Strategies_and_Politics_of_Develpment

Definition of Non-Governmental Organisations These are organizations which are non-profit and operate independently from the government or voluntarily. About NGOs Their main purposes is to promote human interests address social needs which can be at domestic level or international level. NGOs have also emerged to bridge the gap between what governments and corporations can do and what society needs or expects. Examples of NGOs’ and their roles in developing countries Oxfam It’s aim is to work with others to find lasting solutions to poverty and suffering. Oxfam responds to emergencies, provide food and shelter for people driven from their homes by floods, hurricanes and conflict. They also train health workers in that particular community, establish schools and as well as build safe water sources such as boreholes. Oxfam International is an international development, advocacy, and relief agency working to put an end to poverty world-wide. In partnership with local groups, Oxfam works with poor people to help them help themselves. WHO This is a United Nations agency defined as World Health Organisation. The objective of WHO is the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of health. Health, as defined in the WHO Constitution, is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity. In support of its main objective, the Organization has a wide range of functions, including the following, to act as the directing and co-ordinating authority on international health work; to promote technical co-operation; to assist Governments, upon request, in strengthening health services; to furnish appropriate technical assistance and, in emergencies, necessary aid, upon the request or acceptance of Governments; to stimulate and advance work on the prevention and control of epidemic, endemic and other diseases; to promote, in co-operation with other specialized agencies where necessary, the improvement of nutrition, housing, sanitation, recreation, economic or working conditions and other aspects of environmental hygiene; to promote and co-ordinate biomedical and health services research; to promote improved standards of teaching and training in the health, medical and related professions; to establish and stimulate the establishment of international standards for biological, pharmaceutical and similar products, and to standardize diagnostic procedures; to foster activities in the field of mental health, especially those activities affecting the harmony of human relations. WWF This is an NGO defined as World Wife Federation. WWF’s mission is to preserve biodiversity, reduce pollution and empower communities to sustainably manage their resources. This is taken to include fauna and flora, the landscape, water, soils, air and other natural resources, with particular emphasis on the maintenance of essential ecological processes and life support systems, and on the preservation of genetic, species and ecosystem diversity, and on ensuring that the utilization of wild species and natural ecosystems is sustainable; and in particular: (a)To collect, manage and disburse funds for the conservation of nature, to review the long-term requirements of conservation in developed countries and to study and develop means of meeting these requirements. (b) To promote awareness of the need for the conservation of nature and to assist in designing, producing and making available suitable material for educational purposes, campaigns, exhibitions and the media to assist the growth and development of the conservation movement in developing countries. (c) To finance conservation activities and projects including research and the exchange of scientists, specialists in the conservation of nature, students and others, especially from developing countries, and to promote and participate in conferences, seminars, lectures, meetings and discussions in furtherance of the conservation of nature. (d) To protect, acquire, administer, commercially exploit and dispose of land and other property and resources, including intellectual property. (e) To develop worldwide moral and financial support for the conservation of nature and to appoint representatives and establish affiliated, associated or subsidiary organizations in developed countries and to co-operate with, and support, other organizations in the field of conservation. Save The Children The International Save the Children Alliance is one of the world's largest partnerships working to secure the rights of children and works for a world which respects and values each child; a world which listens to children and learns; a world where all children have hope and opportunity. The Alliance is an association of autonomous, non-profit, non-sectarian, voluntary organizations working throughout the world for the betterment of children, their families and their environment. The scope of activities encompasses development assistance and advocacy for children's rights, and is extended through the work of its members to developing countries throughout the world. All of Save the Children's work is based on the rights of the child. The Alliance believes that children are the best investment we, as a global community, can make. United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) works in partnership with national governments, other United Nations bodies and non-government organizations in various countries, providing services for children and women, including primary health care, nutrition, basic education, safe water supply and sanitation. It aims to reduce the terrible toll the lack of such services takes on the world's youngest citizens. UNICEF mobilises political will and resources to help countries deliver essential services to children and families. UNICEF fights for the special protection for the most disadvantaged children, including children with disabilities and child victims of war, disasters, extreme poverty, violence and exploitation. UNICEF promotes the equal rights of women and girls, and works on behalf of children on the basis of need, without discrimination with regard to race, creed, nationality, status or political belief. UNICEF advocates and works for the protection of children's rights, to help the young meet their basic needs and to expand their opportunities to reach their full potential. United Nations Development Program The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is committed to the principle that development is inseparable from the quest for peace and human security and that the United Nations must be a strong force for development as well as peace. UNDP's mission is to help countries in their efforts to achieve sustainable human development by assisting them to build their capacity to design and carry out development programmes in poverty eradication, employment creation and sustainable livelihoods, the empowerment of women and the protection and regeneration of the environment, giving first priority to poverty eradication. UNDP also acts to help the United Nations family to become a unified and powerful force for sustainable human development and works to strengthen international cooperation for sustainable human development. It acts to help countries to prepare for, avoid and manage complex emergencies and disasters. UNDP supports international cooperation by actively promoting the exchange of experience among developing countries. UNDP provides grant funds through criteria based on universality that strongly favour low income countries, particularly the least developed. United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) was established for the purpose of advancing, through the educational and scientific and cultural relations of the peoples of the world, the objectives of international peace and of the common welfare of mankind for which the United Nations Organization was established. The main objective of UNESCO is to contribute to peace and security in the world by promoting collaboration among nations through education, science, culture and communication in order to further universal respect for justice, for the rule of law and for the human rights and fundamental freedoms which are affirmed for the peoples of the world, without distinction of race, sex, language or religion. To realize this purpose UNESCO collaborates in the work of advancing the mutual knowledge and understanding of people, through all means of mass communication and to that end recommend such international agreements as may be necessary to promote the free flow of ideas by word and image. UNESCO seeks to give fresh impulse to popular education and to the spread of culture by collaborating with Members, at their request, in the development of educational activities; by instituting collaboration among the nations to advance the ideal of equality of educational opportunity without regard to race, sex or any distinctions, economic or social; by suggesting educational methods best suited to prepare the children of the world for the responsibilities of freedom. UNESCO seeks to maintain, increase and diffuse knowledge by assuring the conservation and protection of the world's inheritance of books, works of art and monuments of history and science, and recommending to the nations concerned the necessary international conventions; by encouraging co-operation among the nations in all branches of intellectual activity, including the international exchange of persons active in the fields of education, science and culture and the exchange of publications, objects of artistic and scientific interest and other materials of information; by initiating methods of international co-operation calculated to give the people of all countries access to the printed and published materials produced by any of them. United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) The Mission of the United Nations Environment Programme is to provide leadership and encourage partnerships in caring for the environment by inspiring, informing and enabling nations and people to improve their quality of life without compromising that of future generations. UNEP's uniqueness lies in its advocacy of environmental concerns within the international system. In this, it makes a particular effort to nurture partnerships with other UN bodies possessing complementary skills and delivery capabilities as well as enhancing the participation of the private sector, the scientific community, NGOs, youth, women, and sports organizations in the achievement of sustainable development. One of the most important functions of UNEP is the promotion of environmental science and information. United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCHR) The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights promotes universal enjoyment of all human rights by giving practical effect to the will and resolve of the world community, plays the leading role on human rights issues and emphasizes the importance of human rights at the international and national levels; promotes international cooperation for human rights; stimulates and co-ordinates action for human rights in developed countries; promotes universal ratification and implementation of international standards; assists in the development of new norms; supports human rights organs and treaty monitoring bodies; responds to serious violations of human rights; undertakes preventive human rights action; promotes the establishment of national human rights infrastructures; undertakes human rights field activities and operations; provides education, information advisory services and technical assistance in the field of human rights. United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) provides protection and assistance to the world's refugees. UNHCR provides protection and assistance to people seeking safety in countries other than their own. This 'international protection" is aimed at ensuring respect for refugees' basic human rights and in particular that no refugee is returned involuntarily to a country where he or she has reason to fear persecution. UNHCR also offers material assistance by co-ordinating the provision of basic necessities to refugees. UNHCR has been called upon to provide help not only to refugees but to others forced to live in refugee-like situations. This includes people who have been granted protection on a group basis or on purely humanitarian grounds, but who have not been formally recognised as refugees. Or they may be internally displaced people who have fled from their homes but have not crossed an international border. UNHCR also assists and monitors the reintegration of refugees who have recently returned to their own countries. UN AIDS The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS, UNAIDS, is the main advocate for global action on the epidemic. It leads, strengthens and supports an expanded response aimed at preventing transmission of HIV, providing care and support, reducing the vulnerability of individuals and communities to HIV/AIDS, and alleviating the impact of the epidemic. World Food Programme The World Food Program is the food aid arm of the United Nations system. Food aid is one of the many instruments that can help to promote food security, which is defined as access of all people at all times to the food needed for an active and healthy life. The policies governing the use of World Food Programme food aid must be oriented towards the objective of eradicating hunger and poverty. The ultimate objective of food aid should be the elimination of the need for food aid. Targeted interventions are needed to help to improve the lives of the poorest people - people who, either permanently or during crisis periods, are unable to produce enough food or do not have the resources to otherwise obtain the food that they and their households require for active and healthy lives. WFP will continue to use food aid to support economic and social development; meet refugee and other emergency food needs (and the associated logistics support ); and promote world food security. The core policies and strategies that govern WFP activities are to provide food aid - to save lives in refugee and other emergency situations; to improve the nutrition and quality of life of the most vulnerable people at critical times in their lives; and to help build assets and promote the self-reliance of poor people and communities, particularly through labour-intensive works programmes. In carrying out its mandate, WFP makes all necessary efforts to avoid negative effects on local food production, consumption patterns and dependency on food aid. WFP will continue to play a major and significant role in providing transport and logistics expertise and assistance to ensure rapid and efficient delivery of humanitarian aid to those in most need. Conclusion With the rise of the modern nation state, social development has increasingly been viewed as the responsibility of government. The growth of social democracies and the welfare state during the 20th century clearly reflects this belief. However, despite massive investment in social programmes, governments have never been able to address fully the many needs of their citizens, nor are these needs often met by the corporate sector. NGOs have emerged in large part to bridge the gap between what governments and corporations can do and what society needs or expects. BIBLIOGRAPHY/REFERENCES http://en.wikipedia.org http://www.oxfam.org.uk http://www.savethechildren.org http://www.who.org http://www.wfp.org http://www.unaids.org