CHAPTER 4: ROLES OF NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS ( Ngo s ) and other stakeholders

1. CHAPTER 4: ROLES OF NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS (Ngos) and other stakeholders

2. The Rise of the NGO • NGO is short for Non-Governmental Organization • NGOs entered the mainstream because of the United Nations in 1945 • NGOs were needed to assist in fulfilling the tasks of sustaining peace and improving quality of life for humans on a global scale • NGOs are private organizations run by two, sometimes competing, groups: professional staff and volunteers

3. Criteria to become a NGO • Organization needs to simply abide by the following rules: • Remain independent from government control, non-profit, non-criminal, and not seeking to challenge governments on issues of control/power • An NGO cannot support or become a political party of any sort • NGOs can vary in size. Red Cross is largest. UNESCO has 310 NGOs registered with it alone

4. Charitable Orientation NGO • Involves a top down, paternalistic effort with little participation or input by beneficiaries • Activities are directed towards meeting the needs of the poor, such as distribution of food, clothing, or medicine; provision of housing, transport, and schools. Aid with literacy and media training • This type of NGO may also undertake relief activities during a natural or man-made disaster

5. Service Orientation NGO • Deals with activities such as the provision of health, family planning, women’s rights, agriculture, or education services • Frequently media training falls in this category • People are expected to participate in its implementation and receiving its service

6. Participatory Orientation NGO • Characterized by self-help projects where local people are involved particularly in the execution of a project by contributing funding, ideas, natural resources, or voluntary labor

7. Empowering Orientation NGO • Aims to help poor people develop a clearer understanding of the social, political and economic factors affecting their lives, and to strengthen their awareness of their own potential power to control their lives • Sometimes they develop spontaneously around a problem or issue • Considered to be the most important in terms of promoting development • Has a social justice aim

8. The Big Three • The three biggest, oldest, and most well known NGOs in the US are: • The Carnegie Foundation • The Ford Foundation • The Rockefeller Foundation All three have participated in development communication work

9. Social Change Consortium • Communications for Social Change Consortium (CFSC) is an international nonprofit organization based in New Jersey • Their goal is to build the local capacity of people living in poor and marginalized communities to use communication to improve their lives • It was chartered in 2003 and started as a special project of the Rockefeller Foundation in 1997 • Seeks to focus on applied projects in LDCs

10. World Social Forum • These groups were led by labor unions and environmentalists at the beginning, and attempted to rebalance the benefits of the expanding global economy • The WSF meetings are meant to debate ideas, and come up with proposals and effective actions against the spread of pure capitalism, deregulation, privatization, and neo-liberalism

11. Canada’s IDRC • The International Development Research Centre (IDRC) – is a Canadian Crown corporation • Created by the Parliament of Canada in 1970 to help developing countries to undertake research and use technology to find long-term solutions for their social, economic, and environmental problems • IDRC is guided by a 21 member, international Board of Governors • Provides assistance to groups in Third World

12. Conclusions • Chapter 4 focuses on three main areas: • The role and functions of NGOs • The role and background of US Foundations • Three major stakeholders in the development communication scene