Humanitarian aid workers are faced with many challenges, from possible terrorist attacks to dealing with difficult stakeholders and securing operational space free from violence. To do their work properly and safely, they need effective intelligence. Humanitarian intelligence refers to the use of investigative and analytical techniques in service of rapid and continuous assessment, project and program development, impact evaluation, and learning. It focuses just as much on how to use early warning indicators to assess risks, evaluate trends, and write early warning analyses as it does provide guidance on the operational design of humanitarian relief efforts. Further, operational security depends on the intelligence analysis. Unlike governments, NGOs' resources are very limited. Humanitarian intelligence officers hardly have any literature detailing useful current standards and important tools for their analysis needs. Humanitarian Intelligence is the first to provide an overview and a practical guide to the tools and methods of data gathering and assessment, standards of measurement in humanitarian action, interpretation strategies, and operational planning tools. Short hypothetical cases and practical examples illustrate and explain the tools detailed in each chapter. Additional resources including case studies and teaching tools are available online at http://humanitarianintelligence.net .

Essays that generate a new, empirically grounded theory of transnational advocacy Margaret E. Keck and Kathryn Sikkink introduced the boomerang theory in their 1998 book, Activists beyond Borders: Advocacy Networks in International Politics. It remains one of the first broadly applicable theories for why groups of NGOs and interested individuals form transnational advocacy networks. Since its publication, however, the empirical conditions that prompted their theory have changed. The types of actors involved in transnational advocacy have diversified. Northern NGOs have lost power and influence and have been restricted in their access to southern states. Southern NGOs have developed the capacity to undertake advocacy on their own and often built closer relationships with their own governments. The architecture of global governance has likewise changed, providing new avenues of access and influence for southern voices. In Beyond the Boomerang: From Transnational Advocacy Networks to Transcalar Advocacy in International Politics, editors Christopher L. Pallas and Elizabeth A. Bloodgood offer cutting-edge scholarship that synthesizes a new theoretical framework to develop a coherent, integrated picture of the current dynamics in global advocacy. This new theory of transcalar advocacy focuses on advocacy activities and policy impacts that transcend different levels or scales of political action. In transcalar advocacy, all NGOs-northern and southern-are treated as strategic actors, choosing the targets, scales of advocacy, and partnerships that best suit their capacities and goals. The case studies in the volume develop the empirical grounding of this theory using data from Latin America, Africa, Europe, and Asia, with several chapters featuring cross-national comparison. The chapters highlight the wide variety of actors involved in advocacy work, including NGOs, social movements, international institutions, governments, and businesses. Contributors use both qualitative and quantitative methodologies and bring to bear insights from political science, international relations, and sociology. The case studies also include diverse issue areas, from women's rights to environmental protection, sustainable agriculture, health policy, and democracy promotion.

Not all international nongovernmental organizations (INGOs) are created equal, Some have emerged as "leading INGOs" that command deference from various powerful audiences and are well-positioned to influence the practices of states, corporations, and other INGOs. Yet Sarah S. Stroup and Wendy H. Wong make a strong case for the tenuous nature of this position: in order to retain their authority, INGOs such as Greenpeace, Oxfam, and Amnesty International refrain from expressing radical opinions that severely damage their long-term reputation. Stroup and Wong contend such INGOs must constantly adjust their behavior to maintain a delicate equilibrium that preserves their status. Activists, scholars, and students seeking to understand how international organizations garner and conserve power-and how this affects their ability to fulfill their stated missions-will find much of value in The Authority Trap. The authors use case studies that illuminate how INGOs are received by three main audiences: NGO peers, state policymakers, and corporations. In the end, the authors argue, the more authority an INGO has, the more constrained is its ability to affect the conduct of world politics.

Not all international nongovernmental organizations (INGOs) are created equal, Some have emerged as "leading INGOs" that command deference from various powerful audiences and are well-positioned to influence the practices of states, corporations, and other INGOs. Yet Sarah S. Stroup and Wendy H. Wong make a strong case for the tenuous nature of this position: in order to retain their authority, INGOs such as Greenpeace, Oxfam, and Amnesty International refrain from expressing radical opinions that severely damage their long-term reputation. Stroup and Wong contend such INGOs must constantly adjust their behavior to maintain a delicate equilibrium that preserves their status. Activists, scholars, and students seeking to understand how international organizations garner and conserve power-and how this affects their ability to fulfill their stated missions-will find much of value in The Authority Trap. The authors use case studies that illuminate how INGOs are received by three main audiences: NGO peers, state policymakers, and corporations. In the end, the authors argue, the more authority an INGO has, the more constrained is its ability to affect the conduct of world politics.

In most post-conflict countries nongovernmental organizations are everywhere, but their presence is misunderstood. In The NGO Game Patrice McMahon investigates the unintended outcomes of what she calls the NGO boom in Bosnia and Kosovo. Using her years of fieldwork and interviews, McMahon argues that when international actors try to rebuild and reconstruct post-conflict countries, they often rely on and look to NGOs. Although policymakers and scholars tend to accept and even celebrate NGO involvement in post-conflict and transitioning countries, they rarely examine why NGOs have become so popular, what NGOs do, or how they affect everyday life.After a conflict, international NGOs descend on a country, local NGOs pop up everywhere, and money and energy flow into strengthening the organizations. In time, the frenzy of activity slows, the internationals go home, local groups disappear from sight, and the NGO boom goes bust. Instead of peace and stability, the embrace of NGOs and the enthusiasm for international peacebuilding turns to disappointment, if not cynicism. For many in the Balkans and other post-conflict environments, NGOs are not an aid to building a lasting peace but are part of the problem because of the turmoil they foster during their life cycles in a given country. The NGO Game will be useful to practitioners and policymakers interested in improving peacebuilding, the role of NGOs in peace and development, and the sustainability of local initiatives in post-conflict countries.

Civil society plays an increasingly powerful role in the global landscape, emerging as key actors in preventing and managing conflict, and building more peaceful and sustainable societies . The multiple case studies featured in this volume illustrate the growth of civil society involvement in national, regional, and international peacebuilding policy. The focus is on multi-stakeholder, systems-based approaches to peacebuilding and human security that involve diverse civil society groups (NGOs, religious organizations, media, etc.), government agencies, intergovernmental organizations, and security forces. This unique comprehensive approach encompasses diverse stakeholders seeking to understand the drivers of conflict and the possibilities for working together to build peace. The book illustrates how the involvement of civil society can result in better informed, more inclusive, more accountable government decision making, and more effective peacebuilding policies. Importantly, a number of the case studies provide a gender perspective on peacebuilding and civil society issues, voicing and giving attention to women's perspectives without being focused only on gender issues. Further, authors from the Global South offer the perspectives of those directly immersed in ongoing struggles for justice and peace.

Education and NGOs discusses the role of sectors outside the mainstream in relation to improving access to education, with particular focus on the underprivileged. International case study examples offer insights into the work of non-governmental organizations, which play a crucial role in UNESCO's global Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) effort, by providing alternative forms of education and improving educational access. Including a discussion of the work of organizations such as Africa Educational Trust, Kids Company, FIDAL Foundation and many others, the volume explores the role of NGOs in the UK, the USA, India, Nepal, the Gaza Strip, Ecuador, Philippines and South Africa. Each chapter contains contemporary questions to encourage active engagement with the material and an annotated list of suggested reading to support further exploration.

From natural disaster areas to conflict zones, humanitarian workers today find themselves operating in diverse and difficult environments. While humanitarian work has always presented unique ethical challenges, such efforts are now further complicated by the impact of globalization, the escalating refugee crisis, and mounting criticisms of established humanitarian practice. Featuring contributions from humanitarian practitioners, health professionals, and social and political scientists, this book explores the question of ethics in modern humanitarian work, drawing on the lived experience of humanitarian workers themselves. Its essential case studies cover humanitarian work in countries ranging from Haiti and South Sudan to Syria and Iraq, and address issues such as gender based violence, migration, and the growing phenomenon of 'volunteer tourism'. Together, these contributions offer new perspectives on humanitarian ethics, as well as insight into how such ethical considerations might inform more effective approaches to humanitarian work.

Throughout the twentieth century, despite compelling evidence that some pesticides posed a threat to human and environmental health, growers and the USDA continued to favor agricultural chemicals over cultural and biological forms of pest control. In Ghostworkers and Greens, Adam Tompkins reveals a history of unexpected cooperation between farmworker groups and environmental organizations. Tompkins shows that the separate movements shared a common concern about the effects of pesticides on human health. This enabled bridge-builders within the disparate organizations to foster cooperative relationships around issues of mutual concern to share information, resources, and support.Nongovernmental organizations, particularly environmental organizations and farmworker groups, played a key role in pesticide reform. For nearly fifty years, these groups served as educators, communicating to the public scientific and experiential information about the adverse effects of pesticides on human health and the environment, and built support for the amendment of pesticide policies and the alteration of pesticide use practices. Their efforts led to the passage of more stringent regulations to better protect farmworkers, the public, and the environment. Environmental organizations and farmworker groups also acted as watchdogs, monitoring the activity of regulatory agencies and bringing suit when necessary to ensure that they fulfilled their responsibilities to the public. These groups served as not only lobbyists but also essential components of successful democratic governance, ensuring public participation and more effective policy implementation.

Throughout the twentieth century, despite compelling evidence that some pesticides posed a threat to human and environmental health, growers and the USDA continued to favor agricultural chemicals over cultural and biological forms of pest control. In Ghostworkers and Greens, Adam Tompkins reveals a history of unexpected cooperation between farmworker groups and environmental organizations. Tompkins shows that the separate movements shared a common concern about the effects of pesticides on human health. This enabled bridge-builders within the disparate organizations to foster cooperative relationships around issues of mutual concern to share information, resources, and support.Nongovernmental organizations, particularly environmental organizations and farmworker groups, played a key role in pesticide reform. For nearly fifty years, these groups served as educators, communicating to the public scientific and experiential information about the adverse effects of pesticides on human health and the environment, and built support for the amendment of pesticide policies and the alteration of pesticide use practices. Their efforts led to the passage of more stringent regulations to better protect farmworkers, the public, and the environment. Environmental organizations and farmworker groups also acted as watchdogs, monitoring the activity of regulatory agencies and bringing suit when necessary to ensure that they fulfilled their responsibilities to the public. These groups served as not only lobbyists but also essential components of successful democratic governance, ensuring public participation and more effective policy implementation.

Although stereotypically homogenized and hostile to immigrants, Japan has experienced an influx of foreigners from Asia and Latin America in recent decades. In Fighting for Foreigners, Apichai W. Shipper details how, in response, Japanese citizens have established a variety of local advocacy groups-some faith based, some secular-to help immigrants secure access to social services, economic equity, and political rights.Drawing on his years of ethnographic fieldwork and a pragmatic account of political motivation he calls associative activism, Shipper asserts that institutions that support illegal foreigners make the most dramatic contributions to democratic multiculturalism. The changing demographics of Japan have been stimulating public discussions, the political participation of marginalized groups, and calls for fair treatment of immigrants. Nongovernmental organizations established by the Japanese have been more effective than the ethnically particular associations formed by migrants themselves, Shipper finds. Activists who initially work in concert to solve specific and local problems eventually become more ambitious in terms of political representation and opinion formation.As debates about the costs and benefits of immigration rage across the developed world, Shipper's research offers a refreshing new perspective: rather than undermining democracy in industrialized society, immigrants can make a positive institutional contribution to vibrant forms of democratic multiculturalism.

This newest volume in the ELT in Context series by Nicole Takeda is about teaching English at a nongovernmental organization (NGO) in Cambodia and is unique in its details and documentation. It presents firsthand accounts of the considerable challenges and difficulties facing English language teachers working with learners in poverty, on between $1 and $2 US dollars per day. In spite of extremely resource-poor environments, Takeda and her coworkers, through their creation of the Bayon English Academy, have created a haven of educational hope and possiiblities for students from the lowest income families.

In The Concerned Women of Buduburam, Elizabeth Holzer offers an unprecedented firsthand account of the rise and fall of social protests in a long-standing refugee camp. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the host government of Ghana established the Buduburam Refugee Camp in 1990 to provide sanctuary for refugees from the Liberian civil war (1989–2003). Long hailed as a model of effectiveness, Buduburam offered a best-case scenario for how to handle a refugee crisis. But what happens when refugees and humanitarian actors disagree over humanitarian aid? In Buduburam, refugee protesters were met with Ghanaian riot police. Holzer uses the clash to delve into the complex and often hidden world of humanitarian politics and refugee activism.Drawing on fifteen months of ethnographic fieldwork in Ghana and subsequent interviews with participants now returned to Liberia, Holzer exposes a distinctive form of rule that accompanies humanitarian intervention: compassionate authoritarianism. Humanitarians strive to relieve the suffering of refugees, but refugees have little or no access to grievance procedures, and humanitarian authorities face little or no accountability for political failures. By casting humanitarians and refugees as co-creators of a shared sociopolitical world, Holzer throws into sharp relief the contradictory elements of humanitarian crisis and of transnational interventions in poor countries more broadly.

Your Mark On The World combines inspiring stories of ordinary people doing remarkable things to make the world a better place with practical advice to empower anyone to give more to a cause (charity, non-profit or social venture) without giving up a career or family. The inspiring stories include: Botevy's life and death struggle through Pol Pot's killing fields that led her ultimately to create an orphanage in Phnom Penh. Rick's personal crusade to cure cystic fibrosis to ensure that his two afflicted grandchildren will attend his funeral and not the other way around. The eight-member Smith family's world service tour. David's decision to walk away from a successful career as an international executive to volunteer to care for victims of leprosy in rural India. These stories are combined with practical financial advice to empower you to give more to a cause without giving up your family or your career. The book answers your questions: How do I get out of debt and stay out of debt? Which charity or cause do I choose to make my donation? How do I decide where to volunteer? How can our family plan a volunteer vacation? How can I save money for retirement? How much should I contribute to my 401k? Can I use Mint to manage my budget? How to retire early enough to devote healthy years to volunteering? This must-read book provides an overview of philanthropy in America and around the world, providing you with a clear picture of charity and its fruits.

RACE, POWER & POLITICS is the only book about ACORN ever written by authentic ACORN insiders-National Board Members. It is a must read for all concerned citizens, journalists and advocates, whether Tea Party, conservatives, civil libertarians or fairminded liberals; anyone interested in-and not afraid of learning the unvarnished truth about the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now. RACE, POWER & POLITICS is a cautionary tale of corruption and deceit within ACORN. Learn the unsettling truth from true believers who refused to be brainwashed by the "Jones Town" cult-like association or drink the Rathke family "Kool-Aid" and who challenged the entire ACORN establishment, including Wade Rathke a "Jim Jones" like figure, Senator Barack Obama an ACORN man seeking the White House and a Democrat controlled Congress; all while fighting management corruption within ACORN before its inevitable collapse. RACE, POWER & POLITICS is an inspirational journey and a cautionary tale for all non-profits, community organizations and public charities dedicated to supporting human rights and social justice. This powerful first person narrative gives an insiders perspective on ACORN, its senior management and exposes their corrupt practices. A compelling story about the courageous true believers who once loved ACORN and its mission to empower the underserved and marginalized members of American society, but soon discovered the unsettling truth about fraud and deceit within ACORN, and how they battled against insurmountable odds to reform the once venerable association.

The role of Western NGOs in the transition of postcommunist nations to democracy has been well documented. In this study, Paulina Pospieszna follows a different trajectory, examining the role of a former aid recipient (Poland), newly democratic itself, and its efforts to aid democratic transitions in the neighboring states of Belarus and Ukraine.
Belarus is widely regarded as the most authoritarian state in the region, while Ukraine is witnessing a slow, if often troubled, democratic consolidation. Each state presents a different set of challenges to outside agencies. As Pospieszna shows, Poland is uniquely positioned to offer effective counsel on the transition to democracy. With similarities of language and culture, and a shared history, combined with strong civic activism and success within the European Union, Poland's regional policies have successfully combined its need for security and a motivation to spread democracy as primary concerns. Pospieszna details the founding, internal workings, goals, and methods of Poland's aid programs. She then compares the relative degrees of success of each in Belarus and Ukraine and documents the work yet to be done.
As her theoretical basis, Pospieszna analyzes current thinking on the methods and effectiveness of NGOs in transitions to democracy, particularly U.S.- and European-led aid efforts. She then views the applicability of these methods to the case of Poland and its aid recipients. Overwhelmingly, Pospieszna finds the greatest success in developmental programs targeting civil society--workers, intellectuals, teachers, students, and other NGO actors.
Through extensive interviews with government administrators and NGO workers in Poland and the United States, coupled with archival research, Pospieszna assembles an original perspective on the mitigation of the 'postcommunist divide'. Her work will serve as a model for students and scholars of states in transition, and it provides an overview of both successful and unsuccessful strategies employed by NGOs in democracy assistance.

Why are some international nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) more politically salient than others, and why are some NGOs better able to influence the norms of human rights? Internal Affairs shows how the organizational structures of human rights NGOs and their campaigns determine their influence on policy. Drawing on data from seven major international organizations the International Committee of the Red Cross, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Medecins sans Frontieres, Oxfam International, Anti-Slavery International, and the International League of Human Rights Wendy H. Wong demonstrates that NGOs that choose to centralize agenda-setting and decentralize the implementation of that agenda are more successful in gaining traction in international politics.

Challenging the conventional wisdom that the most successful NGOs are those that find the "right" cause or have the most resources, Wong shows that how NGOs make and implement decisions is critical to their effectiveness in influencing international norms about human rights. Building on the insights of network theory and organizational sociology, Wong traces how power works within NGOs and affects their external authority. The internal coherence of an organization, as reflected in its public statements and actions, goes a long way to assure its influence over the often tumultuous elements of the international human rights landscape. "

This volume presents cutting-edge, theoretically ambitious studies in political sociology by first-rate European scholars that deal with some of the major challenges European societies and politics are facing. These have to do with globalisation and complex Europeanisation, which have contributed to restructuring the European nation-state and redefining political power. Accounting for these transformations requires revisiting traditional objects of political science such as state sovereignty, civil society and citizenship. While doing this, the studies of this volume join sophisticated empirical analyses with methodological and conceptual innovations such as field theory, multiple correspondence analysis and the study of space sets. Combining qualitative and quantitative research techniques and macro- and micro-levels, they have in common a contextual analysis of politics through scrutiny of configurations of groups, representations and perceptions in an increasingly transnational space. A transnational perspective that seeks to avoid methodological nationalism is present in all the studies of this volume. Endorsement "Social science considerations of Europe and European integration have been colonised by 'new institutionalisms, ' whether the rational choice version that mimics economics or the alternative 'historical' variety, both rooted in Anglophone debates. Political sociology has been relatively absent, alas, partly because sociology has been fragmented by national concerns and multiple social problem orientations. A Political Sociology of Transnational Europe is a splendid launching pad for the intellectual game change that is needed. The book brings together an all-star international cast of political sociologists who present refreshing and different approaches that elucidate much about today's unprecedented crisis conditions in Europe. In practically every essay we learn that the world of politics is much more than national institutions and that analysing it demands much more than national state-centered theories and methods can give us." George Ross, ad personam Jean Monnet Chair at the Universite de Montreal, Morris Hillquit Professor emeritus at Brandeis University, and, Faculty associate of the Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies at Harvard University"

Based on extensive research and years of professional practice, this title examines the issues and challenges of existing practices for fundraising by NGOs in the developing world and the pitfalls involved in towing the traditional model without taking into cognizance the changing trends in NGO funding.