The United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization’s Freedom From Hunger Campaign was a world wide campaign to raise awareness of the problem of hunger and malnutrition and possible solutions to that problem. The Campaign was launched in 1960, and brought UN Agencies, governments, NGOs, private industry, and a variety of groups and individuals together in cooperation and common cause. FAO Director- General B.R. Sen used FFHC to modernize the work of international development and to help transform FAO from a technical organization into a development agency. FFHC pioneered the kinds of relationships among governments, governmental organizations, NGOs, and other organizations and agencies taken for granted today. Canada was one of more than 100 countries to form a national FFH committee, and support for the Campaign in Canada was strong. Conditions in Canada in the 1960s favoured the kind of Campaign Sen envisioned, and the ideas underpinning FFHC resonated with an emerging Canadian nationalism in that period. The impact of FFHC can be identified in the development efforts of government, Canadian NGOs, private industries, and a variety of organizations. Significantly, the reorganization of Canada’s aid program and institutions reflected closely developments at FAO and FFHC. Participation in FFHC had important, lasting effects in Canada, and Canada made one of the strongest contributions to the Campaign.

The United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization’s Freedom From Hunger Campaign was a world wide campaign to raise awareness of the problem of hunger and malnutrition and possible solutions to that problem. The Campaign was launched in 1960, and brought UN Agencies, governments, NGOs, private industry, and a variety of groups and individuals together in cooperation and common cause. FAO Director- General B.R. Sen used FFHC to modernize the work of international development and to help transform FAO from a technical organization into a development agency. FFHC pioneered the kinds of relationships among governments, governmental organizations, NGOs, and other organizations and agencies taken for granted today. Canada was one of more than 100 countries to form a national FFH committee, and support for the Campaign in Canada was strong. Conditions in Canada in the 1960s favoured the kind of Campaign Sen envisioned, and the ideas underpinning FFHC resonated with an emerging Canadian nationalism in that period. The impact of FFHC can be identified in the development efforts of government, Canadian NGOs, private industries, and a variety of organizations. Significantly, the reorganization of Canada’s aid program and institutions reflected closely developments at FAO and FFHC. Participation in FFHC had important, lasting effects in Canada, and Canada made one of the strongest contributions to the Campaign.

Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) scramble for Africa which begun in 1980 and 90’s as a result of the introduction of Structural Adjusted Policies (SAP) by the neo-liberalist which are; International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank was purposely meant for free market economy, less government intervention in the economy in order to raise competition, induce rapid growth and economic development. The introduction of SAP resulted to a vacuum in the provision of welfare in Ghana especially in the remote areas. Since the introduction of SAP bilateral and multilateral institutions are increasingly entrusting NGOs to carry out the needs of the people more than government. This has led to a myriad explosion of local and international NGOs in Ghana for development purposes. Though the rural poor are the primary aim for NGOs and District Assembly (DA) activities, they are often the least to be contacted on the implementation and formulation of programs or projects in terms of priorities and interventions. The materials and methods used in the write up of this thesis include field survey, interviews and literature study. Both primary and secondary data was used. Purposive sampling is adopted based on the objectives of the study. Forty households were selected in order to interview project participants since they were expected to have first-hand knowledge of the organizations projects and activities. This was supplemented with interviews with focus group discussion, key informants, international and local NGOs and government officials’ interviews were made. The study emphasized that NGOs suffer from external agenda-setting which makes their programs or projects rigidly defined and create new dependencies. This prevents them from carrying out other actions apart from those initially foreseen in the project or program (not flexible) (top-down). Interventions have not benefited the people and lack of transparency and co-ordination among the NGOs and the DA is a primary problem in the study area. The stakeholders often contribute to an all-ready decided projects or programs and participated in past development programs or projects as laborers. Clientelist has weakened the DA system in Lambussie. There has not been any training for sustainable self-reliant organizations by the nine NGOs operating in Karni. Also it was evident from the study that farmers have not made any collective efforts to improve their marketing situation in the area and neither has NGOs and DA made any effort to improve farmers marketing situation. The study made the following suggestions; access to improved infrastructures, availability of unrestricted funds from donors, education and gender issues, enhancing micro-credit schemes and small scale industries, modernization of agricultural productivity, transparency and accountability—of which would help to improve DA and NGOs activities and achieve sustainable food security in Karni.

Marginalized rural populations are the main actors in a growing multi-disciplinary effort to conserve some of the most biodiverse and culturally rich regions of the world. Within a context of greater political tensions and environmental worries on a global scale, alternative modes of development are drawing greater attention. Sustainable development, women in development and indigenous land use are all important issues in the rural landscape. This thesis examines these issues in the Felipe Carrillo Puerto (FCP) ejido (communal land-holding) community in Chemax, Yucatan, Mexico, which has been working in collaboration with a national non-governmental organization (NGO), Bioasesores, A.C. Focus is placed on the ‘Women’s Home Gardens Project.’ This new take on an old tradition aims to reduce economic pressures, improve access to nutritious foods, and empower the female group through participatory strategies. The NGO-community relationship, of which there is a growing multitude in Latin America, becomes critical in this endeavor. Through ethnographic data based on interviews with the women and participant observation, it is clear that decisions made by this Yucatec Maya community function within their political environment, economic pressures, and societal norms. The environmental consultants working within the community exercise well-intentioned, participant-based methods that improve upon government actions of the past; however there are several challenges that are not fully addressed. There is a clear potential for these efforts, though there are also problems that call into question the project’s sustainability. In a region that continues to struggle due to external economic pressures, there is a need to ensure that current development efforts in the ejido take both the needs of the people and environmental conservation into account. The rural landscape continues to develop in Mexico, and both NGOs and local communities are actively involved. This research offers a glimpse into the dynamics of one relationship between an NGO and an ejido, and provides suggestions for improvement. / text

This exploratory study examined the interaction and effect of message characteristics, organizational credibility, and the presence of disaster on intention to donate to a Disaster Relief Organization (DRO). The Elaboration Likelihood Model and the Theory of Planned Behavior were used to theorize and test participant's message processing and donation behaviors. The study design incorporated random assignment into one of eight conditions. Findings reveal (a) participants have a higher donation intention when a disaster is present, (b) negative framing, when compared with positive framing, yielded the highest intention to donate when a disaster was present, (c) when no disaster is present, participants expressed a higher intention to donate to a highly credible DRO over a DRO that lacked credibility, (d) perception of DRO credibility is mediated by presence of a disaster, and (e) social media is being used in addition to more commonly found traditionally mass media for information during a disaster. In summary, this study extends previous research on processing and donation behaviors by examining the interaction of message characteristics and source credibility both during a disaster and without a current disaster. The study contributes to the growing body of research on disaster donations by incorporating social media use. / text

Background: A successful organization is the one that recognizes the importance of its human element and take into account their commitment to ensure the attainment of its objectives. However, the focus into the study of commitment among workers is often directed towards for-profit organizations with NGOs receiving less attention. This HRM related issue accord several scholars, is said to be an important factor to be considered in order to ensure a successful organization be it for-profit or NGO. The issue of commitment among workers however tend to take several direction as the result of the multidimensional nature of organizations, hence the varying configurations of commitment mindset (Affective, Normative and Continuance) and the presence of various targets of commitment (e.g. organization, customers etc.) among workers. Aim: The aim of this thesis is to examine the commitment among workers in NGOs, by investigating the various targets of commitment among different categories of workers of NGOs in Sweden. The paper will further investigates whether the targets of commitment among the different categories of workers in NGOs differs and what influences these differences. Through the empirical cases, this thesis will provide appropriate guidance to ensure commitment among categories workers in NGOs and also contribute to previous research with regards to commitment among categories workers in NGOs. Methodology: The qualitative research approach was used in the conducting of this study. A dual case study was undertaken 12 semi-structured interviews with six from each case organization. Participants were drawn from the two main categories of workers in NGOs thus from volunteers and paid workers. Results: The conducted research study reveals there are differences in relations to the targets of commitment among the different categories of workers as well as thedisplay of the different types of commitment towards these targets. The guideline identified by this paper to ensure commitment among workers in NGOs should be a considerable amount of attention to workers development and recognition from the organization.

In the late 1980s and through the mid-1990s, Mexico underwent an enormous neoliberal transformation that affected almost every level of its economic, political, and social systems. Research has shown that rural and poor areas of Mexico have been particularly hard hit by these transformations. At the same point in time, Mexico established an unprecedented number of natural protected areas - national parks, biosphere reserves, wildlife reserves, and the like. Mexico is not alone in this transformation. Other "less industrialized" countries are also implementing these dual policies.While many working in the field of conservation in less industrialized regions assume little connection between their work in natural protected areas and the larger political economy, I argue that the two are interrelated and have compounding outcomes. The goal of this study is to understand the connection between these two seemingly incongruous policies. In addition, this study seeks to understand the process through which natural protected areas were territorialized and the outcomes of this territorialization process on landscapes and livelihoods within the larger context of Mexico's neoliberal reformation.To understand these questions, I look at Mexico as a case study at the national level as well as two more local case studies - the Loreto Bay National Park (LBNP) in Baja California Sur and Cuatro Ciénegas Wildlife Reserve (CCWR) in Coahuila, Mexico. Both areas support the neoliberal agenda, although in different ways. In addition, both are being reterritorialized so that nature is separated from society and treated as a marketable commodity through tourism or privatization. In addition, both have created uneven or patchy regional landscapes in which resources are more heavily extracted outside of reserves (due largely to neoliberal reforms) while inside the reserves small-scale production activities are limited.

This dissertation examines the paradoxes involved in offering medical aid to undocumented migrants in Berlin, Germany. Coinciding with the end of guestworker programs in the 1970s, undocumented migrants have increasingly filled gaps in the German labor market. Political pressures following reunification, along with border militarization in the wake of European Union expansion, have resulted in restrictions on legal entry. However, neoliberal reforms in the labor market and a rapidly aging population have resulted in high demand for undocumented workers in particular sectors of the economy. At the same time, soaring unemployment and nationalist sentiments have made immigration unpopular, with political parties negatively predisposed to assuring the rights of migrant workers. One such right is access to health care services in a nation with a traditionally universal system of coverage. Undocumented migrants are officially denied "medical citizenship" and must rely upon humanitarian aid provided by nongovernmental organizations (NGOs).This study examines the experiences of multiple stakeholders, particularly physicians and NGOs that provide medical aid. It draws upon the anthropology of health policy, a critical approach within medical anthropology. Fieldwork in Berlin during 2004-2006 included participant observation at an outpatient clinic, which yielded case studies of 204 undocumented patients, along with sixty-one interviews. Results indicate that in Germany, certain minimal rights are technically available to migrants; however, they are not assured access to these rights. This underscores the importance of utilizing legal status as a unifying measure of analysis. I argue that the state absolves itself of responsibility by handing off the provision of services to the NGO sector. While laws criminalize the provision of medical aid, they are only selectively enforced, and organizations are recognized for their volunteer work through awards and commendations. These paradoxes allow the state to square the contradiction of condemning yet relying upon undocumented migration. This dissertation presents an ethnographic portrait of the single largest source of medical aid for undocumented migrants in Germany, providing an analysis of patient characteristics and illnesses. Prenatal care highlights the interplay between race, reproduction, and citizenship, and offers a particularly poignant window into the challenges of nation-building in contemporary Germany.

Studies of adaptive governance in social-ecological systems have identified common features that assist social actors in responding to environmental pressures. Among these features, multiple sources of ecological knowledge, trust, and networks between actors have been highlighted as properties that contribute to successful governance arrangements. However, studies in adaptive governance have also been critiqued using a political ecology approach. This is due to their under-theorization of political elements that can constrain or promote the formation of the features of adaptive governance. In particular, power dynamics between actors and the subsequent privileging of one source of knowledge over another might have an effect on governance arrangements. In China, environmental degradation is a serious issue. The Qinhuai River, located in the city of Nanjing, has experienced significant ecological decline over the last 30 years as urbanization pressures on the system increased. Over the same period, China has undergone changes in state-society relations, including allowing the formation of NGOs. Since the turn of the millennium, several NGOs have begun working on issues related to the Qinhuai River, including raising awareness and producing information on the environment. This study examines the features of adaptive governance in a critical light by situating them in the local political context of China. The relationship between NGOs, fishers who use the Qinhuai River and government are examined using Social Network Analysis and semi-structured interviews in order to understand the production of information, networking and trust between these actors. It is shown that the existing arrangements to include NGOs and fishers in the river’s governance activities are guided by a corporatist system of state-sanctioned representation. This is not conducive to adaptive governance arrangements, despite the increasing existence of ENGO networks and new sources of knowledge over the last decade. It is thus important that studies of adaptive governance take steps to contextualize their findings within the local political climate.

This thesis examines the relationship between the Japanese government and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) involved in Official Development Assistance (ODA). Japanese NGOs are too easily co-opted into the mechanisms of state power, sometimes putting at risk the very objectives that ODA is meant to embody. Against this prevailing trend; however, some NGOs have rallied to resist and transform undemocratic ODA policies and practices, and challenge Japan’s traditional bureaucratic politics. Gramsci’s theory of state and civil society, which treats civil society as a field of contention between hegemony and counter-hegemony, provides a useful frame of reference to understand the contradictory role of Japanese NGOs. / Graduate