Non-governmental Organizations (NGO’s)

• Organization that operates independently from any form of government

• The term originated from the UN

• NGOs are non-profit

• Focus on human rights, environmental, or development work.

What is the UN?

• 51 countries started it in 1945

• Today 193 countries are members, which includes almost every recognized country in the world

What does it do?

• Every nation that joins must accept the UN charter, which outlines basic behaviors for states.

• The UN does not make or enforce laws.

So, who is in the UN?

• Although it started with just 51 countries, the UN now has 193 members, representing nearly every country on the planet.

Exceptions include:• The Vatican, which chooses to have

an observer role only.• Kosovo • Taiwan• Antarctica is an international zone

and is not represented.

What are the UN’s four goals?

• Maintain world peace• Develop friendly

relations between states

• To cooperate in solving international problems

• To harmonize the actions of all states

How is it organized?

• The UN has five major sections:– 1 – The security council– 2 – The general assembly– 3 – The economic and

social council– 4 – The secretariat– 5 – The International Court

of Justice.

• The first 4 are located in New York, the fifth is in The Hague.

What is the security council?

• The security council is made up of 15 countries who are responsible for keeping world peace.

• 5 countries are permanent members (America, Russia, China, France and the UK) and the other 10 are made up of countries picked from each region of the planet, who each serve for a two year term.

What is the General Assembly?

• The General assembly is where every country in the world has a chance to make statements and observations about world affairs, and vote on various UN issues.

What is the Secretariat?

• The secretariat does the “paper work” for the UN, including researching issues and compiling data, tracking the success or failure of UN programs, and organizing conferences and training.

What does the Economic and Social council do?

• They organize non-political and non-military UN programs like the UN International Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and water treatment programs.

What is the International Court of Justice?

• The ICJ regulates disputes concerning human issues that are not related to just one country (humanitarian law and war crimes) as well as international disputes about things like borders and pollution.

• It is based in The Hague – South Holland, Netherlands

Millennium Development Goals

• 8 international development goals established by the UN in 2000.

• All 193 members of the UN signed the United Nations Declaration in agreement with the common desire to achieve the 8 goals by 2015.

• The World Bank, IMF and the African Development Bank also agreed to cancel $50 billion debt through funding from the member states.

Millennium Development Goals

• Eradicate Extreme Poverty and Hunger 

• Achieve Universal Primary Education

• Promote Gender Equality and Empower Women

• Reduce Child Mortality

• Improve Maternal Health 

• Combat HIV/AIDS, Malaria and Other Diseases 

• Ensure Environmental Sustainability 

• Develop a Global Partnership for Development 

Millennium Development Goals• Canceled an additional $40–55 billion debt

owed by LDC countries to allow them to re-channel money to social programs for improving health and education and for alleviating poverty.

• The 2010 MDG Summit concluded with the adoption of: – Keeping the Promise: United to Achieve the

Millennium Development Goals

• Pledged over $40 billion in resources over the next five years.

Millennium Development Goals

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3l4CLvOQ0Y

Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA)

• Engage in policy development in Canada and internationally, enabling Canada's effort to realize its development objectives.

CIDA

• Three priority themes are part of that agenda and guide CIDA's work:

• Increasing Food Security

• Securing the future of children and youth

• Stimulating sustainable economic growth

CIDA LocationsAmericas:Bolivia |

Caribbean Regional Program | Colombia |

Haiti | Honduras |

PeruAsia:

Afghanistan | Bangladesh | Indonesia | Pakistan | Vietnam

Eastern Europe:Ukraine

North Africa and Middle East:West Bank and GazaSub-Saharan Africa:

Ethiopia | Ghana | Mali |

Mozambique | Senegal |

Sudan and South Sudan | Tanzania

CIDA in Action

• http://www.acdi-cida.gc.ca/acdi-cida/ACDI-CIDA.nsf/eng/HEL-31484138-GW4

UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR)

• UNHCR is an agency who is mandated to lead and co-ordinate international action to protect refugees and resolve refugee problems worldwide.

UNHCR

• It strives to ensure that everyone can exercise the right to seek asylum and find safe refuge in another State, with the option to return home voluntarily, integrate locally or to resettle in a third country. It also has a mandate to help stateless people

UNCHR

• The number of refugees of concern to UNHCR stood at 10.5 million at the beginning of 2011, down slightly from a year earlier.

• UNHCR seeks to reduce situations by encouraging states to create conditions which allow for the protection of human rights and the peaceful resolution of disputes.

• The UNCHR pays particular attention to the needs of children and seeks to promote the equal rights of women and girls.

UNCHR

• http://unhcr.org/v-5074149b6

Amnesty International

Purpose: to defend human rights. They believe that human rights abuses anywhere are the concern of people everywhere

• Amnesty International is:– independent of any government, political

ideology, economic interest or religion – financially autonomous, due to donations from

individual members and supporters

Amnesty International Goals

• defend freedom of expression

• protect women’s rights

• abolish the death penalty

• demand justice for crimes against humanity

• demand corporate accountability where companies have abused people’s rights

OXFAM

• Oxfam is an international confederation of 17 organizations networked together in 92 countries, as part of a global movement for change, to build a future free from the injustice of poverty

• Focus on Advocacy, Emergency Work, Campaigning and Policy Development

OXFAM

• http://youtu.be/LaqXW__-RLA