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CHAPTER-I
CHAPTER I
Humanitarian Role of Relief Agencies: A Theoretical Framework
In World War II, nearly one million people were killed in two
decades of ethnic conflicts. Thereafter, ethnic conflict has claimed more
than 11 million lives. 1 The expectation that the end of the Cold War
would dampen international tensions and restore peace and stability has
also been belied. The 1990s, in fact, witnessed the most horrendous
massacres of non-combatants. 2 In Europe, numerous ethnic conflicts
broke out. In the Asia-Pacific region, its religious and cultural diversities
holding enormous potential for turmoil, large-scale ethnic strife has been
witnessed, in particular in Indonesia, a multi..:ethnic society, and in Sri
Lanka, where the social and political fabric of the state has been
threatened due to the historical ethnic tensions between the majority
Sinhalese and the minority Tamils. Conflicts in any South East Asian and
South Asian country also tend to involve neighbouring countries, creating
regional instability. 3 World-wide, ethnic conflict results in heavy material
destruction, immense suffering and loss of human lives, undermining tl{e
efforts to promote pol-itical and economic development and political,
economic and social justice.
Larry Diamond and Mark F. Plattner (eds.), Nationalism, Ethnic Cof!flict and Democracy (London: Hopkins University Press, 1995), p. xvii. Raj at Ganguly, "Introduction: The Challenge of Ethnic Insurgency and Secession in South and Southeast Asia", in Raj at Ganguly and I an Macduff (eds.), Ethnic Cof!flict and Secessionism in South and South East Asia: Causes and Dynamics, Solutions (New Delhi: Sage, 2003), p. 9. V.D. Chopra (ed.), Rise o(Terrorism and Secessionism in Eurasia (New Delhi: Gyan, 200 I), pp. 245-8.
Ethnic Group
Urmila Phadnis defines an ethnic group as follows:
"a historically formed aggregate of people having a real or
imaginary association with a specified territory, a shared cluster of
beliefs and values connoting its distinctiveness in relation to similar
groups and recognized as such by others". 4
The term ethnic group is generally accepted as a population that
has the following characteristics:
1. It is large and biologically self-perpetuating.
2. It shares basic cultural values, realized in overt unity in cultural
forms.
3. It makes up a field of communication and interaction.
4. It has a membership that identifies itself-. and is identified by
others-as constituting a category distinguishable from other categories
of the same order. 5
Ethnicity stems out of "the human need to belong, to identify an.d
hence also to exclude". 6 It is seen as a "natural" property of a group due
to its behavioural influence, in the way in which cultural differences are
communicated. These cultural differences may be traced back to one
6
Urmila Phadnis, Ethnicity and Nation-building in South Asia (New Delhi: Sage, 1990), p. 14. F. Barth in idem (ed.), Ethnic Groups and Boundaries: The Social Organisation of Cultural Difference (London: Allen & Unwin, 1969), p. 200. E. Gellner, Thought and Change (London: Weidenfeld and Nicholson, 1964), p. 149.
2
group's economic link::tges and its expenence of social deprivation and
political disadvantages vis-a-vis another group. 7 Ethnicity emerges out of
contact between different ethnic groups who see each other as being
different distinctively and also culturally. 8 The six main features that
differentiate one ethnic group from another are: a collective name; a
common myth of descent; a shared history; a distinctive and shared
culture; an association with a specific territory; and a sense of solidarity. 9
Ethnic mobilization takes place when groups try to motivate themselves
for power and recognition, with the ethnic leadership utilizing ethnic
symbols for social, cultural, political and economic objectives.
Scholars of ethnicity broadly fall under three schools, namely,
objectivists, subjectivists, and syncretistic/composite. 10 Objectivists
concern themselves primarily with the cultural markers of an ethnic
group, such as race, language, and descent. F. Barth, for instance,
includes community, culture, language group, corporation, association or
population group. 11 Historian A.J. Stockwell argues that ethnic identity
may be perceived by various terms like race, culture, religion, language
or place of origin of the group members. 12 The subjectivists take the stand
10
II
12
P.R. Rajeswari, "Ethnicity, Its Causes and Possible Solutions: The case of Sri Lanka", Strategic Analysis XXIII(3), June 1999, p. 485. T.H. Eriksen, Ethnicity and Nationalism: Anthropological Perspectives (London: Pluto Press, 1993 ), pp. 11-12. Ibid., p. 16. Phadnis, n. 4. Barth, "Introduction", n. 5, p. 34. A.J. Stockwell, "The White Man's Burden andBrown Humanity: Colonialism and Ethnicity in British Malaya", The South East Asian Journal of Social Science I 0( I) ( 1982), p. 44.
3
that cultural markers are only a manifestation of particular ethnic identity
distinctiveness and its recognition by others. 13
According to Paul R. Brass, both the subjective and objective
approaches to the study of ethnicity pose some difficulties. In his view,
though there is no specific feature associated with all ethnic groups, the
objectivist approach should be clearly distinguished by some cultural
features. He adds:
"The problem with the objective approach is that it is very difficult
to determine the boundaries of ethnic categories on this basis.
Whereas the difficulty with the subjective approach is that they
make it impossible to answer the basic question of how a person
arrives at subjective self-consciousness in the first place". 14
Syncretists urge a balanced approach, taking elements from both
the subjectivist and objectivist views in order to facilitate a better
understanding about the process of origin and growth of an ethnic group
that is characterized by continuity, adaptation and change.
IJ
14 Phadnis, n. 4. Paul R. Brass, Ethnicity and Nationalism: Theory and Comparison (New Delhi: Sage, 1991}, p. 18.
4
Theories of Ethnicity
There are four mam theories of ethnicity, namely, Primordialist,
Cultural Pluralist, Marxist/Neo-Marxist and Modernization-and-
Development approach. 15
The Primordialists' approach pivots around culture. In their view, a
group chooses its own ethnic identity. Ethnic identity is a necessary
condition for the emergence of ethnicity. The main difficulty with the
primordial approach, however, is that it ignores the importance of social
structure. It is unable, for example, to explain the relationship between
different ethnic groups that were once cordial but may now be
antagonistic to each other. 16
The Cultural Pluralists' approach, basically an extension of the
Primodialist one, stresses the dominant-subordinate patterns of relations
that exist among different ethnic groups. For the Cultural Pluralists, the
culturally diversified political systems are the basic reason for ethnic
conflicts. 17 This approach, however, fails to explain the amiable relations
that exist in multi-ethnic and diverse cultural societies.
The Marxists associate ethnicity with pre-modern values, artd
usually describe ethnic mobilization in terms of class-as a class struggle
I'
16
17
Ibid., p. 16. John F. Stack, Jr., "Ethnic Mobilisation in World Politics: The Primordial Perspective", in idem (ed.), The Primordial Challenge: Ethnicity in the Contemporary World (New York: 1986), p. 2. Phadnis, n. 4.
5
111 disguise. 18 Classical Marxism even supported the domination of
historically advanced ethnic groups over historically and economically
backward ethnic groups. 19 For the Marxists ethnicity is acceptable only
when it promotes social revolution. The Neo-Marxists' innovation was to
introduce the importance of external factors and the international context
into the traditional Marxist analysis. Another innovation was the
framework of labour, associating ethnicity with the distribution of
production roles in an international division of labour. 20 Still another
innovation was inter-colonialism, where ethnicity is activated in centre-
periphery exploitative relations. 21
The modernization-and-development approach considers ethnic
identity as a traditional obstacle to development, which is expected to
disappear, ultimately, in the course of development. 22 According to Karl
W. Deutsh, the process of modernization can gradually lead to global
integration. The consequence of modernization, in this view of ethnicity,
is that industrialization, urbanization, schooling, communication and
transport facilities, etc. would lead to assimilation,23 minimizing the
impact of ethnic consciousness. 24 In reality, however, increasing contacts
18
19
20
2 I
22
23
24
Bjorne Hettne, "Ethnicity and Development:An Elusive Relatonship", Contemporary South Asia (Oxford), 2(2), ·1993, p. 123. Rita Jalai and Seymour Martin Lipset, "Racial and Ethnic Conflicts: A Global Perspective", Political Science Quarterly (New York), I 07(4), Winter 1992-93, p. 592. Hettne, n. 18, p. 124. Also see Cynthia H. Enloe, "Ethnicity, the State and the New International Order", in Stack, Jr. (ed.), n. 16, pp. 25-42. Ibid. Eriksen, n. 3, p. 33.
. K. W. Deutsh, Nationalism and its Alternative (New York: Alfred Knopf, 1966), p. 25. Jalai and Lipset, n. 21, p. 585.
6
between culturally diversified people could result m increased ethnic
consciousness. 25
Ethnic Conflict
Ethnic conflict is a widespread phenomenon confronting most
states. These conflicts are shaped by various factors such as demographic
patterns, pre and post-colonial legacies, economic factors, political
aspirations of various ethnic groups, existence of cross-border eth?ic
complications, involvement of neighbouring states, and activities of
international organizations influenced largely by the decisions, actions
and policies of leaders and governments. 26
Barry Posen describes the situation of ethnic conflict as "emerging
anarchy", which occurs when central authority declines and groups
become fearful of their very survival. 27 When the State is unable to
provide security the groups become fearful of their identity and existence
and form organized groups, prepared to indulge in violence that can
threaten to tear apart multi-ethnic societies.
Rodolfo Stavehagen describes ethnic conflict as a confrontation
between contenders who define themselves and each other in 'ethnic'
25
2.6
Walker Connor, "The Politics of Ethnonationalism", Journal of International Affairs 27( I), 1973, p. 23. Michael E. Brown and Sum it Ganguly (eds.), Government Policies and Ethnic Relations in Asia and the Pac{fic (Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 1997), p. vii. See Barry R. Posen, "The Security Dilemma and Ethnic Conflict", in Michael Brown, Ethnic Conflict and International Securily,Journal of International Security, pp. I 03-24; David A. Lake and Donald Rothchild, "Containing Fear: The Origins and Management of Ethnic Conflict", International Security 21 (2), Fall 1996, pp. 41-75; Milton J. Esman, Ethnic Politics (NewYork: Cornell University Press, 1994), pp. 244-5.
7
terms, i.e. "when national origin, religion, race, language or other cultural
markers are used to distinguish opposing parties". 28 In an ethnic conflict,
one group sees the other's identity as a threat to its own identity and
existence. Jayadeva Uyangoda describes ethnic conflict as a situation
where "social groups and political forces do not appear to see electoral
and parliamentary competition as an effective viable means of political
mobilization".29 In other words, ethnic conflict results when two or more
groups exist within a State boundary diversified on the basis of language,
religion, race and culture and when the State is unable to ensure security
to the ethnic groups, resulting in violence. This violence can pose a threat
to the country's stability, unity, and integrity. Ethnic conflict occurs over
incompatible interests of groups and governments, and is essentially an
internalized military affair.
Ethnic conflicts are often products of colonial and post-colonial
rule. The colonial rulers, particularly the British, drew geographical and
political maps and forcibly distributed the ethnic groups in order to gain
political and geographic dominance. In a multi-ethnic country like Sri
Lanka they co-opted the elite of both the Sinhala and Tamil communities, -
whereas in India they followed the policy of 'divide and rule' .30
28
29
:10
Rodolfo Stavehagen, Ethnic Con.flcits and the Nation-State (New York:St. Martin's Press/UNRISD, -Jayadeva Uyangoda, "Militarisation: Violent State, Violent Society, Sri Lanka", in Kumar Rupesinghe and Khawar Mumtaz (eds.), Internal Conflicts in South Asia (London:Prio/Sage Publications, 1996), p. 118. Shabnam Mallick and Rajarshi Sen, "Ethnic Conflicts in the Indian Subcontinent and International Security"; Asian Journal on Terrorism and Internal Conflicts 5( 16), July 2002, pp. 27-33.
8
Essentially, the tactic was to divide and segregate people into many
groups and isolate them from one another by dividing the country into
many . administrative and political units, giving special privileges to
certain sections of society, thus entitling them to higher professions and
authority. The privileged section may belong to the majority or minority
community. Even after the colonial dispensation ends the stigma of
privileged versus non-privileged lingers, engendering ethnic conflict.
Competition for scarce resources is another major cause of ethnic
conflict. 31 When particular groups benefit from the creation of jobs,
linguistic rights, educational policies, and property rights, it creates
resentment among the deprived groups, thus paving the way for the
emergence of organized groups based on language, religion, caste and
class. 32
According to V esna Pesic, ethnic conflict is caused by the "fear of
the future", lived through the past. 33 Ethnic conflicts emerge because of
accumulated fears about the future and after long experience of various
types. A group's experience with particular sections within the nation
might result in fear about the future among that group, particularly if the
government is unable to provide protection to that group. In the
:n
32
Jan Naderveen Pieterse, "Deconstructing/Reconstructing Ethnicity", Nations and Nationalism, vol. 3, Part 3, March 1997, p. 378. Rajeswari, n. 7, pp. 486-7. Vesna Pesic, "Remarks at the Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation (IGCC) Working Group on the International Spread and Management of Ethnic Conflict, October I, 1994", quoted by David A. Lake and Donald Rothchild, "Containing Fear: The Origins and Management of Ethnic Conflict", International Security 21 (2), Fall 1996, p. 43.
9
contemporary world, most ethnic conflicts have resulted from sub-
national sentiments, demanding either autonomy or secession.
The following factors are conducive to ethnic conflict:
(1) A socially mobilized population group;
(2) The existence of a pool of symbols connoting its
distinctiveness;
(3) The selection, standardization and transmission of such
symbol pools to the community by the leadership; and
( 4) A reference group in relation to whom a sense of relative
deprivation, real or imaginary, is aggregated. 34
Rodolfo Stavenhagen lists seven kinds of situations that might lead
to ethnic conflict, as follows:.
J4
1. Ethnic groups within a state that identifies itself as being
multi-ethnic or multi-national. Such groups may base their
identity on language, religion, nationality or race.
2. Ethnic groups within a state that does not formally recognize
its own multi-ethnic composition .... Here minorities may be
regionally based . . . or they · may be racial, religious,
linguistic or tribal; or a combination of all these elements.
Gonzalez Casanova, "Internal Colonialism and National Development", Studies in Comparative International Development, I (1965): 33, quoted in Phadnis, n. 4, p. 27.
10
3. National minorities that identify with their ethnic kin in a
neighbouring state in which they may have majority status.
4. Multiple ethnic groups within a state in which none enjoys a
particularly dominant position, specifically in recently
independent, formerly colonial countries, in which the State
itself is a relatively weak, artificial construct.. ..
5. Ethnic minorities that straddle international boundaries and
with minority status in each one of the countries ....
6. Ethnic immigrants and refugees resulting from extensive
migrations, particularly from Third World countries into
other Third World countries or into industrialized nations.
7. Indigenous and tribal peoples constitute a special case of
ethnic groups generally being regarded as minorities,
because of the historical circumstances of their conquest and
incorporation into new State structures as well as their
attachment to their land and territory and their secular
resistance to genocide, ethnocid_e and assimilation. 35
Impact of Ethnic Conflict
Ethnic conflict has a direct impact on the stability and sovereignty
of the country. Sometimes, the state structure itself plays a significant
35 Rodolfo Stavehagen, "Ethnic Conflicts and their Impact on International Society", International Social Science Journal (Oxford) 43(127), February 1991, p. 119.
II
role in precipitating the ethnic conflict. The process of nation-building is
itself conflict-ridden, since the creation of a homogenized society-which
is part of the process of modernization and development-conflicts with
diverse ethnic groups and their politicized ethnic identities. Asymmetrical
allocation of resources, the struggle b~tween State power and ethnic
groups, struggle against the subordination of the minority's cultural and
linguistic rights and struggle for political emancipation are some of the
central issues which ethnic nationalism and ethnic conflicts seek to
address. The many instances of the State's resort to genocide and mass
execution when faced with ethnic movements have also undermined the
State's supreme political authority.
Many ethnic conflicts involve neighbouring countries either
because of the involvement of a common ethnic group inhabiting both the
countries or the inflow of refugees into the other country. The
neighbouring states get involved in these conflicts, for defensive reasons,
or to protect the ethnic brethren or for opportunistic reasons. 36 In the
process they can suffer serious consequences of the ethnic conflict that
was generated outside their geographical borders. India's involvement in
Sri Lanka and erstwhile East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) may be seen as
examples.
For an overview of major internal conflicts as late as 1995, see Michael E. Brown (ed.), The lntemational Dimensions of Internal Conflict (Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 1996), pp.4-7.
12
EthGic conflict leads to a large flow of refugees, disrupts regional
and economic activities and leads to military incursions in neighbouring
states. It is characterized by direct and deliberate attacks on civilians,
leading to the death of hundreds of thousands or even millions of people.
The genocide carried out against some particular ethnic groups in Bosnia
and Rwanda are examples in recent memory. 37 Such episodes create
humanitarian emergency situations.
Humanitarian Emergency
A humanitarian emergency is a situation in which large numbers of
people are dependent on humanitarian assistance, especially for food,
water, shelter, and medical care from external sources. 38 According to
Giovanni Andrea Cornia of the UN University, humanitarian emergency
is "a phenomenon which has perhaps the most serious threat to human
security in the present world". 39
37
39
Humanitarian emergencies have the following characteristics:
• They are complex and long lasting.
• They are caused by either man-made or natural disasters.
• They make people dependent on outside agencies for food, water,
shelter and medical care.
Ibid . . Global Humanitarian Emergencies, 1996, http://www.reliefweb.int/, p. I. Tom Boland, "Politics: UN Helpless as Humanitarian Emergencies Increase", http://www.igc.org/, p. 2.
13
• They cause severe destruction of material resources and heavy loss of
human lives.
• They pose a serious threat to human security.
Over the years, humanitarian emergency situations have become
more frequent, more widespread, more complex and long lasting. They
are largely caused by internal conflicts or natural disasters, resulting in
the emergence of refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs). To
mitigate their suffering non-governmental organizations (NGOs),
international organizations and international relief agencies (INGOs)
enter the scene, with programmes of aid and assistance.
Non-Governmental Organizations
Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) may be defined as
voluntary outfits that work with and, mostly on behalf of, others. The
emphasis is on voluntary service. NGOs' work and activities focus on
issues of people's concerns such as human rights and development. Their
functions are to serve under-served or neglected populations, to expand
the _freedom of or to empower people, to engage in advocacy for social
change, and to provide services. The changing role of the State and its
failure to address both the local and global problems paved the way for
the emergence of NGOs as an institutional set-up, private in form but
public in purpose. 40 NGOs are increasingly acting as alternative models to
40 See Lester M. Salamon and Helmut K. An heir, The Emerging Sector: An overview (Baltimore, MD.: Johns Hopkins University Institute for Policy Studies, I 994).
14
support government projects of developmEnt, addressing the needs of the
poor and the marginalized sections by playing a promising interlocutors'
role in a wide range of development activities. NGOs could also be called
private voluntary organizations, transnational social movement
organizations, gross-roots social change organizations, and non-state
-developmental actors. 41
Characteristically, NGOs are non-profit outfits, imbued with a non-
profit motive, private, development-oriented and relatively independent
by nature. In earlier times, NGOs depended upon State support for their
finances but now most of the financial assistance comes from
international agencies. 42
In the post-Cold War era many human rights advocates, gender
activists, developmentalists and groups of indigenous people have become
more visible and vocal in expressing their thoughts and ideas that were
considered to be the exclusive preserve of governments. 43 Encouraging
this trend has been the growing willingness of the international
community to address humanitarian emergencies, and the growing number
and better profile of NGOs that try to mitigate human suffering. 44 The·
Commission on Global Governance, speaking approvingly of the crucial
41
42
44
See Thomas G. Weiss, "Nongovernmental Organisations and Internal Conflict", in Michael E. Brown (ed,), The International Dimensions oflnternal Conflict (Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 1996), pp. 435-59. Gerard Clarke, Politics of"NGOs in South East Asia: Participation and protest in the Philippines (New York: Routledge, 1997), pp. 1-24. See Peter J. Spiro, New Global Communities: Nongovernmental Organizations in International Decision Making, No. I (Winter 1995), pp. 45-56. Weiss, n. 41, pp. 435-7. Also see Bertrand Schneider, The Barefoot Revolution: A Report to the Club of Rome (London: IT Publications, 1988).
contribution of NGOs observes that "in their variety they bring expertise,
commitment and grassroots perceptions that should be better mobilized in
the interests of better governance". 45
As formal institutions, NGOs are intended to continue m
existence-they are not merely ad hoc entities. They are self-governing
within their own constitutional arrangements. They are private and
separate from governments, without much capacity to direct societies or
require support from them. They are non-profit institutions, operating
beyond their capacities and trying to mitigate the life-threatening
suffering from internal conflicts. 46 They provide aid and assistance, and
protect the rights of the civilians caught in the throes of internal conflict.
The world's humanitarian safety networks consist of eight types of
actors. 47 They are: (1) host governments, (2) armed opposition groups,
(3) local NGOs that come from within the conflict areas, (4) the United
Nations, (5) donor governments, (6) military forces that assume
humanitarian tasks, (7) the International Committee of the Red Cross
(ICRC), and (8) NGOs based outside the conflict areas.
45
4(>
47
Commission on Global Governance, Our Global Neighbourhood(Oxford: Oxford University Press, I 995), p. 254. One mea:,ure of the sea-change that has occurred is that the commission, composed almost entirely of former government officials and high-level officials from intergovernmental secretariats, devoted so much attention to NGOs.
·See John Borton, "Recent Trends in the International Relief System", Disasters 17(3), 1993, pp. 187-20 I; idem, NGOs and Relief Operations: Trends and policy implications (London: Overseas Development Institute, 1994). See the longer discussion in Larry Minear and Thomas G. Weiss, Mercy Under Fire: War and the Global Humanitarian Community (Boulder, Colo.: Westview, 1995); idem, Humanitarian Politics. (New York: Foreign Policy Association, 1995).
16
The United Nations network comprises several kinds of
humanitarian agencies, of which the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), the
World Food Programme (WFP), and the UN High Commissioner for
Refugees (UNHCR) are juridically part of the United Nations.
Donor governments not only contribute resources to UN
organizations and NGOs but they also operate their own activities. The
U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the European
Union's Humanitarian Office (ECHO) are some such organizations
responding to natural and man-made disasters.
Since the mid-1980s the military forces, the third outside actor,
have made significant contribution towards humanitarian issues. During
the Cold War, outside soldiers were occasionally mobilized to combat the
consequences of natural disasters, but their contribution was very limited
because of poor co-ordinahon among UN peacekeepers in delivering the
relief and protecting human rights in war zones. 48 Military forces assumed
importance in humanitarian activity in Somalia, Haiti, Rwanda and former
Yugoslavia.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), founded in
1864, is the fourth outside humanitarian actor. The fifth humanitarian
actor comprises private relief groups, or INGOs such as World Vision
International, Save the Children, CARE (Co-operative for Assistance and
4R See Leon Gordenker and Thomas G. Weiss (eds.), Soldiers, Peacekeepers and Disasters (London: Macmillan, 1991 ).
17
Relief Everywhere), IRC (International Rescue Committee), MSF
(Medicines Sans Frontiers), Oxfam (Oxford Committee for Famine
Relief), and CRS (Catholic Relief Service).
NGOs work more effectively than governments. Their low-profile
operations, not overly bounded by the constraints of State sovereignty,
enable them to reach assistance to the victims more expeditiously. 49 Being
non-bureaucratic in nature they go beyond states and set up cross-border
operations, at times when UN organizations and the donor governments
refuse to do so.
NGO Types and Roles.
NGOs may be classified into three types: government-organized,
donor-organized, and quasi-NGOs.
Government-organized NGOs are an extension of the sponsonng
government and reflect its foreign policy orientation. For example, during
the 1980s, a large number of NGOs, including the International Rescue
Committee (IRC) acted as channels for U.S. government aid to refugees
in Pakistan fleeing from the Soviet-backed Afghan government.
As regards donor-organized NGOs, . according to Brown and
Korten, "As donors become interested in NGOs, they also find themselves
49 See Brian H. Smith, More than Altruism: The politics of private foreign aid (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1990).
18
tempted to create NGOs suited to their perceived needs". 5° For example,
in Afghanistan and Cambodia both governments and the UN agencies
created and sustained such NGOs. Donor-organized NGOs mainly are
local NGOs.
Quasi-NGOs (QUANGOs) receive the bulk of their resources from
governments. Governments fund them and their services are aimed at
internationally endorsed objectives that make them different from
government-organized NGOs. NGOs such as the ICRC, Nordic, Canadian
and the U.S. NGOs are largely funded by governments.
Role of NGOs in Conflict
Though NGOs have operational, educational and advocacy roles,
the present study is limited to their role in the context of conflict and
humanitarian needs.
50
The following role ofNGOs in conflict situation may be noted:
• Responding to the humanitarian emergency needs by delivering
emergency relief.
• Providing disaster relief and undertaking active development
•
programmes.
Educating the public and governments .
David L. Brown and David Korten, Understanding Voluntary Organizations: Guidelines for donors. Working Paper No. 258 (Washington, DC.: World Bank, September 1989), p. 22.
19
• Reinforcing the norms promoted by intergovernmental
organizations to promote public education campaigns by helping
states. 51
• Emphasizing structural change and prevention through education.
The NGOs' role in humanitarian emergencies may be seen in terms of six
operational areas, namely, assessment, negotiation, resources mobilization, co-
ordination of delivery of services, and strategic planning.
Assessment
In order to have an effective humanitarian action one should have an idea
of the intensity of suffering. Assessment, however, is a very difficult task,
especially in conflict situations. In case of natural disasters like floods, cyclones
and earthquakes, an assessment can be made more easily because the governments
of countries affected by such natural disasters request outside help and gather
information. But in a conflict situation it becomes difficult to assess the number
and category of affected civilians, what kind of aid and assistance they need and
how emergency relief is to be provided to them. In the circumstances, the NGOs'
assessment is often made on the basis of funds raised by-the institutions that are at
times in confusion due to internal and institutional politics. The government side
and the insurgents would have different views and will tend to be strident about
them. ln conflict zones the UN is quite often involved in making assessments
51 ·See Jamie Leatherman, Ron Pagnucco, and Jackie Smith, International Institutions and Transnational Social Movement Organisations: Challenging the state in a three level game of global political transformation, Working Paper Series 5, WP 3 (Notre Dame, Ind.: Kroc Institute, Fall, 1993).
20
because as an inter-governmental organization it has to heed the government's
request for evaluation in conflict zones. NGOs try to estimate and reach the victims
of humanitarian emergencies by involving both government and UN agencies.
Negotiation
Depending on the intensity of the crisis humanitarian agencies
involve themselves in the demanding task of negotiation. In the post-Cold
War era, the UN played a major role in the negotiating process, especially
with the governments because of its bargaining position. However, NGOs
"have helped or even .taken the lead in some areas, for example, the
Carter Center in Haiti and Bosnia, the Communita' di Saint' Egidio In
Mozambique, and the All Sudan Council of Churches in Sudan". 52
Resource Mobilization
To respond to humanitarian emergencies, enormous human and
monetary sources are required. But the continuous fund-raising requests
can cause donor fatigue. Appeals from diverse organizations for funds
aggravate the problem. 53
Delivery of Services
Delivery of relief goods and servtces 111 the war zones is a
hazardous task. During the Cold War a few private organizations such as
52
53
See Cameron Hume, Ending Mozambique's War: The role ofmediation and good offices (Washington, DC: US Institute of Peace, 1994); Francis M. Deng and Larry Minear, The Challenges of Famine Relief Emergency operation in the Sudan (Washington, DC: Brookings Institution, 1992). Also see Weiss, n. 41, p. 448. Weiss, n. 41, pp.,:l4.7~8.
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21
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the ICRC worked in war zones. After the Cold War, the active
involvement of NGOs in this field has increased. The trend has been to
take the assistance of military forces to deliver relief effectively. The
greater utilization of military forces guarantees relief to the civilians and
also protects the aid workers. 54
Coordination
Co-ordination is required to avoid chaos, confusion and waste.
Many NGOs, IGOs and INGOs have been established exclusively for an
effective coordination. Interaction, for example, is a consortium of some
160 U.S.-based NGOs that provides a forum to improve communications
and promote joint undertakings. Similar examples are the Red Cross
Disaster Steering Committee, International Council of Voluntary
Agencies (ICY A), both based in Geneva, the Disaster Emergency
Committee for British NGOs based in London, and International
Federation for the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC). 55
Coordination among NGOs helps not only to reduce duplication of effort
but also ensures geological and sectoral coverage. It is estimated that
"perhaps ten U.S. and another ten European NGOs receive seventy-five
percent of all the public funds spent by NGOs in complex emergencies". 56
54
55
56
Ibid., p. 449. Ibid., pp. 449-52. Andrew Natsios, "NGOs and the UN Complex Emergencies: Conflict and co-operation", Third World Quarterly 16(3), September 1995, pp. 406-7.
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St,·ategic Planning
No matter how acute the cns1s, it pays to look beyond the
emergency at hand. Analysts and practitioners agree that it is essential to
think creatively about long-term reconstruction and rehabilitation issues. 57
Strategic planning will always help during emergencies to provide better
and effective services to the victims.
Assessment of NGOs' Role
In the international system, NGOs 58 contribute significantly 111
terms of providing valuable information and ideas, advocating for an
effective and constructive change, providing necessary operational
capacity 111 emergencies and 111 development efforts, increasing general
accountability and advocating the legitimacy of the international
supremacy. They may not be the paragons of virtue or ideal expressions
of the civic interest. But they can broaden the global public policy for an
enhanced and legitimate action. NGOs rely on their neutrality to project
themselves. 59
57
5R
59
See Mary B. Anderson and Peter J. Woodrow, Risingfrom Ashes: Development Strategies at times of disaster (Boulder, Colo.: Westview, 1989). Also see Weiss, n. 41, p. 453. The organization is not established, sponsored or controlled by the government. On the contrary, it is set up voluntarily by people and managed by them, to achieve objectives adopted by them. The "Code of Conduct for NGOs in Disaster Relief' spearheaded by the lCRC, Red Crescent, Save the Children, Oxfam, Lutheran World Federation and World Council of Churches lists the important principles that should guide NGOs in disaster response. To the point of redundancy, the first four of these principles reiterate the goals of independence and autonomy. See also Daniel L. Byman, "Uncertain Partners: NGOs and the military", Surviva/43(2), Summer 200 I, pp. 97-110.
23
International organizations often get engaged in ethnic conflicts to
restore regional stability and to maintain the principles of International
Humanitarian Law (IHL). Their basic functions in any ethnic conflict
include providing aid and assistance to victims of conflict, protecting the
refugees and internally displaced persons, preserving the physical
integrity of the victims of conflict and protecting the inalienable rights of
civilians.
International Humanitarian Law guides international humanitarian
relief organizations. 60 They belong to international civil society, which
relies on legal instruments to carry out humanitarian activities.
Humanitarian relief agencies try to give relief to the victims and offer
protection to all those sufferers as their actions are grounded in the
principles of esteem for human life enshrined in the Universal Declaration
of Human Rights (UDHR). According to Article 22 of the UDHR,
everyone has the right to social security through national effort and
international co-operation, whether· it is economic, social, or cultural. 61
But sometimes there are tensions between the State and the relief
agencies when, while involving themselves in internal conflicts, their
actions question or undermine the State's ability and autonomy. 62 The
work and actions of international humanitarian relief agencies provide an
61
62
N ira Wickramasinghe, Humanilarian Relief Organizations and Challenges lo Sovereignty: The case of Sri Lanka (Colombo: RCSS, 1997), p. 4-11. Pramod Mishra (ed.), Human Rights in South Asia (New Delhi: Kalpaz, 2000), pp. 22-9. Wickramasinghe, n. 61, pp. 112-19.
24
international dimension to the t;iven conflict, leading to the
internationalization of the conflict itself.
Conclusion
Most of today's wars are a product of ethnic differences, and take
place within states rather than between states. The ethnic conflict of Sri
Lanka is one such. It is characterized by massive violence and State
oppression. Many intergovernmental organizations, and international
NGOs have been involved in assisting the victims of the conflict, such as
ICRC, Oxfam, CARE, and UNHCR. They work within the purview of
International Humanitarian Law (IHL). The history of the Sri Lankan
ethnic conflict and the profile of relief agencies involved in Sri Lanka and
their activities will be discussed in the ensuing chapters.
25