I intend this to be a brief post, but in my final posting about the Huffington Post article about Sudan by Don Golden, I want to address his assertion that NGO's need to perform their roles in the peace process.
First, let me cast no shadow here - I agree with Mr. Golden. Non-governmental organizations are typically the representatives of the kindness and wellwishes of the world made into human and material resource to relieve suffering. The impulse to intervene in this kind of way is often an example of humanity at its best. Don Golden's own NGO, World Relief, is a good example of an NGO that knows its business, particularly in East Africa, and works toward a future of peace, which goes beyongd resetting the agendas of the people with armies and weapons, and looks at communities and helps figure out how that peace might be sustained through humanitarian assistance when needed and economic growth when possile.
Of course it's never as simple as it forst sounds. It is a sad fact that belligerent governments, particularly in the Sudan and South Sudan, will always try to redirect or limit the deployment of NGO's. The allowance offrree movement and unfettered access to people in need is sadly a weapon used by powerful people. The NGO's need to be able to use their own diplomatic leverage, and sometimes the diplomatic leverage of nations to counter the 'pawn' effect. Sometimes it works, but it alweays seems like climbing a cliff.
Another peril facing NGO's is the idea of aid 'with strings attached'. NGO's are often sponsored from wealthy (western??) countries. The recipients of the aid may feel that the largesse offered is done at the behest of US and European powers, which sadly have used muck of their goodwill in imperialist and post-imperialist endeavors. The NGO must be able to convince its aid receipients that it is not simply another western power exerting control. Established groups with local ties do better in these situations, and again I see World Relief in the fore in East Africa.
The other 'strings attached' concern, is the makeup and mission of the NGO itself. Is the mission of the group simply to build peace, or is there a cultural, moral or religious backdrop that serve as another motive, real or imagined by the recipient population? Again, using World Relief as a test case, we see that it is a US based group formed by and supported by evangelical churches. It is easy to imagine that wary recipients may feel that there is a price to pay for th largesse received. Again, World Relief gets good marks here, as the often prove themselves as true to their word in sponsoring aid, without an overt pro-US message, or an overwhelming christian missionary component. The fact the World Relief may in fact act as an ambassador for the better angels of US citizens, or as exemplary Christians shouldn't be a disqualifier in participating in the imprving chances of peace for people who need it. But a careful line between showing who the NGO's are and the advancement of a noisome side agenda can be a tricky balance. A group like World Relief should be well received in South Sudan, where the largely Christian population with no overt anti-American bias, should make them as welcome as seasonal rain. In majority Muslim Sudan, however, the US/Christian label may represent, perhaps unfairly, a new type of cultural imperialism.
The final caveat about NGO's is that it is sometimes difficult to separate independant NGO's from state sponsored aid. USAID is a truly worthwhile organization, which, particularly after President Obama's comments this week, promise to bring great relief to Africa. USAID, however is a tool of the US State Department, and exists to promote the interests of the US government. Those interests could be the same pure interests of many NGO's; to feed, heal and revive war-weary people; there may be less atruistic aims from a USAID perspective too, such as a counter to Chinese goodwill in a resource rich region, or isolation of a 'bad actor' in the US governments view. T othis, I would plea with my own government to answer the cries of those in need, and avoid the traps of imperialism.
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