Relations Between NGO\'s and Igo\'s

NGOs Support to IGOs:

In the past few decades, non-governmental organizations have become increasingly influential in the affairs of the modern world. This increase in influence has enabled NGOs to have considerable impact on the political, economic, and social activities of societies and countries across the world. This is primarily because such organizations deal with a wide range of issues including human rights, political rights, environmental protection, and economic development. Consequently, non-governmental organizations have played a crucial role in promoting and enforcing human rights, democratization, enhancing living standards, and dealing with diseases and illnesses. In contrast, intergovernmental organizations are organizations made of sovereign states and are usually established by treaties and agreements, which act as charters for creating the group. Even though these organizations are different in nature, they can work together towards the realization of certain goals and objectives.

The cooperation between NGOs and IGOs is crucial towards the achievement of sustainable development since NGOs deal with issues that countries around the world encounter just like IGOs. Actually, non-governmental organizations can use various channels to formulate demands on and lend support to intergovernmental organizations. One of the major channels that NGOs can formulate demands and support IGOs is through providing background on contentious issues or topics. Through their niche skill sets and local level capabilities, NGOs can act as third-party watchdogs to examine various issues including policy adherence of states and then provide such information during IGO forums. States who are members of the treaty can then use the information provided by NGOs to pressurize reluctant states into enforcing agreements over other competing interests.

In this case, NGO's will act as important avenues through which IGOs can obtain information and support their enforcement initiatives towards the realization of certain goals.

Secondly, NGOs can formulate demands on and provide support to IGOs through participation in various stages of planning and implementation of programs developed and established by international treaties. Since NGOs cannot legally enforce anything, they can use their formal access to IGOs as a strategic means of participation in various stages of planning and execution of specific programs. For instance, NGOs can be heavily involved in several steps of planning and execution of UNESCO programmes because the UNESCO system not only incorporates NGOs but also considers their role and effective contributions.

Third, non-governmental organizations should participate in IGOs' forums, conferences, and daily working groups through the formal access and participatory rights granted by IGOs. The formal access and participatory rights provide a crucial avenue for NGOs to voice their demands and even provide support to intergovernmental organizations. During their participation, NGOs should push items on the agendas of these meetings and offer their support towards the implementation of IGOs-sponsored projects. An example of the use of formal access and participatory rights occurred in 2010 when the Organization for Security Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) endorsed the International Civic Initiative. This initiative was formulated by a group of 11 international non-governmental human rights organizations. Through the formal access and participatory rights in IGOs, these non-governmental organizations would make significant contributions to various topics while participating in OSCE's events and contributing to the IGO's work. The access enabled the international non-governmental human rights organizations to make significant contributions to IGO's approach to security.