NON GOVERNMENT RESEARCH GROUP

by Ali Armstrong, Jake Harding, Julie Gelinas, Colleen Jordan, Elli Rusi, Joanna Wozniak

The World Bank defines NGOs as "private organizations that pursue activities to relieve suffering, promote the interests of the poor, protect the environment, provide basic social services, or undertake community development (Duke website).” Broadly defined, an NGO is an organization which is apart from any government, although that may work with governments in order to achieve their goals. NGOs typically depend, in whole or in part, on charitable donations and voluntary service. Although the NGO sector has become increasingly professionalized over the last two decades, principles of altruism and volunteerism remain key defining characteristics. One organization we came across in researching NGO’s is the USA Institute for Democracy (USAID) which provides funding for two of our three organizations, NAAC and AAH.

The World Bank classifies operational NGOs into three main groups: i) community-based organizations (CBOs) - which serve a specific population in a narrow geographic area; ii) national organizations - which operate in individual developing countries, and; iii) international organizations - which are typically headquartered in developed countries and carry out operations in more than one developing country (Duke website). The goals that NGOs pursue and the arenas in which they operate are the main distinguishing factors between these organizations. NGOs can pursue any number of goals including but not limited to: environmental, human rights, minority rights, education, conflict resolution, or providing a specific service, such as legal assistance. Interestingly, the goals of a NGO may likely play some role in determining to what degree they operate locally, nationally, or internationally. Human rights groups especially (but environmental, human development, or conflict resolution NGOs as well) are almost always active in the international arena because the United Nations is the primary player with regards to those issues. Other NGOs, such as legal assistance groups or minority rights groups, tend to be more regional in their focus (Willets). Particularly interesting is the interplay within NGOs between the organizations goals and the political spheres in which it is active. The groups which we researched exhibited this quality.

The National Albanian American Council is a non profit organization that strives to educate the US Congress on the state of Albanians in various regions of the Balkans, including Albania, Macedonia, Kosovo, Montenegro and Greece. NAAC was created by the Albanian American community living on the East Coast in order to voice the issues of Albanians oversees by calling for US leadership to help “stop the violence” in the Balkans, “provide assistance to schools and orphanages” in Albania, and help “Albanians in the Balkans strive towards the firm establishment of democracy” (NAAC Annual Report). NAAC meets with several leaders from Europe and the United States including former President Bill Clinton, Albanian presidents and various Congressmen and women. For this interview, Elli Rusi had the privilege to interview the chairman of this organization, Ilirjan Rusi.
Elli began the interview by asking Mr. Rusi why exactly NAAC is in the United States. He replied that NAAC is in the US “to educate the Congress on the present situation of the region where Albanians exist;” however, it seems that as of now NAAC is focusing on helping Kosovo democratize as well as a focus on Macedonia and Albania. When asked if US support is critical to NAAC’s purpose the answer was quite clear, “absolutely”. The United States government and NAAC have formed a “harmonious and productive relationship” and accomplished together some real democratic steps taken in Kosovo and Albania where general elections have been held for the first time in history according to NAAC’s 2001/2002 Annual Report. The US’s support is crucial because they supply the “resources” and authority needed “to create a democratic institution in all the regions (the Balkans)”.

NAAC works with many other organizations in its effort to create a peaceful world for the Albanian people living in the Balkans. One of its branches is called the Hope Fellowship Program which is mostly funded by Washington since it strives to educate and train women, which Washington specifically supports. The Hope Fellowship Program takes women from the region of Kosovo and brings them to DC training them in the field of democracy for six months. When their intensive training is complete, they return to Kosovo to facilitate democratization of their government. As Mr. Rusi pointed out, “Although many of the countries in the Balkans claim to be democracies, the reality is that they are not,” and in Kosovo, the HFP has been very successful since the government leaders are “very receptive” to the women who completed that special training.

When asked about funding, Mr. Rusi stated that about 68% of their funding comes from the USAID and that the rest comes from private donations. NAAC is an apartisan organization; Mr. Rusi made it a point that NAAC is not telling Albanian leaders what to do, they are simply being mediators and forming a reliable means of communications between the area and the United Sates. About 98% of the people in NAAC are Albanian Americans. In addition to celebrating their heritage, the participants in NAAC practice their right as Americans to get involved in the government.
NAAC has been able to send 56 graduates from the Hope Fellowship Program back to Kosovo. So far a success, these women are communicating well with the Kosovar government. Not only that, but NAAC is now in coordination with a French organization (which my interviewee could not recall the name of) in Albania, which is the poorest country in Europe. Families sell their children to organized crime groups in order to receive about $20 from these groups; NAAC has stepped in and told these families that if they keep their children at school they will be given food (members check on the families monthly to make sure kids are at school). Overall, NAAC is definitely providing a European voice in America. Mr. Rusi stated that the governments of the Balkans wish to be recognized as Europeans and said that “differentiating between the Balkans and Europe is like saying East and West America. Europe is Europe and we see the leaders expressing their desire to be recognized as part of Europe.”

In addition to addressing democracy, many NGOs make international efforts to protect globally understood human rights. The second interview we conducted was on Amnesty International. Amnesty International began from a newspaper campaign in Britain in the early 1960’s entitled “Appeal for Amnesty” (www.amnestyusa.org). Peter Benenson, a reporter from The Observer, asked people to take action against injustice. IN particular, he asked the global public to protest the harassment of “prisoners of conscience” in Portugal (www.amnestyusa.org). This campaign eventually snowballed into a global movement and soon after became Amnesty International as the world knows it today. This organization works for the freedom of all people and the upholding of universal human rights. One of Amnesty’s bigger campaigns that deals with the United States is fighting for those on death row, although the movement began in Britain, amnesty meaning “an act granting a pardon to a group of individuals” (Webster Dictionary).

Firstly the interviewer asked why is Amnesty in the United States. Specifically, why is there a chapter in Chatham? William Vilanti answered, “I don’t see Amnesty as just an American organization.” Amnesty as a whole promotes world peace and political freedom, a cause which over a million people choose to support worldwide. “We as the most powerful nation in the world have a choice to prevent the atrocities in the rest of the globe.” The community wanted a grassroots outreach program independent of New York City. “There are plenty of organizations in the city but people wanted a way to be active in their own communities in northern New Jersey.” Basically, this shows that Amnesty as a whole sees itself as a very connected community, without any noted emphasis on its European origins.

This can further be seen in the fact than when we asked how many people in the US division of Amnesty are European, Mr. Vilanti answered that there are no Europeans in the Chatham office. All the workers are from the North Jersey area. “There are probably some Europeans at the national headquarters in the City. I think we all consider ourselves American” (Vilanti). In the international scheme, the Chatham office identifies with its New York counterpart, unlike NAAC, whose goal was to specifically voice the issues of Europeans over seas to the US Congress. Mr. Vilanti added that “it’s important for us to show that the local community of New Jersey cares in global matters,” showing that Amnesty, although it has groups all over the world, generally adapts to the country in which it participates. Notably, each individual country adds to the global community.
Colleen asked Vilanti whether Amnesty was in any means reliant on the United States, or if it was pursuing some goal of a European nature. Mr. Vilanti explained, “I don’t think Amnesty’s agenda is strictly European. A lot of the issues we’re dealing with are in the Middle East or Africa.” The U.S. offices in NYC and Washington work closely with the world headquarters in London to compile statistics and create an overall organizational agenda. “In the past Britain and the U.S. have done letter writing campaigns together. We tend to stick with Britain on important international issues, but I don’t think that makes us European” (Vilanti). This piece of information highlights the special relationship between the US and Britain; yet, while their Amnesty head quarters collaborate on other matters, tying a definite link between the two, it does not necessarily show that specifically European concerns are being discussed in the US.

The purpose of Amnesty International as a whole is “ultimately peace and a greater global understanding. Right now we’re working on the 16 Days of Activism Campaign from November 25 to December 10. That runs between International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women and International Human Rights Day” (Vilanti). This campaign began in response to the exposure of hundreds of murders of women in Ciudad Juarez and Chihuahua Mexico over the last ten years. The government in Mexico reports 70 women who have gone missing and have been found dead. Amnesty and other human rights organizations like Human Rights Watch believe the number to be closer to 400. The women were abducted often on the way to or from their jobs in maquilas, factories, in run-down parts of the city. These serial killings have been unpunished and virtually undiscussed for over a decade. There has been no consolation or compensation given to the families of the victims. “The Mexican government is doing nothing to protect these women or prevent further crimes. It is our job to place pressure on the government to make a change,” says Vilanti.

Group 45, along with other chapters of Amnesty, is involved in a letter writing campaign to local New Jersey political officials to address this issue. “Group 45, as well as some of the local high school chapters, will be participating in a petition drive on December 10 to collect signatures to send to the Mexican Ambassador to urge him to place an investigation of the disappearances high on his agenda” (Vilanti). “As far as a European purpose goes, I don’t think Group 45 fits into that category. We’re one part of a global unit.”

The third organization we researched is Action Against Hunger (AAH) which was started in France in 1979 (www.actionagainsthunger.org). Their basic purpose is to help and assist those in emergency situations, as well as education and finding new ways to combat the problem of hunger world wide. Action Against Hunger’s basic concentrations are nutrition, supplying food and water, sanitation and health, along with research and education about these issues. The group is famous for their “therapeutic milk formula”, created by their own scientists and professionals which has been a great help to many infants, and is now used by the World Health Organization (www.actionagainsthunger.org).

AAH has an office in the New York area. One of our group members had a phone interview with John Sauer. Sauer described the presence of Action Against Hunger in America as vital to global outreach and understanding. Although the group is very global, he did not say whether or not the New York City branch was staffed by mostly Americans or not. Mr. Sauer stated that this branch of the Action Against Hunger launched an educational project in 2001 in the United States. They have education programs on the problems of hunger in America, most of which are on the radio, including a series done on world hunger. They also started education programs for teachers in public schools, so that the teachers could educate their students (Sauer).

Action Against Hunger is involved with USAID (a part of the federal government) and, Sauer also mentioned, they have some partnerships with media companies (most likely radio oriented). Although the NYC branch receives some money from the federal government, the international organization as a whole is non-governmental. While the education reaches distinct regional areas, they address global hunger (as opposed to just hunger at home), which shows the merging of the US with other countries, particularly West Europe countries in helping to educate other “third world” countries on health matters and providing the United States public with information about global hungry in the world.
Overall, the only NGO that emphasize a European link was the National Albanian American Council because they represented a direct connection between the Balkans, or greater Europe, and the United States. This makes sense since the members of NAAC are trying to address the issues of their brethren across the seas to the US Congress, making this a perfect example of European interests or issues being addressed here in America. The other three organizations all began in Europe and have various offices in Europe, however proved to be on a more global scale, although we did find in our interview with Mr. Vilanti that the US chapter and the British chapter of Amnesty are closely linked. Over time, organizations like AAH or Amnesty have spread their call for human rights for all people internationally, while NAAC is specifically trying to help Albanians in the war torn Balkans with the help of US organizations and the other international organizations that are affiliated. No matter the case, we have learned that even regional organizations have close contact with certain other European organizations, and that the world is very connected, and the diverse presence of other countries has a forum in America.

Bibliography

From an interview with Ilirjan Rusi, Chairman of NAAC. November 22, 2003.

Statistics and Info on NAAC provided by the National Albanian American Council
Annual Report 2001-2002

From an interview with William Vilanti, Chair of the Chatham, NJ (Group 45) Chapter of
Amnesty International:

From an interview with John Sauer, Phone Interview. Member of Action Against Hunger
in New York City 21 Nov. 2003.

http://amnestyusa.org

http://actionagainsthunger.org

The Merriam-Webster Dictionary. Merriam-Webster, Incorporated. 1997

http://docs.lib.duke.edu/igo/guides/ngo/define.htm. (Website that provided introduction
info on NGO’s. 2000)

Willetts, Peter. “What is a Non-Governmental Organization?”. Research Project on Civil
Society Networks in Global Governance. City University London. November 21,
2003.
http://www.staff.city.ac.uk/p.willetts/CS-NTWKS/NGO-ART.HTM.