In 2001, Amnesty International, the worlds largest international human rights non-governmental organization, made the decision to change its narrow mandate into a much broader mission statement that called for the protection and promotion of both civil and political rights and economic, social and cultural rights. Although the organization had added to its original mandate core concerning the release of prisoners of conscience before, the addition of economic, social, and cultural rights represented a major shift away from Amnesty Internationals classic focus on civil and political rights. Amnesty Internationals decision to promote all of the human rights listed in the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights and become a full spectrum human rights defender was a controversial one within the organization. The debate by the Amnesty membership over whether to accept an expanded form of mandate took place within the organization over a period of a decade before any changes were made. Concerns and fears over accepting economic, social and cultural rights into the mandate ranged from the practical to the theoretical.<p> This thesis will look at the decision made by Amnesty International to begin actively promoting and defending economic, social and cultural rights. It will examine why a leading human rights organization decided to modify its focus considerably and what the challenges were in doing this. In exploring the issues of contention brought up during the debates by the organizations membership, the larger questions surrounding international political acceptance of economic, social, and cultural rights will be examined.

Abstract“Development” is an essentially contested concept within academia and some critics, the so-called post-development school, argue that the concept and practice of development is a world-view monopolizing our imagination. The school of thought promotes alternative ways to think about development but is merely at the theoretical level and lacks taking into account empirical cases. Therefore, this theoretical approach is to test and develop existing literature and the theory is originating from the work of Michel Foucault and theory of post-development’s presented hegemonic development discourse. The aim is to study Peruvian NGO executives’ perceptions on development and alternative development collaborations through in-depth interviews and a critical case study design. The study reveals an alternative thinking about “development” and local perceptions challenge the “truth” of the hegemonic development discourse. A donor-recipient relation is visible where local knowledge is limited and local NGOs are coerced into new behaviors to satisfy donors’ demands. Studying “periphery” grass-root voices from the Third World is important to be able to imagine “development” differently in discourses silenced, limited and at the margins.

Den här uppsatsen syftar till att undersöka på vilket sätt som en liten Non Governmental Organization (NGO) kan bidra till ett företags CSR-arbete. Tidigare teorier föreslår att en NGO kan bidra till företags CSR-arbete på två sätt, dels genom att dela med sig av sina interna resurser och dels genom att fungera som strategisk länk. Vi undersöker om detta stämmer även för en liten NGO samt om den uppfyller de kriterier som Stafford et al. (2000) föreslår att en NGO bör uppfylla för att fungera som en effektiv strategisk länk. Detta har tidigare studerats för stora NGOs, och det finns därför ett kunskapsgap gällande små NGOs roll för företags CSR-arbete. För att besvara syftet utfördes en fallstudie på en social allians mellan NGOn Svalorna Latinamerika och ett reseföretag. Resultaten visar att en liten NGO kan bidra till företagets CSR-arbete på två sätt. Dels genom den kunskap som NGOn har internt inom organisationen och dels genom att fungera som en strategisk länk mellan företaget och andra intressenter. Däremot uppfyller inte Svalorna Latinamerika alla sex kriterier som NGOn bör uppfylla för att vara en effektiv strategisk länk.

After 1978, Chinese government initiated the transformation of the relationship between state and society. It was a process that the actor of state retreated gradually from market and society, meanwhile market and society developed slowly in the space which released by state. The state had different attitude toward market and society, as a result the market made a quicker development than the society. The society developed in the state and the market. The trade association in China could be divided into three types: state-led, spontaneous and eclectic. All of them are founded in the space released by state and the market. It reflected that in planned economy the trade associations still could be driven by the market. The trend of trade promotion associations¡¦ development are the state-led trade promotion associations will become more independently, and it would turn into the modern trade management system. Also the spontaneous promotion associations would develop fast. At that time, it would be hard to differentiate these two kind trade associations. According to the analysis above, the conclusion of this study are: First, Chinese government should continue to reform the SOEs, abolish the unsuitable privilege of administration department and rebuild the state-led trade associations. Second, give support to the newly build trade promotion associations and encourage the creative thinking. Third, cancel the dual management system and implement the systematic management. Fourth, allow the rational competition and regularize the behaviors of trade promotion associations. Finally, complete the supervised system, make the specific rules for trade promotion associations and develop other economical NGOs to make the balance effect.

Human society in the 21st century, population pressures brought about by globalization, the unequal distribution of environmental hazards, and a variety of public issues become not by the traditional government alone; has been, non-governmental organization (NGO) in the global the role in a variety of topics, are the key to lead the relationship between state and society in the discussions of civil society and international governance, the NGO has become increasingly critical, even in order to achieve democracy, with human rights, a indicators. After 1978, the Communist Party power succession by designated has passed three generations. 2012, mainland China's power struggle with severe economic test can reveal the opportunity for Chinese mainland state machine transition is not yet known; But no matter how, recalling the moment in 2008, it was a in the north hosting the Olympic Games to the international community show the elements of national power, surprisingly actually first in the Southern earthquake relief shown. The Corporatism defined the mode of interdependence between the NGOs and the government is built on the concept of exchange, of which the most important connotation is the country's laws, institutions and regulations; the organization can not just exist with its own objectives and efficiency relevant professional space must comply with the external specification, which includes the cultural system, moral values. National units the role of classification screening system for the development of mainland China NGO, the NGO in the process of development, whether it can have more than "Legitimacy" is even more important.

This study analyzes the current situation women&rsquo / s NGOs in Ankara in terms of the organizational structure and networks. A total of 28 interviews were realized with active women&rsquo / s NGOs located in Ankara on identification of not only organizational structure such as age, type, focus, target group, ICT infrastructure but also communication and collaboration pattern. Both descriptive analysis and network analysis were performed. The main concern is whether women&rsquo / s NGOs collaborate with each other? Results demonstrate that women&rsquo / s NGOs in Ankara mostly use informal linkages based on friendship but do not work with each other in the same projects or campaign. Main reasons behind reluctance to collaborate with the women&rsquo / s NGOs are loss of autonomy, performing the same activities, lack of trust, and ideological differences.

This study explores the effect of two NGO empowerment programs on the lives of women in urban slum communities of Ghana and India. In particular, the research aims to understand whether and to what extent economic empowerment through microfinance and skills training addresses women’s basic need and gender inequality in contexts of urban poverty. Considering the centrality of “empowerment” to collective feminist politics as well as development policy and practice, the purpose of this study is to contemplate what “empowerment” actually means from the perspective of those actively engaged in the process. Based on the survey and interview responses of program clients, this project explores the depth and scope of NGO empowerment interventions and considers steps that can be taken to further women’s empowerment. / text

The thesis is about a small NGO that is working with the rights of persons with albinism in Tanzania. It deals with the NGOs advocacy work on a local and national level, and addresses the challenges that come with their work.  I have concluded that advocacy is a powerful tool for NGOs to use as a part of their strategic communication. NGOs in the Global South and especially Africa are given less attention, thus having less opportunities of reaching out with their message. I have also concluded that for an NGO to succeed in its advocacy work it needs to carefully identify its target audiences and adapt the messages thereafter. To build a relationship with the audiences is also an important part of the process, as a strong relationship increases the chances of involvement in the organization. ICTs can be very useful for NGOs that strive to reach out to the global community.

As organized global actors, transnational advocacy networks (TANs) are an emerging way of people getting their voice heard and to make a change in global governance. Influencing policy-makers through advocacy has an identified connection to the legitimacy of the organization where the general assumption is that a higher legitimacy facilitates influence. In this thesis we have approached this situation from a strategic standpoint. Seeing as TANs – like most organizations – follow a strategy in order to achieve their goals, we wanted to see how legitimacy can be included as a part of the TANs strategy. This included describing the connections between the TAN as an organization and the legitimacy potential in both the organizational form and their actions. Our empirical findings suggested a close relationship between a TAN’s legitimacy and their stance with a policy-making institution, which led to a focus on these institutions as a target for TANs and their advocacy. We developed on this relation and outlined a suggestion for a strategic framework for TANs to consider when strategizing around legitimacy. We found that two main paths – named the Insider and the Outsider strategies – illustrate the options and implications a TAN is faced with on the topic of strategic legitimacy. The results constitute a contribution to the development of TAN strategy, a field that in the time of our writing this remains underexplored territory. We suggest that this field can be further developed by continuous research and we hope that this thesis is a contribution to that development.

Globalizacija kaip socialinis reiškinys susilaukia tiek daug dėmesio socialiniuose moksluose, kad netgi labai daug įvairiausių paaiškinimų ir sampratų nesustabdo ketinimo suprasti jį dar labiau. Socialinio bei politinio gyvenimo vidiniai procesai bei kokybė reikalauja naujos socialinę realybę charakterizuojančios sampratos. / The social phenomenon of globalization is attending so much consideration in the social sciences, that very different explanation and meanings don’t stop the intention to understand it even more. The inner life of social and political processes demands for the new social reality with the new social categories.