These articles offer a snapshot of how NGOs and civil society are being portrayed and profiled in the press around the world.

Survey Looks at Green NGO Funding
China Daily - 28 September 2005

A nationwide survey of China's environmental non-governmental organizations (NGOs) aims to provide data for a government white paper. Delivered by the Chinese Government, this paper will examine NGOs and their sources of funding, as well as the challenges and conditions under which these organizations operate. (read)

Why Think Small? NGOs need to Shed Ideology to Act like Real Businesses
Newsweek International - 5 September 2005
Kurt Hoffman

Based on the recent Shell Foundation activities and findings, NGOs can become more effective in fighting poverty by adopting business models for their development projects. The author argues that NGOs must become more adept at supporting small and medium businesses by investing more judiciously in projects that can generate profits. (read)

Civil Society Transcends Right-Left Gap
Christina Science Monitor - 15 September 2005
Severyn T. Bruyn

How will current social and political trends in the United States - amid the rise of the right - affect the world in the decades ahead? Read how civil society, led by community groups, trade associations, labor unions and NGOs, may serve as the fulcrum for curbing the excesses of national power and capitalist markets while strengthening the UN and other forms of global governance. (read)

Third-Party Certifying NGOs - A Blow to WTO's Hong Kong Ministerial?
The Hindu Business Line - 19 October 2005
Sharad Joshi

In the negotiations leading up to the WTO ministerial conference set for December, the new role of NGOs as certifying agents for the quality standards of agricultural products is raising some questions. While NGOs have been viewed by some as neutral third-party actors, the author suggests that their verification role could be vulnerable to political meddling. With non-trade barriers, such as quality standards, being seen as impediments to the market access of agricultural products coming from developing countries, third-party certifying NGOs are becoming a point of contention. (read)

NGO Corruption in Africa ...

--- Why NGO Corruption in Africa is Unsettling
The New Times (Rwanda) - 24 August 2005
Henry Munene

The government of Kenya recently dissolved the NGO Council, which was largely responsible for overseeing development projects. The dissolution came hot on the heels of allegations of corruption within the ranks of non-governmental organizations. According to the author, this is raising new questions as to who should be monitoring who in the distribution of donor funding. (read)

--- Are NGOs the New Colonialists?
The New Times (Rwanda) - 19 October 2005
Georgianne Nienaber

Echoing the concerns of Henry Munene's article (listed above), the author makes a case for increasing the accountability of charitable organizations in Africa. While these organizations have contributed to the advancement of the rights and livelihoods of many Africans, it is argued that the non-for-profit world has become a lucrative business that needs to be better regulated. (read)

Foreign NGOs Map New Route to African Legitimacy
Reuters - 9 October 2005
William McLean

Africa's attempts to tackle the issues that govern its fate are influenced increasingly by a growing number of foreign NGOs. Reflecting on this trend, the author suggests that the 'Africanization' of international NGOs should take place in order to increase the ownership and effectiveness of NGO actions. (read)

Governing Boards are Weakest Line in NGO Management
OneWorld (South Asia) - 26 October 2005
Vijay Padaki

In this interview, the associates of a Bangalore-based management research and consultancy centre discuss their new book exploring management issues related to non-profit organizations, with an emphasis on the important role played by governing boards in the efficient performance of NGOs. (read)

This section draws on the scholarly/academic discourse on the significance of NGOs and civil society in both international and national political landscapes.

Reinventing Accountability for the 21st Century
Open Democracy - October 2005
Simon Zadek

What is the current state of "accountability" vis-à-vis leaders, political systems, and the issues citizens care about? In this article, Simon Zadek, chief executive of AccountAbility, explores this question through a historical lens that points toward a new generation of accountability mechanisms focused on the horizontal, not the hierarchical. (read)

To Be or Not to Be? Civil Society as "Insiders" in Politics
Institute of Development Studies - September 2005
Juree Vichit-Vadakarn

While civil society's traditional role has been outside the government/state to serve as a voice of reason or dissent, today more and more of these actors, especially in developing countries, are joining government ranks and opposition parties. Examining this trend, the author explores the significance of having more civil society actors engaged in direct politics.
(read)

The Palestinian NGO Sector: Development Perspectives
The Palestine Israel Journal of Politics, Economics and Culture - 2005
Allam Jarrar

Viewing Palestinian non-governmental organizations (NGOs) as an integral part of Palestinian society, the author sheds light on the relations these organizations have maintained with governments, but also among themselves, and their impact on the overall development, especially in the area of service provision, and governance of the Palestinian territories. (read)

NGO Laws in Selected Arab States
The International Journal for Non-Profit Law - September 2005
Kareem Elbayar

This article briefly introduces the contours of civil society organizations and the laws that affect them in the Middle East. It profiles ten major Middle Eastern countries, whose laws span the gamut from extremely repressive to excessively liberal. Though the term "civil society organization" ordinarily includes professional organizations, trade unions, and religious trusts, in the Middle East these groups are by and large controlled by the government or subject to substantial governmental interference. (read)

The Role of Civil Society Organizations in Auditing and Public Finance Management
International Budget Project -- 2005
Vivek Ramkumar and Warren Krafchik

Examining the role of civil society organizations as public finance watchdogs, this paper argues that an enhanced partnership between formal auditing institutions and civil society could engender greater public scrutiny to this practice and lead to stronger budgetary oversight of government use of public funds. To demonstrate the positive effect of this partnership, the authors use a set of case studies highlighting the collaborative work of civil society organizations with auditing authorities in India, Philippines and South Africa. (read)

Statements and positions from NGOs and civil society are featured here to demonstrate how these actors relate to the UN system and use multilateral fora to advance the issues they champion. Also featured is documentation on civil society and NGOs emanating from the multilateral system.

Reforming the United Nations: A Global Civil Society Perspective
Transnational Foundation for Peace and Future Research - 23 September 2005
Richard Falk

In this essay, UN reform is understood to refer to changes throughout the UN System, including the activities of the various specialized agencies and the organizational interplay of actors. The author argues that the agenda of UN reform can only be considered with the priorities of global civil society, which center more and more on the democratization of global political spaces. (read)

Civil Society and the World Bank/IMF

--- Civil Society Participation in the 2005 Annual Meetings of the World Bank and IMF
September 2005

The Civil Society Teams at the World Bank and International Monetary Fund organized a Civil Society Policy Dialogue that included 180 civil society representatives from some 30 countries. The event included 18 policy dialogue sessions and covered nearly all the major issues on the Development Committee agenda. About half of these sessions were co-organized and/or co-hosted with CSOs. (read)

--- Statement by Global Unions to the 2005 Annual Meeting of the IMF and World Bank
24-25 September 2005

This collective statement delivered by the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) on behalf of itself as well as the Global Union Federations (GUFs), and Trade Union Advisory Committee to the OECD (TUAC) at the World Bank and IMF annual meeting focuses on the need for new commitments for debt cancellation and development assistance in order for the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) to be met. (read)

Youth and the United Nations ...

--- World Youth Report
In the World Youth Report 2005, it is argued that too often, youth policy is driven by negative stereotypes of young people, including delinquency, drug abuse and violence. What seems to be forgotten is that young people are a positive force for development, peace, and democracy.
(read)

--- Roundtable Discussion "Young People: Making Commitments Matter"

A roundtable discussion, entitled "Young People: Making Commitments Matter," was held at UN Headquarters in New York on 5 October as a precursor to the General Assembly's plenary session on the 10-year review of the World Programme of Action on Youth. The roundtable, which was comprised of three segments: young people in the global economy; young people in civil society; and young people and their well-being, served as a forum to discuss concrete, practical ways to further implement the 1995 World Programme of Action for Youth. (read)

--- General Assembly adopts Resolution on 10-year Anniversary of the World Programme of Action on Youth (WPAY)

The General Assembly held two plenary meetings on 6 October, devoted to the evaluation of progress made in the implementation of the World Programme of Action for Youth. During these meetings, Members States, many of which were represented by national youth delegates, presented their views while delegates from youth organizations and UN Agencies attended as observers. (read)

Report on World Summit on Information Society PrepCom-3
Conference of NGOs -- 19-30 September 2005

Who should manage the Internet? How to coordinate the bridging of the "Digital Divide" across the United Nations system and beyond? Will the extraordinary multi-stakeholder model set by the World Summit on the Information Society continue beyond Tunis in November? These were some of the key questions that governments and other stakeholders were to address during the final preparatory committee of the World Summit on the Information Society, held at the Palais des Nations in Geneva last September. (read)

NGO Statement - 44th Session of the Commission on Social Development
11 November 2005

The upcoming 44th session of the Commission on Social Development marks the end of the UN Decade for the Eradication of Poverty, and NGOs following the process have prepared a statement emphasizing the empowerment and full participation of stakeholders, including the poor themselves, in the various UN decision-making processes. The signatories are encouraging those interested to sign on to the statement. (read)

A Working Partnership: the United Nations and Civil Society - Interview with Gillian Sorensen
Soka Gakkai International Quarterly - October 2005

Sitting down with Soka Gakkai International, Gillian Sorensen, former Assistant Secretary-General for External Relations at the United Nations, discusses general trends in UN-civil society relations. Drawing the history of this relationship, Ms. Sorensen notes the constant evolution and creative tensions that have kept the partnership between civil society and the UN vibrant and meaningful. (read)

Advocacy is a feature often associated with NGOs and civil society, but many also have the capacity to produce compelling and valuable research, which underpins their advocacy work. This section carries examples of recent civil society and NGO research.

How to Make Poverty History: the Central Role of Local Organizations in Meeting the MDGs
International Institute for Environment and Development - August 2005
Tom Bigg and David Satterthwaite

In this book, it is argued that while the aims associated with the Millennium Development Goals are admirable and the vision clear, this approach will not make poverty history without a much stronger focus on local institutions and processes. The authors acknowledge that central governments have an important role to play, but that other decentralized mechanisms have shown to reach local people more effectively. (read)

Corruption Perceptions Index 2005
Transparency International - October 2005

More than two-thirds of the 159 nations surveyed in Transparency International's 2005 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) scored less than 5 out of a clean score of 10, indicating serious levels of corruption in a majority of the countries surveyed. Despite progress on many fronts, including the imminent entry into force of the United Nations Convention against Corruption, seventy countries - nearly half of those included in the Index - scored less than 3 on the CPI, indicating a severe corruption problem. (read)

Reality Check: The Distributional Impact of Privatization in Developing Countries
Centre for Global Development - October 2005
John Nellis and Nancy Birdsall

This volume brings together a comprehensive set of country studies on the effects of privatization on people-and answers the overarching question: who are the winners and losers of the wave of privatizations that swept across the developing world in the 1980s and 1990s? Some readers will be surprised at the general conclusion: that privatization has, in many cases, been a reasonably good thing, and not only for the rich. Others will be surprised at its limited effects. (read)

Practice Standards in Children's Participation
Save the Children Alliance -- 2005

Civil society actors are gaining increasing recognition, particularly for their perceived capacity to represent the needs and rights of those at grassroots level in a formal political context, and to thus act as intermediaries of the poor and vulnerable. This paper asks: "Who do civil organizations represent when they act as representatives in the polity; and, under whose terms is this representation constructed?" (read)

Fragile States and Sustainable Peacebuilding
North-South Institute -- 17 October 2005
Stephen Baranyi

Looking at opportunities and concerns associated with the creation of a United Nations Peacebuilding Commission, the author provides a comparative analysis of past efforts at peacebuilding in four countries - Guatemala, Mozambique, Haiti and Palestinian Territories - and outlines best practices and lessons learned. (read)

Human Security Report 2005: War and Peace in the 21st Century
Human Security Centre - October 2005

The first Human Security Report documents a dramatic, but largely unknown, decline in the number of wars, genocides and human rights abuse over the past decade. The Report argues that the single most compelling explanation for these changes is found in the unprecedented upsurge of international activism, spearheaded by the UN, which took place in the wake of the Cold War. (read)

Diversity in Donorship: Changing Landscape of Humanitarian Aid
Overseas Development Institute - September 2005

This report explores the role of non-DAC donors -- that is those outside of the traditional DAC (OECD) countries -- in international humanitarian action. It details their history of aid-giving, financing trends and institutional and policy frameworks, as well as the implications of their efforts for the international humanitarian system. (read)