Editing Non-governmental organization (section)

== {{anchor|Criticisms}}Criticism ==
===Negative outcomes===
[[Tanzania]]n author and academic [[Issa G. Shivji]] has criticised NGOs in two essays: "Silences in NGO discourse: The role and future of NGOs in Africa" and "Reflections on NGOs in Tanzania: What we are, what we are not and what we ought to be". Shivji writes that despite the good intentions of NGO leaders and activists, he is critical of the "objective effects of actions, regardless of their intentions".<ref>{{cite book |last=Shivji |first=Issa G. |title=Silence in NGO discourse: the role and future of NGOs in Africa |year=2007 |publisher=Fahamu |location=Oxford, UK |isbn=978-0-9545637-5-2 |page=84}}</ref> According to Shivji, the rise of NGOs is part of a [[neoliberal]] paradigm and not motivated purely by altruism; NGOs want to change the world without understanding it, continuing an [[Imperialism|imperial]] relationship.{{citation needed|date=April 2024}}

In his study of NGO involvement in [[Mozambique]], James Pfeiffer addresses their negative effects on the country's health. According to Pfeiffer, NGOs in Mozambique have "fragmented the local health system, undermined local control of health programs, and contributed to growing local social inequality".<ref name="ReferenceA"/> They can be uncoordinated, creating parallel projects which divert health-service workers from their normal duties to instead serve the NGOs. This undermines local primary-healthcare efforts, and removes the government's ability to maintain agency over its health sector.<ref name="ReferenceA">{{cite journal | last1 = Pfeiffer | first1 = J | year = 2003 | title = International NGOs and primary health care in Mozambique: the need for a new model of collaboration | journal = Social Science & Medicine | volume = 56 | issue = 4| pages = 725–738 | doi=10.1016/s0277-9536(02)00068-0| pmid = 12560007 }}</ref> Pfeiffer suggested a collaborative model of the NGO and the DPS (the Mozambique Provincial Health Directorate); the NGO should be "formally held to standard and adherence within the host country", reduce "showcase" projects and unsustainable parallel programs.<ref name="ReferenceA" />

In her 1997 ''[[Foreign Affairs]]'' article, [[Jessica Mathews]] wrote: "For all their strengths, NGOs are special interests. The best of them ... often suffer from tunnel vision, judging every public act by how it affects their particular interest".<ref>{{cite journal |url=http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/52644/jessica-t-mathews/power-shift |title=Power Shift |journal=Foreign Affairs |issue=January/February 1997 |date=January–February 1997 |author=Jessica T. Mathews |access-date=1 June 2012}}</ref> NGOs are unencumbered by policy trade-offs.<ref>Bond, M. (2000) "The Backlash against NGOs". ''[[Prospect (magazine)|Prospect]]''.</ref>

According to [[Vijay Prashad]], since the 1970s "the World Bank, under [[Robert McNamara]], championed the NGO as an alternative to the state, leaving intact global and regional relations of power and production."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cpa.org.au/amrarch/40vp.html |title=Mother Teresa: A Communist View |access-date=24 July 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080724153535/http://www.cpa.org.au/amrarch/40vp.html |archive-date=24 July 2008 }}, Vijay Prashad, ''Australian Marxist Review'', No. 40 August 1998</ref> 

They have been questioned as "too much of a good thing".<ref name = Werker>{{cite journal | last1 = Werker | first1 = Eric | last2 = Ahmed | first2 = Faisal Z. | year = 2008 | title = What Do Nongovernmental Organizations Do? |doi-access=free |s2cid-access=free | journal = Journal of Economic Perspectives | volume = 22 | issue = 2| pages = 73–92 | doi=10.1257/jep.22.2.73| s2cid = 154246603 }}</ref> Eric Werker and Faisal Ahmed made three critiques of NGOs in developing nations. Too many NGOs in a nation (particularly one ruled by a warlord) reduces an NGO's influence, since it can easily be replaced by another NGO. Resource allocation and outsourcing to local organizations in international-development projects incurs expenses for an NGO, lessening the resources and money available to the intended beneficiaries. NGO missions tend to be paternalistic, as well as expensive.<ref name = Werker/>

The [[tax-exempt]] status of NGOs can result in the unintended consequence of negative value for society.<ref name="o561">{{cite journal | last1=Gamble | first1=Edward N. | last2=Muñoz | first2=Pablo | title=When Tax-Exempt Nonprofits Detract Value from Society | journal=Academy of Management Perspectives | volume=36 | issue=1 | date=2022 | issn=1558-9080 | doi=10.5465/amp.2018.0027 | doi-access=free | pages=50–92 | url=https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/preview/1239986/36272.pdf | access-date=5 February 2025}}</ref>

===Foreign influence===
{{see also|Foreign funding of NGOs}}
NGOs have been accused of preserving [[imperialism]]<ref>[http://antieviction.org.za/related-writing-and-resources/rethinking-public-participation-from-below/ Abahlali baseMjondolo, "Rethinking Public Participation from below"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100322205607/http://antieviction.org.za/related-writing-and-resources/rethinking-public-participation-from-below/ |date=22 March 2010 }}, ''Critical Dialogue'' (2006)</ref> (sometimes operating in a [[Racialization|racialized]] manner in [[Third World]] countries), with a function similar to that of the clergy during the colonial era. Political philosopher [[Peter Hallward]] has called them an aristocratic form of politics,<ref>{{cite book|last = Hallward|first= Peter|title = Damming the Flood: Haiti and the Politics of Containment|url = https://archive.org/details/dammingfloodhait00hall|url-access = registration|date = April 2008|publisher = Verso|location =London |isbn= 9781844672349}}</ref> noting that [[ActionAid]] and [[Christian Aid]] "effectively condoned the [2004 US-backed] coup" against an elected government in Haiti and are the "humanitarian face of imperialism".<ref>"[http://www.tanbou.com/2011/PeterHallwardRespondsToBbcRadio4Program.htm Peter Hallward responds to BBC Radio 4 program on Haiti]", ''Tanbou'', 11 January 2011.</ref> Movements in the [[Global South]] (such as [[South Africa]]'s [[Western Cape Anti-Eviction Campaign]]) have refused to work with NGOs, concerned that doing so would compromise their autonomy.<ref>"[http://abahlali.org/files/Oldfield%20&%20Stokke%20WCAEC%20Research%20Report.pdf Building unity in diversity: Social movement activism in the Western Cape Anti-Eviction Campaign]", Sophie Oldfield and Kristian Stokke, 2004.</ref><ref>{{cite web |url-status=dead |url=http://www.poormagazine.org/node/2718 |title=Ashraf Cassiem: South African Resistance Against Evictions |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120907065328/http://www.poormagazine.org/node/2718 |archive-date=7 September 2012 |first1=Marlon |last1=Crump |website=Poor Magazine |date= November 18, 2009 }}</ref> NGOs have been accused of weakening people by allowing their funders to prioritize stability over social justice.<ref>{{cite web |url-status=dead |url=http://www.grocotts.co.za/content/are-ngos-enemies-sas-rural-folk-03-07-2013 |title=Are NGOs enemies of SA's rural folk? |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130922094058/http://www.grocotts.co.za/content/are-NGOs-enemies-sas-rural-folk-03-07-2013 |archive-date=22 September 2013 |first1=Youlendree |last1=Appasamy |website=Grocott's Mail |date=July 3, 2013 }}</ref>
[[File:Finally an honest days labor for an NGO (463962755).jpg|thumb|Workers from an NGO participating in local community work - some critics allege that NGOs prioritize their special interests over community wellbeing.]]

They have been accused of being designed by, and used as extensions of, the foreign-policy instruments of some Western countries and groups of countries.<ref>{{cite web |url-status=usurped |url=http://www.newleftproject.org/index.php/site/article_comments/ngo_the_guise_of_innocence |title=NGO: The Guise of Innocence |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140505230602/http://www.newleftproject.org/index.php/site/article_comments/ngo_the_guise_of_innocence |archive-date=5 May 2014 |first1=Jenny |last1=O'Connor |website=New Left Project |date=15 April 2012 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url = https://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/jan/19/fake-rock-plot-spy-russians |title = Britain admits 'fake rock' plot to spy on Russians|work = The Guardian|date =19 January 2012|last1 = Topping|first1 = Alexandra|last2 = Elder |first2 = Miriam |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240303125450/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/jan/19/fake-rock-plot-spy-russians |archive-date= Mar 3, 2024 }}</ref> Russian president [[Vladimir Putin]] made that accusation at the 43rd [[Munich Security Conference]] in 2007, saying that NGOs "are formally independent but they are purposefully financed and therefore under control".<ref>{{cite speech |title=Speech and the Following Discussion at the Munich Conference on Security Policy |first=Vladimir |last=Putin |author-link=Vladimir Putin |event=43rd Munich Conference on Security Policy |location=[[Munich]], Germany |date=10 February 2007 |url=http://archive.kremlin.ru/eng/speeches/2007/02/10/0138_type82912type82914type82917type84779_118123.shtml |via=President of Russia |access-date=28 February 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120309232547/https://archive.kremlin.ru/eng/speeches/2007/02/10/0138_type82912type82914type82917type84779_118123.shtml |archive-date=9 March 2012 }}</ref>
According to Michael Bond, "Most large NGOs, such as Oxfam, the Red Cross, Cafod and ActionAid, are striving to make their aid provision more sustainable. But some, mostly in the US, are still exporting the ideologies of their backers."<ref>Bond, Michael. "The Backlash against NGOs". Prospect, April 2000, pp.321. Print.</ref>

NGOs have been challenged as not representing the needs of the developing world, diminishing the "Southern voice" and preserving the [[North–South divide in the World|North–South divide]].<ref name="linden">Lindenberg, M. and Bryant, C. (2001) Going Global: Transforming Relief and Development NGOs. Bloomfield: Kumarian Press.</ref> The equality of relationships between northern and southern parts of an NGO, and between southern and northern NGOs working in partnership, has been questioned; the north may lead in advocacy and resource mobilization, and the south delivers services in the developing world.<ref name=linden /> The needs of the developing world may not be addressed appropriately, as northern NGOs do not consult (or participate in) partnerships or assign unrepresentative priorities.<ref>, Jenkins, R. (2001) "Corporate Codes of Conduct: Self-Regulation in a Global Economy". ''Technology, Business and Society Programme Paper Number 2''. [[United Nations Research Institute for Social Development]].</ref> NGOs have been accused of damaging the public sector in target countries, such as mismanagement resulting in the breakdown of public healthcare systems.<ref name="ReferenceA"/>

===Spreading misinformation===
NGOs have been accused of using [[misinformation]] in their campaigns out of self-interest. According to Doug Parr of [[Greenpeace]], there had been "a tendency among our critics to say that science is the only decision-making tool ... but political and commercial interests are using science as a cover for getting their way."<ref name = bond323>{{citation|last = Bond|first = Michael|title = The Backlash against NGOs|work = Prospect|date = April 2000|page =323|url = https://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/magazine/thebacklashagainstngos |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230405022304/https://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/magazine/thebacklashagainstngos |archive-date= Apr 5, 2023 }}</ref> Former policy-maker for the German branch of [[Friends of the Earth]] Jens Katjek said, "If NGOs want the best for the environment, they have to learn to compromise."<ref name = bond323/>

===Challenges to legitimacy===
{{anchor|Challenges to legitimacy}}
Legitimacy, an important asset of an NGO, is its perception as an "independent voice".<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Weber | first1 = N. | last2 = Christopherson | first2 = T. | year = 2002 | title = The influence of non-governmental organizations on the creation of Natura 2000 during the European policy process | journal = Forest Policy and Economics | volume = 4 | issue = 1| pages = 1–12 | doi=10.1016/s1389-9341(01)00070-3| bibcode = 2002ForPE...4....1W }}</ref><ref name="2002aHD">Edwards, M. and Hulme, D. (2002) NGO Performance and Accountability: Introduction and Overview. "In Edwards, M. and Hulme, D., ed. 2002." The Earthscan Reader on NGO Management. UK: Earthscan Publications Ltd. Chapter 11.</ref> Neera Chandhoke wrote in a ''[[Journal of World-Systems Research]]'' article, "To put the point starkly: are the citizens of countries of the South and their needs represented in global civil society, or are citizens as well as their needs constructed by practices of representation? And when we realize that INGOs hardly ever come face to face with the people whose interests and problems they represent, or that they are not accountable to the people they represent, matters become even more troublesome."<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Chandhoke | first1 = Neera | year = 2005 | title = How Global Is Global Civil Society? | journal = Journal of World-Systems Research | volume = 11 | issue = 2| pages = 326–327 | doi = 10.5195/JWSR.2005.388 | doi-access = free }}</ref>

An NGO's funding affects its legitimacy, and they have become increasingly dependent on a limited number of donors.<ref name="1996HD">Edwards, M. and Hulme, D. (1996) Too Close for comfort? The impact of official aid on Non-Governmental Organisations. "World Development." 24(6), pp. 961–973.</ref> Competition for funds has increased, in addition to the expectations of donors who may add conditions threatening an NGO's independence.<ref>Ebrahim, A. (2003) "Accountability in practice: Mechanisms for NGOs". ''World Development'' 31(5), pp. 813–829.</ref> Dependence on official aid may dilute "the willingness of NGOs to speak out on issues which are unpopular with governments",<ref name=2002aHD /> and changes in NGO funding sources have altered their function.<ref name=2002aHD />

The scale and variety of activities in which NGOs participate have grown rapidly since 1980, and particularly since 1990.<ref>Avina, J. (1993) The Evolutionary Life Cycles if Non-Governmental Development Organisations. "Public Administration and Development." 13(5), pp. 453–474.</ref> NGOs need to balance centralization and decentralization. Centralizing NGOs, particularly at the international level, can assign a common theme or set of goals. It may also be advantageous to decentralize an NGO, increasing its chances of responding flexibly and effectively to local issues by implementing projects which are modest in scale, easily monitored, produce immediate benefits, and where all involved know that corruption would be punished.<ref>Anheier, H. and Themudo, N. (2002) Organisational forms of global civil society: Implications of going global. In: Anheier, H. Glasius, M. Kaldor, M, ed 2002.</ref>

[[Embezzlement]], [[fraud]] and [[financial mismanagement]] reduce credibility of NGOs.<ref name="b987">{{cite journal | last1=Gibelman | first1=Margaret | last2=Gelman | first2=Sheldon R. | title=A Loss of Credibility: Patterns of Wrongdoing Among Nongovernmental Organizations | journal=VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations | volume=15 | issue=4 | date=2004 | issn=0957-8765 | doi=10.1007/s11266-004-1237-7 | pages=355–381}}</ref>