I have started to wonder about this issue more and more in these days, because as I am always been a supporter of the very ideals behind most NGOs, I’m starting to realise that there is a general mistrust and skepticism in them.
In my point of view, I’ve always been on the side of NGOs as they address almost every imaginable issue across globe. Some NGOs operate at a local level, mainly providing services or promoting local improvement. But many important NGOs, which are active at an international level, work for broad ideals, such as environmental issues, human rights, healthcare and social justice. And even though these NGOs have few formal powers over international decision-making, they have accomplished important goals, such as new environmental agreements, greatly strengthened women’s rights, arms control and disarmament measures, children’s rights and so on.
On the other hand, some political scientists often refer to NGOs as lobbying, mostly because sometimes governments find NGOs inconvenient to their interests. Furthermore, I’ve heard people accuse them of being unaccountable, mainly because of gossips on their internal “true behaviour” and for financial reasons; when NGOs take money from privates, this can create relations of influence, undermining the very essence of every NGOs to serve the broader public.
I would like to abandon the gossips and have a serious discussion about it, both with people who agree and disagree with my opinion.
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