Private citizens throughout the world, banding together
in millions of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), are exercising an
unprecedented level of influence over the decisions of governments and
businesses, reports a new study by the Worldwatch Institute. "The
proliferation of these groups and the spread of their influence have
been very rapid," said Curtis Runyan, author of "Action on the Front
Lines" in the November/December issue of World Watch magazine. Estimates
show that up to 70 percent of the 2 million NGOs in the United States
have been created in the last three decades. The number of NGOs
operating internationally - those with a significant presence in three
or more countries -- has quadrupled to 20,000 in that same period.
As the powerful proponents of trade liberalization
gather for the upcoming World Trade Organization (WTO) talks in Seattle,
activists groups are planning their own meetings and demonstrations to
fight for labor, health, consumer, and environmental standards
threatened by the WTO's current agenda. "The biggest story in Seattle
may not be the WTO and its trade negotiations, but the influence that
citizen protests around the world, coordinated by thousands of NGOs,
exercise over one of the most powerful yet least accountable
transnational organizations," said Runyan.
Despite having modest budgets and resources that pale in
comparison to those of their government and business counterparts, NGOs
are increasingly powerful players in local, national, and international
decision-making.
"Many groups have proved more adept than governments and
business at responding to social and environmental problems," said
Runyan. "In Bangladesh, for example, a child is more likely to learn to
read with the assistance of one of the 5,000 NGOs working on literacy
programs than through a state school or organization."
More and more, these groups are operating in extensive,
worldwide coalitions, teaming up to give local issues international
prominence, or international issues local relevance. In 1988, for
example, as countries were working to ratify a treaty permitting mining
in Antarctica, a coalition of 200 NGOs crafted a counter-proposal to set
the continent aside as a world park. Using data showing the fragility of
the region from Greenpeace's Antarctic monitoring station, the Antarctic
and Southern Ocean Coalition marshaled so much public support for its
park proposal that the mineral treaty was abandoned and Antarctica was
soon declared a world park.
By withholding or conferring public support, activist
organizations have affected policies of the world's most powerful
institutions. Greenpeace and other environmental and health groups in
Europe have rallied consumers against the bioagricultural industry's
efforts to introduce genetically modified foods onto supermarket shelves
without sufficient testing of ecological and health effects. In the past
year, major supermarket chains and baby food manufacturers have
announced that they will refuse to use genetically modified food in
their products. Faced with unrelenting criticism, Monsanto, one of the
most aggressive purveyors of genetically modified crops, recently
announced that it was dropping plans to develop its "terminator" seed
technology, which would have made it impossible for farmers to save
seeds from one season to the next.
Even governments once impervious to protest are
responding to the coordinated pressures of local and international
activist groups. In Indonesia, NGOs like the London-based Tapol and the
East Timor Action Network, helped pressure the government to allow an
independence referendum in East Timor after 25 years of military
occupation. Despite the Indonesian military's genocidal response, the
overwhelming vote for independence stands as a victory for the East
Timorese and the international NGOs working on their behalf.
Citizen action groups also play an important role in
providing consumers with information about the behavior of corporations.
One example is the stamp of approval that some groups offer products,
such as SmartWood, which certifies wood that is harvested sustainably;
Green Seal, which promotes environmentally friendly products; and the
California Certified Organic Farmers, which certifies food which meets
its organic standards. In addition, massive consumer boycotts
coordinated by NGOs have pushed clothing, shoe, toy, and other companies
to address the use of sweatshop and child labor.
Increasingly, activist groups are bypassing tactics that
require influencing government or industry. Instead, they are providing
their own solutions to social and environmental problems. The
Bangladesh-based Grameen Bank, which has tackled rural poverty by
providing poor women with small amounts of capital, has sparked a
micro-lending revolution around the world. The Grameen Bank's loans,
which average around $175, provide small-scale entrepreneurs with the
money they need to get on their feet. To date the bank has lent more
than $2.4 billion, seen a phenomenal repayment rate of 97 percent, and
made unparalleled inroads against poverty and discrimination against
women in many poor countries.
The vast majority of NGOs are not high profile activist
groups that tend to grab headlines. Instead, in most countries, a large
share of these groups provide education, health, and social services.
One survey of 22 countries found that two-thirds of all nonprofit
employment is devoted to such services as primary and secondary
education, hospital and health care, income support and emergency aid
and relief.
While NGOs are increasingly stepping up to provide unmet
needs," said Runyan, "we should not allow governments to shirk their
social and ecological responsibilities by pawning off their duties to
citizens groups and charities."
Runyan also highlights the confusion caused by the
growing number of nonprofit organizations funded and controlled by
corporate interests. "Having observed the effectiveness of grassroots
groups, industries are setting up front groups that attempt to make use
of these same channels of influence," said Runyan. "Groups like the
Greening Earth Society and the Global Climate Coalition are nothing more
than well-funded industry PR firms." Nonprofit industry and trade groups
already employ four times as many people as environmental groups do.
FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:
Worldwatch Institute
1776 Massachusetts Ave NW
Washington, DC 20036
telephone: 202 452-1999
fax: 202 296-7365
e-mail [email protected]
or visit our website www.worldwatch.org
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