virtue of their independence from governments – Not only in name, but also in practice. Today, too many NGOs are identified by their opposition to certain states and governments – This has set them on a course to becoming politicized bodies and in turn, they have lost the very impartiality that was so demanded following World War Two.

This process, of NGOs entering the political arena, has mostly slipped under the radar of public awareness. The public today regards NGOs and human rights organizations as one of the most trustworthy moral barometers. In 2001, this perception was shattered, when the UN Conference against Racism and Discrimination in Durban was hijacked by politicized NGOs. The result was an exclusive, obsessive condemnation and demonization of only one state – Israel. At Durban, the State of Israel was portrayed by NGOs as the only country on the face of the earth guilty of discrimination. Since 2001, Israel, USA and other democracies have been disproportionately criticized for human rights abuses by the NGO community – These organizations have been gripped by a warped view of the world, whereby the level of freedom within a state is proportional to the condemnation which NGOs pour upon it. Politicization has led NGOs to lose sight of the true values of universal human rights.

NGOs play an important role in upholding human rights. Their popularization was a result of the failure of government to prevent disaster. The NGO community often provides humanity’s last line of defence against genocide, natural disaster, and the destruction of the planet. It is these NGOs, when free from political partiality, who can make unpopular announcements and focus public attention on the issues nobody else is highlighting. But, if NGOs lose sight of their goals, or confuse human rights activism with political campaigning, then one of freedom’s greatest champions will be lost. It is for this reason that we must continue to watch the watchers…