Freedom of association is not a matter of good will or special concession from any government; it is a duty. Freedom of association is a fundamental human right embodied in labor movements, freedom of expression, democracy, and among other international instruments ratified by the States. Countries in Latin America have been limiting this fundamental right. This comparative study review the limits to Freedom of Association in "Alba" countries with a comparative view with the rest of the region.

Through the efforts of increasingly media-aware NGOs, people in the west are bombarded with images of poverty and inequality in the developing world. Representations of Poverty is the first comprehensive study of the communications and imagery used by international NGOs to represent the developing world. In this meticulously researched and original book, Nandita Dogra examines the full cycle of representation - integrating analyses of the public messages of international development NGOs in the UK with the views of their staff and audiences. Exploring the Europeanised discourses inherent in appeals to this notion of a 'common humanity', she argues for a greater acknowledgment of NGOs as significant mediating institutions which can expand understandings of global inequalities and their historical causation. The book is a timely addition to the growing fields of development and media studies and will be a key resource for academics, policymakers and practitioners alike who have an interest in global poverty, aid, NGOs, and the politics of representation.

A blue star for each family member serving in America's military... a gold star if that life was lost in defense of the nation's freedom.

IN WORLD WAR I, the American tradition of the service flag began. Families displayed a simple fabric banner with a blue star for each family member serving in the U.S. Armed Forces. If a family member died in the nation's service, a gold star covered that individual's blue star on the family service flag. Not a symbol of mourning, the gold star represented the family's pride and the honor and glory accorded to that individual for making the supreme sacrifice in defense of the America's freedom. Soon, the term "gold star mother" came to be used to identify and honor women who had lost a son or daughter in wartime military service.

Following the war, as the nation focused its attention on those veterans who had returned whole in mind and body, gold star mothers served as a constant reminder of the true cost of war. In 1928, a group of these women formed American Gold Star Mothers, Inc., an organization created to honor those who had died by being of service to veterans and their families in need, supporting gold star families, and caring for veterans who had returned with physical, emotional and psychological wounds. From that humble beginning, American Gold Star Mothers, Inc. has become an icon of national service, opening its membership time and again to gold star mothers of later wars and conflicts, including Iraq and Afghanistan. Their amazing legacy of service is an important yet largely unknown chapter in American history.

This book presents the story of gold star mothers in America and the first comprehensive history of American Gold Star Mothers, Inc., drawn from nearly a century of archival materials. The fascinating story of the strong women who honored their fallen sons and daughters by dedicating themselves to the service of veterans and peace is both compelling and inspiring.

This volume explores how Mennonite Central Committee has served as a key vehicle for inter-Mennonite collaboration from 1920 until the present. Over twenty scholars from various disciplinary backgrounds examine different ways in which MCC has contributed to expanding networks of Mennonite identity. "Much like the complex and dynamic 90-year-old MCC organization itself, this volume brings together a remarkably rich collection of ideas and perspectives. A Table of Sharing inspires reflection and appreciation for the organization that has meant so much to so many." --Karen Klassen Harder, Professor of Business and Economics, Bluffton University. "Editor Alain Epp Weaver . . . has assembled a score of gifted scholars to contribute insightful and thoughtful essays on the story and program of an institution grappling with some of the most critical issues of the twenty-first century." --Robert S. Kreider, President Emeritus, Bluffton University and Bethel College, in the Foreword "This story of MCC is a story of the church in action." --Danisa Ndlovu, President, Mennonite World Conference. "This book offers fascinating glimpses into the controversies surrounding the creation of MCC, and how and why this religious NGO pursues its mission around the world of peacebuilding, disaster relief, economic development. Individuals interested in the intricacies of inter-Mennonite relations, history, and cultures in North America will find the book especially revealing." --Dean E. Peachey, Vice Principal, The University of Winnipeg Global College

Perhaps, never before in the history of humankind has there been a period of such expansive, social, cultural and institutional change on a global scale as there is today. In this book, the author provides a detailed view on how non-governmental organizations can use information technology, online collaboration, and a plethora of web-based services and tools to attain their goals more effectively. The book combines practical advice with background information about strategic challenges which NGOs face in pursuance of their mission. It introduces to digital cultures and technologies and describes how these can help to demonstrate accountability and transparency. The author's experience from development projects in many countries makes this book valuable for readers from both the global south and the global north.

1978: In Rhodesia, the Internal Settlement led to the creation of a coalition government. Smith had, however, neither capitulated nor abandoned his belief in white superiority, and thousands of people fled across the country's borders. In England, a group of missionaries, supported by the Catholic Institute for International Relations, formed a steering group that was to become the Zimbabwe Project. Originally an educational fund to support exiled young Zimbabweans, it shifted focus toward humanitarian assistance to refugees in the region. 1981: The Zimbabwe Project Trust, a child of the war, came home, and its director, Judith Todd, started mapping the route that it would follow for the next thirty years. ZimPro - as it came to be known - began its work with ex-combatants, assisting with their education, skills training and co-operative development, and producing a news bulletin. In terms of funding, courage, and creative programming, it became a giant in the country's development landscape, but it has had to negotiate many political, financial and philosophical minefields on the way. Against The Odds offers a rare insight into workings of an NGO on the frontline. With a cast of larger-than-life characters, it also offers a drama of Zimbabwe's first thirty years and provides insights and lessons which will benefit everyone concerned with development, and provide historians with another important lens through which to view the past.

Peacebuilding is an interactive process that involves collaboration between peacebuilders and the victorious elites of a postwar society. While one of the most prominent assumptions of the peacebuilding literature asserts that the interests of domestic elites and peacebuilders coincide, "Costly Democracy" contends that they rarely align.
It reveals that, while domestic elites in postwar societies may desire the resources that peacebuilders can bring, they are often less eager to adopt democracy, believing that democratic reforms may endanger their substantive interests. The book offers comparative analyses of recent cases of peacebuilding to deepen understanding of postwar democratization and better explain why peacebuilding missions often bring peace--but seldom democracy--to war-torn countries.

The 2011 Arab Spring protests seemed to mark a turning point in Middle East politics, away from authoritarianism and toward democracy. Within a few years, however, most observers saw the protests as a failure given the outbreak of civil wars and re-emergence of authoritarian strongmen in countries like Egypt. But in Delta Democracy, Catherine E. Herrold argues that we should not overlook the ongoing mobilization taking place in grassroots civil society. Drawing upon ethnographic research on Egypt's nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) in the wake of the uprisings, Herrold uncovers the strategies that local NGOs used to build a more democratic and just society. Departing from US-based democracy advocates' attempts to reform national political institutions, local Egyptian organizations worked with communities to build a culture of democracy through public discussion, debate, and collective action. At present, these forms of participatory democracy are more attainable than establishing fair elections or parliaments, and they are helping Egyptians regain a sense of freedom that they have been denied as the long-time subjects of a dictator. Delta Democracy advances our understanding of how civil society organizations maneuver under state repression in order to combat authoritarianism. It also offers a concrete set of recommendations on how US policymakers can restructure foreign aid to better help local community organizations fighting to expand democracy.

In Borders among Activists, Sarah S. Stroup challenges the notion that political activism has gone beyond borders and created a global or transnational civil society. Instead, at the most globally active, purportedly cosmopolitan groups in the world international nongovernmental organizations (INGOs) organizational practices are deeply tied to national environments, creating great diversity in the way these groups organize themselves, engage in advocacy, and deliver services.

Stroup offers detailed profiles of these "varieties of activism" in the United States, Britain, and France. These three countries are the most popular bases for INGOs, but each provides a very different environment for charitable organizations due to differences in legal regulations, political opportunities, resources, and patterns of social networks. Stroup's comparisons of leading American, British, and French INGOs Care, Oxfam, Medecins sans Frontieres, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, and FIDH reveal strong national patterns in INGO practices, including advocacy, fund-raising, and professionalization. These differences are quite pronounced among INGOs in the humanitarian relief sector, and are observable, though less marked, among human rights INGOs.

Stroup finds that national origin helps account for variation in the "transnational advocacy networks" that have received so much attention in international relations. For practitioners, national origin offers an alternative explanation for the frequently lamented failures of INGOs in the field: INGOs are not inherently dysfunctional, but instead remain disconnected because of their strong roots in very different national environments."

The African Union (AU) has committed to a vision of Africa that is 'integrated, prosperous and peaceful - driven by its own citizens, a dynamic force in the global arena' (Vision and Mission of the African Union, May 2004). This guide is an effort to take up the challenge of achieving this vision. It is a tool to assist activists to engage with AU policies and programmes. It describes the AU decision-making process and outlines the roles and responsibilities of the AU institutions. It also contains a sampling of the experiences of those non-governmental organisations (NGOs) that have interacted with the AU.

How could a human rights organization survive in a repressive regime? This book investigates the emergence and survival of a human rights organization in the repressive Suharto regime in Indonesia. Based on extensive fieldwork soon after the fall of Suharto, this book documents the rise of the Legal Aid Institute (LBH), and its subsequent internal disputes, and its role in the emerging civil society in Indonesia. This book also proposes a new approach to understanding civil society by examining the interaction between the state and society, and how social actors in their relationship to the state find ways not only to survive in an authoritarian regime but also to actively influence the state.

Community Based Organizations are self-help movements/associations.These organisations play important roles in the development of the rural areas in Nigeria.Such organisations as the Mwaghavul Development Association have come to harness communal efforts for development especially where government efforts directed to projects such education, commerce and agriculture have fialed to address local needs. Mwaghavul Development Association embarks on such projects of mutual benefits in addition to being a social network for communal living and political mobilization.The study assesses the strength of this organisation in the provision of infrastructures like roads, school, hospitals, banks etc, aimed at developing the local community. The recommendations reached as a result of the findings is that the organization have done quite well in providing education.The organisation should priorities by embarking on revenue yielding activities. The findings are relevant in explaining the need for the utilisation of self-help development spirits more vigorously.This work is important for students interested in Nigeria community development and Local Government.

Tanzania remains one of the world's poorest countries, with a per capita GNI of US$400 and one third of the population (over 12 million people) living below the poverty line. Lack of access to health and education services, lack of agricultural inputs, lack of opportunities to diversify in to non-farm activities, dependency and powerlessness are the defining characteristics of the poor. In this thesis, I argue that the Tanzanian government and the donors share responsibility for the failure of past policies to set in motion an initiative of pro-poor growth and poverty reduction, particularly in the rural economy. I review some of the constraints on growth and poverty reduction under the National Strategy for Growth and Reduction (Mkukuta), including the major role of foreign aid from especially the World Bank and the United Nations Development Programme. I argue that the programme of the World Bank should be reconsidered, as support is not focused on pro- poor growth. Corruption issues, rising inequality between the elite and the poor and the lack of pro-poor growth are identified as main constraint on poverty reduction in Tanzania.

Draws out strategic and leadership lessons that engaged citizens and advocates for popular causes stonewalled by powerful lobbies can put to immediate and practical use. Includes a unique strategic template that includes momentum-building stages over a multiyear campaign; using the media to engage public support; building coalitions of faith, community, labour, public health, and business groups; and persuading candidates to support legislation before elections, rather than after they have been elected to office.|Vinny DeMarco might be a latter-day Don Quixote except that he tilts his lance at real obstacles to social justice: lobby-locked state legislatures and Congress, stonewalling the public will. And he makes impossible dreams come true. In twenty years of organizing campaigns in Maryland, he has led successful efforts to pass gun control laws (against National Rifle Association opposition), to hike cigarette taxes to prevent youth smoking, and to extend health care to hundreds of thousands of low-income workers. He has also built a unique alliance of mainstream and conservative faith groups, which helped secure rare bipartisan votes in Congress for the enactment in July 2009 of landmark FDA regulation of tobacco manufacture and marketing. DeMarco's unique strategic template, developed over two decades of serial campaigning, includes momentum-building stages over a multiyear campaign; unrelenting, skillful access to the media for engaging public support; coalitions of hundreds, even thousands, of faith, community, labor, public health, and business groups; and a hard press on candidates to support legislation before elections, rather than after they are comfortably in office. As an organizer/leader, Demarco also succeeds in his campaigns through force of personality: his unquenchable exuberance and idiosyncrasies delight and madden his opponents--sometimes his allies, too. Michael Pertschuk, himself a veteran advocate, here chronicles three of DeMarco's campaigns, each facing a different obstacle course. His deep analysis draws out strategic and leadership lessons that engaged citizens and advocates for popular causes stonewalled by powerful lobbies can put to immediate and practical use.

Draws out strategic and leadership lessons that engaged citizens and advocates for popular causes stonewalled by powerful lobbies can put to immediate and practical use. Includes a unique strategic template that includes momentum-building stages over a multiyear campaign; using the media to engage public support; building coalitions of faith, community, labour, public health, and business groups; and persuading candidates to support legislation before elections, rather than after they have been elected to office.|Vinny DeMarco might be a latter-day Don Quixote except that he tilts his lance at real obstacles to social justice: lobby-locked state legislatures and Congress, stonewalling the public will. And he makes impossible dreams come true. In twenty years of organizing campaigns in Maryland, he has led successful efforts to pass gun control laws (against National Rifle Association opposition), to hike cigarette taxes to prevent youth smoking, and to extend health care to hundreds of thousands of low-income workers. He has also built a unique alliance of mainstream and conservative faith groups, which helped secure rare bipartisan votes in Congress for the enactment in July 2009 of landmark FDA regulation of tobacco manufacture and marketing. DeMarco's unique strategic template, developed over two decades of serial campaigning, includes momentum-building stages over a multiyear campaign; unrelenting, skillful access to the media for engaging public support; coalitions of hundreds, even thousands, of faith, community, labor, public health, and business groups; and a hard press on candidates to support legislation before elections, rather than after they are comfortably in office. As an organizer/leader, Demarco also succeeds in his campaigns through force of personality: his unquenchable exuberance and idiosyncrasies delight and madden his opponents--sometimes his allies, too. Michael Pertschuk, himself a veteran advocate, here chronicles three of DeMarco's campaigns, each facing a different obstacle course. His deep analysis draws out strategic and leadership lessons that engaged citizens and advocates for popular causes stonewalled by powerful lobbies can put to immediate and practical use.

This study focused on governance and financial sustainability of NGOs in South Africa. The primary objective of the study was to evaluate existing governance and financial arrangements of NGOs with the view to developing alternative approaches to governance and financial arrangements with specific reference to lessons of experiences for South African NGOs. The secondary objectives of the study were to firstly develop a historical perspective on trends and tendencies of NGO funding in South Africa. A second objective was to provide a theoretical overview of the financial management and governance arrangements of NGOs. The study thirdly examined options for funding arrangements for NGOs in South Africa. A comparative case assessment of selected NGOs was provided. Research findings forwarded was used to develop a set of conclusions and recommendations for the improved funding and governance of NGOs in South Africa in general.

An inspiring mission to rescue young people from drugs and violence with music
At a time when interest in Brazilian culture has reached an all-time high, and the stories of one person's ability to improve the lives of others has captured so many hearts, this unique book takes readers to the frontlines of a battle raging over control of the nation's poorest areas. "Culture Is Our Weapon" tells the story of Grupo Cultural AfroReggae, a Rio-based organization employing music and an appreciation for black culture to inspire residents of the favelas, or shantytowns, to resist the drugs that are ruining their neighborhoods. This is an inspiring look at an artistic explosion and the best and worst of Brazilian society.

This book describes and analyses efforts of a small Japanese NGO, Community Action Development Organisation (CanDo), which implements education projects in marginalised areas in Kenya. The NGO's philosophy is based on the Japanese value of supporting self-help efforts of the community. Through interviews and ethnographic fieldwork, it examines the role of small organisations and discusses issues related to facilitating self-help efforts by outsiders. The book argues that small NGOs have a stronger potential to reduce dependency and to have relationships that are more equal with the community in which they are situated, thus providing opportunities that are locally relevant. The in-depth study on this small Japanese NGO should provide a range of insights about development assistance and should be especially useful to professionals engaged in development activities both in the South and the North or anyone else who are interested in international development.

Environmental activism in contemporary Russia exemplifies both the promise and the challenge facing grassroots politics in the post-Soviet period. In the late Soviet period, Russia's environmental movement was one of the country's most dynamic and effective forms of social activism, and it appeared well positioned to influence the direction and practice of post-Soviet politics. At present, however, activists scattered across Russia face severe obstacles to promoting green issues that range from wildlife protection and nuclear safety to environmental education.

Based on fifteen months of fieldwork in five regions of Russia, from the European west to Siberia and the Far East, Red to Green goes beyond familiar debates about the strength and weakness of civil society in Russia to identify the contradictory trends that determine the political influence of grassroots movements. In an organizational analysis of popular mobilization that addresses the continuing role of the Soviet legacy, the influence of transnational actors, and the relevance of social mobilization theory to the Russian case, Laura Henry details what grassroots organizations in Russia actually do, how they use the limited economic and political opportunities that are available to them, and when they are able to influence policy and political practice.

Drawing on her in-depth interviews with activists, Henry illustrates how green organizations have pursued their goals by "recycling" Soviet-era norms, institutions, and networks and using them in combination with transnational ideas, resources, and partnerships. Ultimately, Henry shows that the limited variety of organizations that activists have constructed within post-Soviet Russia's green movement serve as a "fossil record" of the environmentalists' innovations, failures, and compromises. Her research suggests new ways to understand grassroots politics throughout the postcommunist region and in other postauthoritarian contexts.

This is a story about a house with a history and about the people who lived or worked there. It captures something of the spirit of the times in the worlds of politics and development, and it discusses the links which were established between Oxfam GB in Zambia and the African National Congress of South Africa.

Faith-based non-government organisations are responsible for a considerable amount of international development aid, yet there is little research on the relationship between faith and development. In 2004 the Anglican Board of Mission embarked on an organisational learning process to explore the influence of the development sector on their own sphere of activities. Notions of intentionality, accountability and legitimacy emerged as significant foundations for the agency's work. Its multiple accountabilities - to government, to its Anglican constituency, and to overseas church partners - offer a framework through which the agency can continually assess its organisational integrity and fidelity to its value base. Articulating intentionality of purpose and a clear theological understanding of mission and development are crucial if the agency is to maintain its legitimacy. "Making space to breathe" became a metaphor to describe the task of creating both a reflective space which opens possibilities for transformed praxis, and a liminal space between the evangelical and development activities of the agency in which a unifying philosophical ground can be discovered.

AIDS is registered as one of the major human catastrophes facing the world today, its consequences far reaching. In Uganda successful fight against HIV/AIDS is well recognised. By 1991 Uganda's HIV/AIDS prevalence stood at about 30% in some parts of the country. This had reduced to about 5% by 2001. This success largely depended on the social and interpersonal networks referred to as social capital. The book documents the role of NGOs in mobilising social capital at different levels and its effect on HIV/AIDS challenges in Uganda. A major finding in the book is that the ways individuals and groups are connected and interact with each other are important mechanisms for alleviating HIV/AIDS. From Uganda's story there are three lessons learned; 1. Earlier contextual explanations such as witchcraft as the cause of the disease which had dominated community approaches to HIV/AIDS are demystified;2. Fighting HIV/AIDS goes beyond the medical profession to include the social approaches;3. Emerging issues such as religious fundamentalism have negative impact on Uganda's success story and may explain new trends in HIV/AIDS prevalence

Copublished with the International Labour Organization

This book tells the story of the International Labour Organization, founded in 1919 in the belief that universal and lasting peace goes hand in hand with social justice. Since then the ILO has contributed to the protection of the vulnerable, the fight against unemployment, the promotion of human rights, the development of democratic institutions, and the improvement of the working lives of women and men everywhere.

In its history the ILO has sometimes thrived, sometimes suffered setbacks, but always survived to pursue its goals through the political and economic upheavals of the last ninety years. The authors have between them many years of experience of working in and studying the ILO. They explore some of the main ideas that the ILO has developed and championed, and tell how they were applied, and to what effect, at different times and in different parts of the world.

There are chapters on rights at work, the quality of employment, income protection, employment, poverty reduction, a fair globalization, and today's overriding goal of decent work for all. The book ends with reflections on the challenges ahead in a world where the present economic crisis underlines the urgency of global action for social justice.

The World Social Forum has become a space for organized citizens to come together for different purposes (support, updates, education, coordination, campaigns, etc.). It has also become a sign of a massive aspiration for the global spread of democratic principles. Its intercultural complexities have not deterred participant organizations from experimenting with new forms of participation and action. The way in which populations from distant corners of our planet have engaged in an open dialogue within the WSF calls also for new ways of understanding such political engagements. This work offers an insight through an anthropological perspective, which suggests a way to observe and analyze complex intercultural dialogues on our common future.