Blog Post: Not “only” humanitarian advocacy: NGOs represent a third voice to be heard within global affairs

In the twenty-first century, more than 20,000 international non-governmental organizations (INGOs) operate to support and reach all the different sectors of society together with other small national organizations. From Médecins Sans Frontières, which provides humanitarian assistance with more than 30,000 professionals worldwide, to Amnesty International, an organization that promotes human rights in 150 countries, NGOs unite billions of collaborators around the globe, exceeding the services provided by multiple countries’ governments (Davies, 2014). Their presence is meaningful and vital for the support of vulnerable communities, cooperation between states, and advocacy of substantive agendas, such as human rights, animals’ protection, and environment. To ensure the applicability of those programmes, partnerships between the public and private sectors are necessary, and NGOs – part of the so-called “third sector” – develop an important role in this matter. In 2022, with much conflict erosion in the world, this has not been different.

On April 5th and 6th, the Conference of International Nongovernmental Organizations (CINGO) of the Council of Europe held its General Assembly to discuss the brutal aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine. In an open letter to society, the President of the Conference of INGOs on the war against Ukraine stated that the organization does not only support ever louder calls from across Europe to their member states or military and humanitarian aid for Ukrainian refugees, but it helps the Ukrainian citizens finding measures to cease the purchase of gas and oil from Russia, the aggressor (Council of Europe, 2022).

Representing the civil society in the Council of Europe, CINGO demonstrates the strength, power, and commitment of non-governmental organizations with issues and resolutions often restricted to governments’ decisions in international affairs. Such determined resistance represents the influence and partnership of this third sector in the world.

Nevertheless, those dynamics of exceeding a volunteer project or advocacy purposes are not a new trend or limited to cooperation with the public sector. In fact, this century symbolizes the emergence of a necessity for companies to build sustainable brands, given the society’s claim for positive change. In this sense, businesses are working more and more with governments and NGOs, making the "different" the one who does not adapt to this new phenomenon. According to Greenleaf (2016), “NGOs typically offer corporates three things in partnerships: credibility, expertise and reach”. From facilitating the access to the government to providing the know-how of fighting against an issue worldwide and targeting the right groups, non-governmental organizations add a lot of value to the work of the private sector. In return, the business partners also bring a variety of benefits, such as resources, to them, showing one more time the effectiveness of those partnerships.

As you prepare to participate as a member of HNMUN’s Non-Governmental Organizations Programme, you should understand the relevance of these organizations to the international community and the way they work together with governments and companies. Some questions you might consider are: what are your limitations representing an NGO in a specific committee? What type of support – based on the NGO know-how – you can provide to both parties? How has it positioned itself and dealt in the past with the conflict in question or with similar situations? What are your organization’s non-negotiable values?